Sen NYC

Very nice décor and great service! The sushi and rolls are pretty cheap but that’s because they are a bit on the small side. The edamame is the usual but the dumplings are FANTASTIC! It’s a solid sushi place where you won’t be disappointed.

I had passed this restaurant recently and thought it looked very inviting. I was happy when a friend invited me t go using her Travelzoo coupon. The décor is nice and modern if a bit cold. I had a happy hour drink at the bar which was nice and then we were seated. The staff was very warm and friendly and that is the best I can say. The food was very mediocre especially for the prices they were charging. The serving sizes were a joke as well and the presentation was just so so. My friend ordered the chicken wings and they came in clear, tea light holders with two shoved in the frst two and then three alone so it looked very odd and uneven. Plus they weren’t wings but pieces of chicken with a very small bone stuck into them that I didn’t even see and almost chocked on it. They had not taste. My friend also ordered one of the tuna rolls which also had no taste and was very dry. I wanted the miso cod and of course they were out of it at 7PM on a Thursday. Very odd. I ordered the short rib bun which was decent but again, pretty dry. I ordered the Hot roll which was pretty good but I have had sushi just as good at the all you can eat joints in the city. Very disappointing. And the bathroom is down very dark, steep stairs painted black. That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. This place is all style and no substance.

Well… my friends and I went here the other night for some sake and light sushi. We originally wanted to go to to Mira a block away but the wait was too long, so I suggested this spot since I had seen it on Open Table.
The hostess was sweet and the ambiance was nice, especially in the front room (the white wall in the back room felt kind of hospital cafeteria-​ish). I think the space is almost too big for a sushi restaurant because there was only one table of 2 seated aside from us. Immediately we questioned why this place was so empty compared to it’s bustling competition a street away. We guessed it was either due to it being a brand new OR being a bad restaurant.
It didn’t take long for us to figure out why this place doesn’t get good business — the service is TERRIBLE. I feel horrible saying this because everyone that waited on us (about 5 people in total) were very nice but had NO idea what they were doing. We ordered a total of 8 pieces of sushi and 2 bottles of sake and it took over 2 hours from start to finish because service was so slow. It came to the point where my friend (who comes from the hospitality biz herself) called over someone who looked like a Manager and complained to him — after which he comped us a glass of sake each. While we appreciate the kind favor, and the sushi quality was quite good, I would not return here because the service was just that bad. Sorry Sen!

What a great place! We were hungry for Japanese food and had read about Sen before, so decided to give it a try on a Saturday evening. Two of us came here for dinner around 7:15. Oddly for prime dinner time on a Saturday, the restaurant wasn’t very crowded (nor were any of the 4 – 5 other restaurants on its block).
THE SPACE
It has a nice vibe, with a central bar area which serves as both the place where drinks are made/​served as well as the sushi station. You can watch the sushi chefs working from most tables. The bar has seating on all 4 sides, and is surrounded by 2– and 4-​top tables. The design, music ands staff has a younger/​hipper feel to it, which I guess matches the neighborhood.
THE FOOD
We tried a variety of things and split everything — the Hijiki salad was very well prepared; the Shoyo truffle butter rice pot was rich and delicious; ditto with the chicken and beef skewers. The sushi seems to be the focus and it did not disappoint — we had a couple of their specialty rolls and they were great.
Also the drinks were good — there is a large sake selection, and our waitress made a good recommendation.
THE SERVICE
Service was excellent — everyone as friendly and attentive, and the timing between the courses/​dishes was just right.
Lastly, while the prices weren’t bargain-​basement level, I do think that for the quality level you get and the atmosphere of the restaurant, it’s a good value. Overall a great place and we will definitely be back.

I’m sitting here right now regretting it.
Didn’t have 3 of the first things we ordered.
Overpriced.
Empty and still mediocre service.
DO NOT spend your money here.
And the bathroom is creepy.
Not worth it at all.

