Seo Japanese Restaurant

We found this place as it was recommended by the Michelin guide.
The Japanese udon soup was extremely flavorful. The Japanese noodles were the best we ever had. The shrimp tempura was also delightful.
The atmosphere is serene.
The only point of improvement was the size portion. Both my husband and I were still hungry after we left the place. We had another snacks somewhere else.

I once lived a few blocks from Seo. It has left such an impression on me that I always return when visiting New York. I will never forget the very cold night during the holiday season, sipping warm sake, and watching the snow fall on the bamboo garden in the back of the restaurant. The food is authentic Japanese and the service is excellent. I have been here many, many times and have never been disappointed.

Mid-​town East probably has twice as many Japanese ramen joints than it needs, but somehow, this place feels essential.

I will NEVER go to this restaurant again.
The Salmon bowl for $ 14.5 tasted disgusting. The cuts of fish were not good and the Rice and Tempura was ridiculously minimal.
The staff, especially the Japanese man was really annoying. They seriously need to do something with him.
This restaurant was much better few weeks ago. What happened to them?!
I’ll never recommend this place any more. Go to other restaurants such as Ariyoshi, Sushi-​yu etc.

I give 4 stars for grilled pork appetizer, which comes with lots of green onion and vinegar source. It tastes like Korean pork but more meaty. Delicious, filling and affordable at $ 7.
My broiled fish was a bit dry and labor intensive as I try not to swallow fine bones. It was marinated in Japanese style and it might have come from packaged food.
I will go there again to try other appetizers.

Please! Do! Not! Assume! Every Japanese restaurant is all about the sushi!
I will elaborate on this review tomorrow.

Great, authentic Japanese bar. The sushi has always been good, but not great the multiple times I’ve eaten here. The fried pork dumpling things are great and price is pretty good considering everything. If you’re not actually Japanese be prepared to be the minority.

Bullet points for the 2 star rating:
1– I love the fact of being catered to and going to an establishment of prompt service, however, being asked if we’re ready 5 times within 12 minutes is a bit excessive. Upon that hovering is SO annoying!!!
2– They did not have several items on the menu. To me that already states something bad about the restaurant if it isn’t crowded and they constantly say «sorry we don’t have that, we ran out.»
3– The sushi wasn’t fresh; the edamame was the best thing I got.
4– The sashimi plate for $ 18 was ridiculously minimal. The cuts of fish were so small! If it wasn’t on a plate so large with a lot of other fluff, it would be a joke to serve.
5– The shrimp roll was literally, just shrimp. Usually a shrimp roll comes with slices of cucumber rolled with avocado and some other things they decide to put in. It was shrimp, seaweed paper and rice! That’s it! What?! No words… They seriously need to change that. I did not pay $ 12 for a piece of shrimp and rice.
On to the two stars:
1– staff was really nice. Annoying with the ordering but very nice.
2– bathroom was nice
3– because it was empty, it was private and quiet. Like we reserved the place to ourselves.
Pay more money and go to yama 49, it’s worth every penny and they don’t run out of stuff.

Seo Japanese Restaurant is located in Midtown East just off 2^nd Avenue along 49^th Street. There is a lunch special for a sushi combo roll which includes one yellowtail roll, a tuna roll, and a california roll for $ 16. The fish tasted fresh and they don’t skimp on the pieces in the roll. The décor is light wood tones up at the sushi bar and at the tables. Seating at the sushi bar. Tables at the back. The tea is brought out right away without asking for more. Service is adequate and worth coming back again. At 11pm there’s ramen.

When you’re the only non-​Japanese person in a restaurant for dinner you know you’re getting authentic food.
I had a craving for noodles and was trying to find a Ramen place. The one I was going to hit up was recently closed by the city (not sure what happened) so I wandered across the street to Seo. I work in marketing and was totally lured in by the SEO flag hanging out front. Total marketing nerd but I digress…
The highlights:
— Sapporo on tap ($ 6)
— House special udon w/​shrimp tempura ($ 18)
The udon was delicious, rich broth that wasn’t heavy at all. Perfectly cooked noodles and an ok-​sized portion. The tempura had 1 piece of shrimp and 3 large pieces of other veggies — a bit on the light side. I wouldn’t mind the portion size had the price been lower. For $ 18 and only getting noodles it was a bit pricey so that’s why the knock in a star.
A++ for service, promptness, & ambiance — there’s even a garden off the main dining room.

So for atmosphere this place is super cute. There is a little outdoor garden to look out to, they give you warm towel to wipe hands when you sit down etc. However, let’s get real and talk about food.
Went for dinner and we got sushi, agadashi tofu, a chicken app and noodle soup. Everything was so incredibly salty, including the sushi, which is nearly impossible to mess up. Not to mention the yellowtail had a potent odor, which should not happen with fresh sushi. I only had one piece of that roll.
The noodle soup was salty, oily and bland. Had to keep adding hot pepper powder to give it something!
The chicken had a fishy taste to it and was rock hard and dry. When we walked by the kitchen we noticed bags of chicken sitting on the border of the oven top which is so unsanitary.
Unfortunately I won’t be going back and there are much better Japanese restaurants in Midtown East such as Hatsuhana or Sushi Yasuda.

Really good place. I thought the appetizers were excellent and the highlight of the meal here. Gyoza is plump and juicy, an excellent dish. Kara age another delicious appetizer. My soba main dish was good but not great, the soba is better at Cocoron. Clientele is mostly Japanese — a great sign as I love authentic Japanese cooking. Space is small so best to get a reservation.

