Shinbashi

I go to Shinbashi at least twice a week since I work right around the corner. I first spotted this place when I saw a bunch of Japanese business people going in. I used my judgment and figured if it’s good enough for them, it may just be a solid Japanese spot.
Lunch: Also having been to Japan 3 – 4 times a year on my business trips for the last 16 years, the fish quality is comparable to that of high quality fish served in Tsukiji, Tokyo. I’ve had the Sushi Sashimi assortment, their beef & salmon teriyaki dishes (heaven!), tempura udon (awesome!), Sushi Shinbashi (I think they call it?) and the Shinbashi bento. I typically don’t even get to finish the miso soup or a couple of the side dishes that come with their bento. I’m usually full by the time I’m done with the tempura, negimayaki and rolls that come with it. As the previous reviewer stated below, it’s true that they don’t tend to bring the spoon with the soup — but that’s actually customary in Japanese culture. If you want the spoon so badly, go to a Chinese or americanized Japanese joint. If requested, they will provide you with one — my colleague had wanted a spoon and got one right away.
Dinner: I really appreciate their vast sake selection. It’s nice to see a place carrying an assortment of Junmai, Junmai Ginjo, Junmai Daiginjo and Japanese whiskey. I haven’t been able to find Koshi no Kambai and Kirin-​zan at a restaurant in quite some time, but they have it! I usually start off with their appetizers like the mixed green salad (HUGE! And I appreciate how it comes with a little container of ginger dressing on the side), spicy shrimp tempura, negimayaki, chicken karaage, agedashi tofu and their salmon saikyo. I absolutely adore their hot pots which they seem to only have at dinner — my favorite is the Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu. I love these two, especially in the colder months when I’m not too much in the mood for sushi. Their udon is also amazing (their inaniwa udon and tempura udon are my favorites) — I like my udon cold, but I’ve had them hot before, and they are just as delish).
All in all, the prices are comparable to that of their neighboring Hatsuhana and Sushiden spots. Personally, I prefer the service at Shinbashi and they always have the space to fit me and my coworkers at any given time. They take walk-​ins pretty generously, so I never need to make a reservation.

WAY over priced for the meal. Sushi was ok, small quantities of the entire meal.

Flavorless sushi and subpar service. I’m surprised they average as high as 3.5 stars on Unilocal.
Sushi Ann and Katsu-​hama were both full with long waits. Pressed for a last-​minute place in midtown, I found Shinbashi on Opentable. A quick check on Unilocal,without being able to read many reviews, left me to gamble on this place. Gamble, and lose, I did.
Priced the same as Sushi-​Ann lunch deals, but at a far lower quality of fish, I left this place wishing I had just gone to a fast food chain. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a cafeteria, a fishbowl at that. It lacks the calming interior of many other Japanese restaurants in midtown.
They also failed to provide us with spoons for our miso soup until we flagged someone down 5 minutes later. Forgot my hot tea. Cherry on top was when they charged my friend’s credit card twice by accident.
Safe to say I will not be coming back here.

Overpriced bento boxes with low quality fish. Need I say more?
If you are looking for Japanese lunch options, walk down a few blocks to 46^th street or lower and east of Park Ave. There are soooooo many better options. Don’t waste your time or money here.

Shinbashi is just around the corner from Rockefeller Center and really convenient. I had an early supper sitting at the long counter. Tempura was excellent, nice and crisp. The uni sea urchin looked very fresh so I ordered two, yum. The nori was crisp and crackling, uni piled on high. Both my wife and I like this restaurant. The Japanese host and serving staff are all friendly and helpful.

Very enjoyable. Normally, I research before I dine. Particularly if I am visiting a city. Monday night was the exception to the rule. Truth be told, I used my simple, but tried and true method for asian cuisine — observing the patrons of the restaurant.
While not crowded, there was a solid contingent of Japanese business people. Also important, the ratio of Japanese to American patrons was very high. Yet another good sign.
In the end, I was rewarded with quality sushi in a relaxing environment.

Wow, just wow. Took a while to get the crappy taste out of my mouth.
If you want 8 small rubbery pieces of Sushi with a tiny tuna roll for $ 28 (Sushi New York they called it, i think)… go for it
i would rather save up and spend more for something better, or just skip their nigiri altogether and just get maki rolls from a local Haru or something…
this is just really bad sushi — every piece required more and more soy just to get it down my throat (and i never add soy)
nothing was seasoned, just bland, which brought out the bad rice and the bad fish even more
turrible kenny

Ok, so it is late, I’m just leaving the office and decided to walk home. Passed by this place. A rating. Nice and clean. No fish smell. Yay, I’m treating myself to sake and sushi. Wow! found a new favorite sushi place. Toro was so creamy and sweet, the salmon so mild and delish, the yellow tail, perfect texture and taste. What more could a tired, hungry girl ask for? Oh yeah, great service! I will be back!

Sushi was fresh and delicious. The service was ok. We ate outdoors and there was enough space for everyone and didn’t feel crowded.

Very mediocre. Everything kind of tasted like a burger… I got a tuna fire role and it had something that looked like a pea on top and a spider roll and it all tasted about the same. I was aiming for place next door and ended up here — bummer. Thankfully the Kirin Ichiban was good!