Months ago my friends and I visited this place. Our group of eight ordered almost everything from the menu. It’s been so long that I don’t remember remember what we ordered but I do remember the meats and fish were delicious and the rice pots were aight…
Some items I do remember
Golden Pacific Rolls — delicious but not consistent in terms of the amount of wasabi that was in the roll.
tatsuta and wagyu croquettes — try, it’s good! And the wings, order extra!
Ton Toro — c’mon, it’s pork belly.
Harami Garlic and the Harami Pesto — I can’t remember if it was this beef or the other beef item that melts in your mouth.
Mero — wow!
Out of all of the different rice pots we ordered, I think my favorite was the shoyu truffle butter. So… go there for the protein and not the carbs =-)

Went to eat sushi on a Wednesday night with a friend who had been to Sen before for drinks and we wanted to try the food. I must say I was blown away by the space, open and airy, visually astonishing with great lighting and music. The bar is suspended in the center of the room which is the focal point.
The staff is attentive and knowledgable about Sen offerings. The crowd was business, casual and trendy.
As for the food, it was good. We ordered Edamame, Shrimp Dumplings (Order came with 3 but I think 4 would be ideal), Asian Chicken Wings (Two wings four pieces total fried with asian seasoning) and an assortment of rolls.
Unfortunately they did not have shrimp tempura roll nor did they have seaweed salad which is a staple in all sushi restaurants and they can capitalize on this one item. The waitress said she will tell management «again» because a lot of people have been asking for it.
Food: Excellent (What happened to seaweed salad?)
Atmosphere: Excellent (Trendy without making you feel uncomfortable)
Service: Excellent (Reopening for lunch September 2013)
I think this would be a great food experience if you want to try a new sushi restaurant (Opened Novemeber 2012). This place can be 4 stars with a few additions to their already tasty and creative menu.

LOVE this place! From the amazing cocktails and sake to the delicious food, this place has done it! The décor is gorgeous and you feel so great just being there. Highly recommend!

Ridiculously overpriced for poor quality food.
Rice bowls are bland and boring and again overpriced. They ran out of truffled rice and some other dishes that we wanted to try. The wait staff is strange and makes you feel uncomfortable.

The first thing I noticed about Sen is the décor — beautiful wooden slats with bark lining the walls give it an elegant, earthy feel. The whole place feels refined and would be an impressive place to bring a date.
The food was very good. We had a selection of small bites to start — Tatsuta, kinchaku dumplings, and the wagyu croquette. All were fantastic with the wagyu croquette being the standout — if you like foi grais, this is a fantastic, well-​executed twist. The others didn’t disappoint.
For sushi, we had one hot tuna roll, a small sushi assortment (tuna, salmon, yellowtail) and 2 pieces of Toro (fatty tuna). All were fresh and tasty, but were very thin/​small and left us wanting more. Even the toro pieces were easily handled in one bite, and for $ 8.50 apiece they can really do damage to the bill.
For the main courses, we tried the Ika tenpura (subtly fried calamari), and the gyu negima skewer (shaved ribeye steak). These were the real standouts to the meal. The Guy Negima Skewer was EPIC. They took thin pieces of ribeye (obviously marinated in some sort of teriyaki sauce) and wrapped it around a green onion before it is skewered. These fatty delicious tender morsels of meat broke apart into mouth-​gasms for my taste-​buds. The Ika tenpura was (as the description says) subtly fried and was definitely the most tender, and lightest-​flakiest fried calamari I’d ever experienced. It was covered in some sort of spicy chili reduction. My only complaint was the portion seemed a little light, and left me wanting another order.
We also had two saki flights — the emporer and the cloudy. I enjoyed both, but I felt the emporer was a more diverse selection of tastes.
The service was excellent. I forget the gentleman’s name, but he was very quick and friendly, brought every course out expediently, and even recommended the ribeye which ended up being our favorite dish.
All in all, I would definitely come back. It seems to me from my one visit that you will be doing a disservice to yourself if you only come to get sushi. The quality of the fish is amazing, but I know plenty more sushi places with similar quality and lower prices or larger portions, not to mention more interesting rolls. The real standouts here are the non-​sushi dishes, where the chef can really show off his obviously refined culinary skills.