This review is for weekday lunch only.
Good but nothing to write home about + super slow = no go.
We had «broiled» hamachi kama (yellowtail collar) and sake kama (salmon collar).
«Broiled» but I guess the kitchen couldn’t handle four orders of fish collar so ended up pan frying it for expediency (greasy). Still tasty but pretty much your average St. Marks izakaya quality.
Forgot what I had the time before — not quite memorable.
Also sushi menu looked quite pricey. I know it’s authentic not the corner faux Japanese joint but hey, midtown east does have quite a few options for authentic sushi at better value.
Ambiance is not bad, especially in the back room.

Ok this place has literally changed my food life. I’ve never been too terribly interested in Japanese food, but after having soba here for the first time in my life, I am at a new level of OBSESSED. I’ve now had soba once a week to make up for 24 years of lost soba eating time and it’s all thanks to Seo.
The night before coming here, I had ramen for dinner, which I always feel meh about, so I wasn’t too excited about going to another Japanese noodle place. Oh past Tam, so ignorant.
Anyways, I decide to order the Kamonan Soba which comes with slices of duck and leek. Ahhhh I don’t know what kind of flavor explosion was happening in my mouth but it was like the perfect blend of salty, sour, and umami. Something about those soba noodles, man. So gooooood.

Soba noodle in warm soup w/​shrimp and vegetable tempura on the side: ⁷⁄₁₀
Sapporo beer on tap: ²⁄₁₀
Complimentary cup of tea ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Service/​vibes: ⁹⁄₁₀ (visited Friday 5:30 PM). Quiet laid back scene, seemed like home away from home for local japanese regulars.
Recommended, But get Sapporo only if you don’t mind weak bud light style beers

This is one of the authentic Japanese restaurants in the city!
As a person who was born in Japan, it’s pretty hard to find real Japanese restaurants in NYC… but this is the one! I feel like I’m in Japan whenever I eat there.
I recommend fried free-​range chicken, grilled sea bass, steamed crab dumpling, takana fried rice, and mizuna salad. They have some great dishes from daily special menu too.
Can’t wait to go back!

I was in Manhattan for work a couple weeks ago for morning meetings. After getting out of the meetings, I was on my way back to the parking garage when I spotted Seo. I ducked in for a solo lunch of a bowl of ramen. Being one of only a few people in the restaurant not speaking Japanese, I knew I was in for a treat. The ramen was delicious, service was prompt and friendly, and the view of the garden was serene. I would love to go back!

Very traditional japanese sushi restaurant. Their specialty seems to be sashimi and nigiri, and they have an extremely limited selection of traditional rolls. You won’t find any crazy rolls here — not even ones like a philadelphia roll or a rainbow roll. But I actually appreciate that they focus on traditional sushi and do it very well.
I also tried their crab shumai appetizer and the tempura udon. The udon was definitely my favorite dish of the night — very flavorful broth, nice chewy noodles, and perfectly fried shrimp and veggie tempura.
The restaurant is pretty small. The sushi bar is in the front, the back has about 8 –10 small tables. And the back has an amazing view of a beautiful japanese style garden — it almost makes you forget you are even in NYC.
Overall I gave this place three stars because the food is good, but nothing I would come back for. The prices are a little steep. The staff is friendly and attentive, but we were also the only table in the whole restaurant for dinner on a Sunday night. No major complaints, but also nothing exceptional to note about Seo.

When you live in the greatest [culinary] city in the world, you are inclined to try as many different restaurants as possible. However, there are some restaurants that are worthy of second, third, or even fourth visits.
One such restaurant is SEO Restaurant in Midtown East. I came here during Spring Break due to its proximity to my friend’s NYC apartment and fell in love with its chewy Inaniwa Hiyamori Udon. For my second visit, I came with a big group of 8 people. We started off with a bunch of appetizers. The first to arrive on the table was Steamed crab dumpling ($ 10). The mustard sauce was really spicy… probably had a bit of wasabi in it. The shumai isn’t as heavy as most shumai at Chinese restaurants, yet still maintains rich crab flavors.
The Calamari Salad ($ 10.50) came in a plate with iceberg lettuce (sort of disappointed by the choice of greens), lightly sauteed calamaris, and lame slices of tomato surrounding the whole thing. I really liked the vinaigrette that resembled a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar.
Jidori Karaage ($ 8.50), or fried marinated free range chicken, was quite greasy and fatty. I opted for the bitter greens on the side. The chicken didn’t look crispy enough for my liking anyways.
We also had some kind of seafood broth/​soup with clams, seaweed, scallions, and calamari. The broth had very deep, ocean flavors from all the clams in the bowl.
For my main course, I opted for Tenzaru Soba cold soba ($ 17) with cod dipping sauce and shrimp and vegetable tempura. Admittedly we had a big party, but it took forever for our noodles to arrive! Also, one person in our group didn’t get his entrée until I was half way done with my meal. I was disappointed that the soba only had scallions on the side to put in the dipping sauce and no grated radish.
The soba lacked any interesting, unique flavors. Instead, it just tasted like any other soba you would have. I suppose I should have stuck with the inaniwa udon. Oh well.
There were kabocha (my favorite!), shrimp, and portebello mushroom tempura. The mushroom tempura was the oddest thing ever… it was way too juicy! My second experience at Seo Restaurant was definitely not up to par with the first visit.

Seo belongs in the upper-​middle tier of sushi restaurants. It’s not quite as good as Sushi Yasuda /​Sushi of Gari, but still high quality. The restaurant is small, however patrons aren’t crowded next to each other. What I loved most about Seo was the little Japanese garden in the back — incredibly serene. For busy New Yorkers, this place is a good escape.
The food and service was good, which I would rate at 3 stars. For the beautifully traditional setting, I’m bumping it up to 4 stars