I have only been here for dinner but the quality of each ingredient is amazing — rice, fish, and meats. There is a wide range of sake and they are ready to help with suggestions. I have brought many guests (including from Japan) and they ALL loved it. It’s worth paying a little extra for better quality. I have a lot of favorites — chawanmushi, sashimi/​sushi, negimaki, vegetable terrine, and grilled fish.

TERRIBLE! Sushi choices were ridiculous — 2 people in our party don’t eat sushi so ordered the teriyaki chicken breast with rice. It was the tiniest chicken breast I’ve seen, thin & dry — BUT it took 20 minutes longer to get than the horrible sushi. The sushi place next door was packed with no seats available for the entire evening, that should have been our first clue not to eat here since the place was practically empty. The topper was when we received the bill — the 2 chicken plates were $ 52!!! YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT — $ 52 for 2 tiny pieces of dry chicken.

Solid sushi. Great chicken teriyaki. If you are walking down 5^th Avenue and looking for a place to eat, this place is a good choice. Would definitely go back.

The food quality was good and the service was great. The portions are small for the price, but I prefer international portions to American sized, so quite nice!

Freaking unbelievably delicious sushi!!! It was really unexpected since most sushi restaurants in New York are pretty much the same. This place has amazing sushi, sashimi, udon. I can’t wait to come back here!

Really great service! My friend and I randomly stopped by and the food exceeded our expectations. The restaurant seemed a bit empty at 5pm but maybe that wasn’t dinner time yet.

I heard of this place from a very friendly Japanese businessmen on a recent train excursion who hyped up Shinbashi’s quality. «And small portions,» he added, gesturing disapprovingly at his rotund business partner snoring bursts of Cheeto-​scented air. Whenever someone utters «small portions,» I get a bit frightened because it means I might actually have to slow down and eat in a dignified manner.
The portions here are tiny but everything is flavorful and healthy enough so you won’t slip into an epic food coma by the time you have to go back to your desk. I ordered the Classic bento box which comes with salmon teriyaki. Was it the best, silkiest salmon teriyaki that I ever had? No way. It was a bit overcooked and burnt.
I ended up loving the accompanying egg custard/​chawanmushi and side dish of the day (some kind of stewed potato with negimaki beef) more than the salmon. My friend’s eel over rice came in this beautiful ceramic jewelry box.
Too stuffed to eat dessert but the anmitsu jelly looked amazing. The service was a bit brusque at first but our waiter overheard us talking about taking a picture and piped up that he could take it for us.

When I saw the Vegetable Terrine on their website, I told myself that I have to eat there. So I ran there during lunch time and had the terrine.
Spinach Goma-​ae: boiled spinach in ground sesame sauce, served cold. The spinach has a nice texture, the sesame sauce has a sweet taste.
Vegetable Terrine: a cold dish made of 10 kinds of vegetables (cabbage, carrot, daikon, fennel, green been, shiitake, squash, zucchini) layered over beet sauce. It’s a beautiful and colorful dish. The beet sauce has a lemony flavor.
Anmitsu Jelly: layered with mixed fruits (apple, kiwi, nectarine, pineapple), red bean. The jelly are unsweetened.
I ate at the sushi counter but I didn’t order any fish and it’s okay. It was a light and refreshing meal.

My husband and I ate at Shinbashi last night as part of our trip to see the tree at Rockefeller– my husband had never been and he chose the restaurant since we both love sushi. The place is nice and quiet, and has a simple yet refined quality about it.
We started out with some wine and ordered the sashimi appetizer. The chef sent over a complimentary tamago app for each of us, which was delicious and unlike anything we’d ever tried. The sashimi was fresh and tender, the salmon came with roe which added a nice salty touch.
For our dinners, we ordered tuna rolls, toro rolls, and an Alaskan roll. Wow. The toro roll was particularly delicious, couldn’t get enough of it. Probably some of the best sushi we’ve ever had. For dessert we ordered the mochi crêpe with a blackberry filling and peach sauce, which topped off our dinner quite nicely.
Our server was kind and attentive, and the service was phenomenal. The food of course was fantastic! What a great way to kick off our holiday season. We will definitely be back!

What a great sushi spot midtown! They recently had a management change but I was never here under the old management so I can’t compare anything. I just know I loved it tonight :)
I just got back in the country last week after almost two months abroad and couldn’t WAIT for some amazing sushi… I asked the sushi chefs for their suggestions so they made me an uni/​salmon roe/​egg sushi and it was like heaven. They also suggested the fatty tuna and fatty salmon — I can’t believe I never had fatty salmon before! I ordered fried oyster appetizer to go with all the sushi I had (also had mackerel, squid, scallop etc.) and had the red bean w jelly for dessert. We also shared the softshell crab tempura and a couple of other things… wish I had more room so I could have finished all my dessert.
There’s a private room downstairs that had a huge private party of 20 – 30 people. Even with the crowd downstairs our orders came out in a good amount of time. The main dining room has nice high ceilings and the tables have enough room between them so that it was comfortable and not too noisy.
I heard it gets mobbed lunchtime due to the location so I’m glad I came for dinner and didn’t have to wait for a table.
I plan to come back again with friends next month… going to be a tough choice as to whether I save room for dessert next time but I do want to try the red bean mochi.