We were guests of Toro and had good service, good food, and good drinks. The lounge area is great for a casual catch up and the dinner area is more quiet and formal. They had vegetarian selections too. Service could have been more attentive and consistent.

Bring your wallet bc it’s not cheap. Our dinner came to almost $ 180 for 2 people with tip & 2 glasses of vino each. We ordered a decent amount: shishito peppers, edamame, rice dish, flatiron roll, 2 pieces of shrimp sushi, and dessert, but definitely could have eaten a bit more. Fun place & food is great, but a bit pricey to make it a regular stop for what you get.

Went there with my girl friends. Great ambience, saw some model-​ish ppl there.
i ordered uni-​ikura roll and sushi set. They were ok, just too much wasabi and was tearing a bit. My friends ordered mushroom rice in a mini hotpot. It was severed uncooked… al dente. They took it back and brought back another uncooked mushroom rice…
They took it out from the bill and gave us drinks but one Asian food restaurant can not cook rice right… I was just speechless.

You don’t go to Sen for the food because the drinks you’ll have while you wait will compromise your sense of taste. You don’t go to have a conversation because you’ll have to shout on the top of your lungs.
You go to Sen to gently imbibe with friends, to have fun in a loud ambiance, to enjoy going out and spend your hard-​earned cash in a trendy spot.
Portions are small, service somewhat overwhelmed but the food is surprisingly good.

I came here for lunch and had the Golden Pacific Roll (uni, scallop, and ikura) which was pretty good. I also tried the truffle butter kamameshi with mushrooms, which was delicious. The décor inside was great and this place is huge. I will definitely be coming back to try more items on the menu.

This place makes food that is stop-​in-​the-​middle-​of-​your-​conversation-​and-​stare-​at-​your-​fork-​in-​awe good. I had the Sea Bass which I believe they call Medo (i could be wrong) but it was amazing. If someone ever asks me what is the best fish dish I ever had in my life, I can answer that questions immediately. It’s from Sen NYC. From start to finish the service was amazing. I felt like a Hollywood Celeb in there. Big smiles, courteous, I felt like facebook friending the entire staff after I ate there because it was so impressive. The place is chic and very classy feeling. Come dressed up a bit, Jeans and a Tshirt won’t do.
What’s great about it is that it’s still very new in NYC, so if you want to look like a hero to your friends or date and take them to a place they haven’t been before that will knock your socks off, this is the place.
I don’t write Unilocal reviews, but I just had to write one about this place because I was so blown away.

Sen NYC is a new establishment that is fighting over the spendy sushi crowd in the city. The average appetizer and entrée is about 10 – 15 each, but the portion is so tiny that you will need about a 4 – 5 course meal to make your experience worthwhile. We had a total of 9 courses split among 3 people. With tips it came out to be 60 bucks per person.
The place is dimly lit and felt pretty hip. The music, vibe, and the formal attire of the waiters give this restaurant a very young and fusion feel.
We started off with the mystery sake. It’s three doubleshot glasses of select sake that’s labeled upon presentation. Waiter was helpful explaining each sake to us.
Everything they serve here is presented very nicely. Taste varies a bit. I was a huge fan the Japanese sea bass, which was extremely tender and tasty. But other dishes like tuna tar tar and ton toro were a bit boring; the tar tar being too predictable (yet had a super small serving) and the pork belly being too skinny on the ton toro. My biggest disappointment was the golden specific roll, which had the spicy wasabi taste but not the actual taste of the wasabi. The roe and scallop was an interesting combination but I just couldn’t get into it. The shoyu truffle butter rice pot was delicious, along with the crispy snapper roll.
Service was a bit excessive. We had our plates changed twice, once when we had nothing but a few soysauce drips on it. They will come remove any bit of crumb, mess off your table and also re-​adjust your dishes to a organized, symmetrical placement. The bathroom had an attendant.
I really appreciated the overall pace of our dining. They never overwhelm you by bringing too much at once. We had the time to sample and enjoy everything before the next item is served.
I nitpick harder when it comes to spendy restaurants but I have to admit I enjoyed the food, the service, and the overall experience. This is definitely a place to take note of if you’re around the flatiron district.

I couldn’t have been more pleased with my experiences (yes i have gone multiple times already) at Sen NYC. I am a fan of the Sag location but this one is so much more Manhattan. the Sushi quality is as good as any in NYC and the staff and service is amazing. Tora you have outdone yourself. Besides all of the sushi, I really recommend the chicken lollypops. the rice with the truffle butter and mushrooms, and all of the steaks. The décor is hot and the crowd was too.
PS ask Tora to recommend the Saki that goes best with your meal.

My group went here last night and could not have been more pleased with our experience! 5 stars for drinks, but 4 stars for the food.
Immediately, our first impressions were grand. Upon walking in, an attendant took our coats. As the hostess led us to our seats, we marveled at the décor and layout of the place. It manages to be both roomy and intimate, and it also gives off the perfect amount of chic and sexiness without coming off as pretentious. It’s a tad too dark (it’s like one light bulb from the Ninja Restaurant), but it’s not intolerable.
We started off with cocktails because they looked so fantastic. Like I said, the drinks alone are easily worth 5 stars. All four of us raved our respective drinks. I had the lychee martini, which was so supremely perfect that I would have happily drunk ten more. It was clearly made with a higher-​quality vodka; it was so smooth. This is the best cocktail I’ve ever had in Manhattan… or anywhere, for that matter.
Next were our appetizers. We ordered edamame and veggie tempura. The latter came in the most unique format! Instead of the usual fried chunks of individual veggies, these were almost like fritters, a mix of sweet potato, onion, some sort of green, battered perfectly and fried. Then, each fritter was assembled vertically on this gorgeous platter. We were so impressed! We also joked that they even somehow managed to make the edamame taste and feel special; it was seasoned just right.
As for our entrees… phenomenal. We’re hardcore sushi lovers, and we were blown away by the quality of our rolls. The Pink Monk is a wonderful option for vegetarians, who normally don’t get to experience the specialty rolls! Also, we were able to order an avocado and cucumber roll, even though it wasn’t on the menu, so they are very accommodating. My biggest complaint about this restaurant is that the veggie rolls are lacking. You can either order an overpriced AC roll (6 TINY pieces), or a giant specialty roll like the Pink Monk, which costs much more. If you’re going to charge $ 7 for an AC roll, it better damn well be 8 pieces, and they should be wider than the width of my pinkie.
The service was attentive. I sometimes felt like it was too much (a waiter stopped at our table for the sole purpose of picking up the tiny ribbon that had been holding my chopsticks together), but never annoyingly so. Our orders were taken in a timely manner, and the food preparation and delivery were speedy.
This place should be a five-​star rating, but as a vegetarian, I’m still looking for more veggie rolls. :) If you’re a sushi restaurant, and your sushi disappoints me, that’s a problem.
FYI: When they offer you water, make sure you ask for tap. Otherwise, they will automatically bring you an $ 8 bottle of water (which tastes exactly like the tap water). We were displeased to be blindsided like that, but it didn’t affect our overall satisfaction with the eatery.

Attended a Holiday Party here!
Service was fantastic, every one was very attentive, helpful, and super friendly! Not sure of the managers name but he was also very accommodating to our party.
Our menu was limited for a selection of about 5 items and there was something for everyone! Shrimp dumplings were pretty good, not a fan of the spring-​roll (too much cilantro.) I was really impressed by the gigantic plate of sushi brought out toward the end, I believe it took at least 2 people to bring it out and it covered a few tables, REALLY NICE PRESENTATION GUYS ;) !
Speaking of presentation, the ambiance is really nice, clean and somewhat sophisticated, it felt complete to me however I believe they plan on adding a few more choice décor pieces to the restaurant. I’m definitely feeling the bar too, pretty sexy!
Hopefully they open for lunch soon, Ill be posting a second review.
PS: This place is nothing like the one in Sag Harbor but I like it!