Sushi Dojo NYC

Excellent Omakase at a decent price. I’m a noob at omakase, but must say this sets the benchmark. Only complaint I had was having a little trouble hearing what the fish we were eating was called. Maybe a sign or something would be nice.
Made a reservation and was seated promptly at the bar (this is a must for omakase). You get an up close and personal view of the chef making one (two if you’re with a date) piece at a time. You might get reasonably full at the end, but don’t expect to be stuffed. Hey, if you’re hungry still, get a dollar slice to cap the night. Or go to a bar and drink beer.

Dojo serves an absolutely delicious and affordable omakase. The chef began by asking us what our favorite fish are, to which my friend and I both responded: salmon. This is the sampler that he ultimately tailored for us:
1. Grant fish
2. Bluefin tuna
3. Japanese salmon
4. Horse mackerel
5. Stripe jack
6. Ocean trout
7. Golden snapper
8. Live scallop
9. Medium fatty tuna (chutoro)
10. Amberjack
11. Belt fish
12. Hokkaido uni
13. Alaskan salmon
14. Yellowtail belly
15. King salmon
16. Fatty tuna (otoro)
17. Eel
18. Large shrimp
20. Fatty tuna hand roll
We also started with an appetizer of baby clams cooked in a sake broth. I would highly recommend this if you’re a fan of clams!
The highlights for me were definitely the 3 types of salmon, the fatty toro, the live scallop, and the perfectly cooked rice. If you’re ordering a la carte, make sure you order these!
The Hokkaido uni was very light but not bitter, so I enjoyed it, but some may prefer a creamier uni. The raw shrimp was slightly bitter, so I can’t say it was my favorite.
I’m subtracting a star because there were hiccups in the service (a mini piece of bone was found in one of the pieces), but the chef compensated for that by giving us extra sushi. Also, aside from the baby clams, the appetizer selection was also not very impressive, and the dessert selection was even more mediocre. The only option was ice cream. Given that this restaurant is located in the East Village, a part of town with plenty of specialty ice cream shops, I was not compelled to choose Dojo over any other for ice cream. I would have appreciated some more specialized Japanese desserts.

I thought my Omakase here was great, the sushi experience here was very different from any I’ve had before. Omakase at other places are typically very formal and stuffy, at Sushi Dojo it seemed like a more casual and fun Omakase experience for a younger crowd. Throughout the entire meal, they were playing house music and sushi chefs, on multiple occasions, were drinking sake with the patrons. At the end of my meal, they gave complimentary sake that we had with the chef and our waiter, it was actually pretty cool. In terms of the sushi itself, it was very unique since the texture of all the sushi was a lot softer in texture than other places. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing just different. And for those who are sensitive to wasabi, every piece had a generous amount, I didn’t mind at all but my dining partner had a little sensitivity to it. I also thought the rice was prepped nicely, it had a really nice texture and good flavor. My friend and I each ordered the 20 piece $ 120 Omakase.
The food:
Red Snapper– In all Omakase, they always build up the sushi from lighter to fattier fishes and this was the case here. The Red Snapper was a mild fish that paired well with nice kick of the wasabi and the acidity of the lemon.
Amberjack– The Amberjack was great and had such a wonderful silky texture.
Horse Mackerel– This as well had excellent texture but came off on the fishy side. The addition of the ginger and scallion was great and helped mellow out the Horse Mackerel a lot. I normally love Horse Mackerel but the one here was just OK.
White Shrimp– The flavor on this was nice, the texture was kinda weird, though. The texture was super soft and squishy.
Blue Fin Tuna– This was very tasty, I thought the Blue Fin here was great.
Spanish Mackerel– This piece was excellent, it was one of my favs and the ginger addition went together perfectly.
Yellowtail– I love yellowtail and the one here was perfection. It looked different from what I am used to but the chef said it was yellowtail and it was incredible. Another fav.
Scallop– This was an great piece and the addition of the salt really went well. Another fav.
Tasmanian Trout– This is in the Salmon family and it tasted as amazing as it looked. This was amazing. Another fav.
Med Toro– Amazing. Another fav.
Santa Barbara Sea Urchin– It’s funny since I thought the Santa Barbara was so good and the seaweed was perfectly crispy but the piece from Hokkado was even better. This was a fav.
Amberjack Belly– Excellent. So melt in my mouth perfect. This was a fav.
Mackerel from Japan– This was the only true miss of the night. Mackerel in general is a tough sell for me but the one here was really fishy. I did not like this piece.
Botan Shrimp– The texture was great and the flavor was good.
New Zealand King Salmon– This was a good piece, it was nice and silky but the above Tasmanian Trout was a better piece.
Hokkaido Uni– Holy Shit, it was magical! It was super creamy and excellent. I would say it was probably the best piece of Uni I ever had. This was the star of the night!
Striped Jack– This was excellent, it’s in the yellowtail family and it was great. This was a fav.
Fatty Tuna– Perfecto as always. This was a fav.
Golden Eye Snapper– This had a nice smoky element since they torched the skin and it had a nice acidity from the lemon.
Sea Eel– This was good, it was unique in the sense that it was the first time I had a sea eel that resembled fish more than eel, it was still good.

Some of the best valued sushi in the city. I really do think their omakase menu is a steal. We sat at the bar, and because we had an earlier dinner reservation, we had an option to pick which chef to sit by. I sat in front of the chef that had a more traditional style of serving sushi vs the other, who likes to add garnishes and is a bit more modern in that respect. We had red snapper, amberjack, horse mackerel, white shrimp (a favorite), trout (very fresh), lean tuna, uni from Hokkaido, scallop, medium tuna, stripped jack, hard shell clam, uni from Russia (so sweet), fatty tuna (a favorite), golden eye snapper, sea eel, and otoro hand roll. This took me back to Japan. Everything is truly authentic and it’s all about the rice and the freshness of the fish. I was very happy leaving this place.

I wanna give them a zero if I can! We made reservation for a table for 2 at 10:30pm on opentable. However, when we got there, the waitress said they were closed. They don’t care your reservation, and they don’t answer the calls. There was another customer just behind us and had the same thing happened to her.
Your RESERVATION means NOTHING to them and if anything changed, you shouldn’t expect they call you. The Open hours is nothing more than a JOKE!

OK… I’m a sushi snob. I’ve been dinning on sushi for so long I’ve grown a dorsal fin. But I’ve come to dislike most of the sushi finding it ordinary, flavorless and well — blah. Now I save my sushi craving for restaurants that honor the fish — and every bit as important, honor the rice.
I tell my guests that a dinner at Sushi Dojo will change their sushi sensibilities forever — and they will hate me for it. Fortunately, nobody has admitted to hating me so far — but all have upped their sushi game.
I’ve dined here several times at the bar but also at a table (only omekasa) and can never quite stop at 15 pieces. I find there is always more room for one more uni, toro, hotate-​ga & odori etc.
In addition to being delicious — each piece is well proportioned: the correct size piece of fish over the correct size bed of rice — prepared by a master. And for goodness sake use your fingers — it really does taste better.
So if you want ordinary beef, go to McDonalds — but if you want superlative sushi, it’s Omekasa at Sushi Dojo.

As a frequent visitor of NYC, I often crave for the taste of authentic sushi in this lively city. More often than not, I am left disappointed — but not this time.
I had the 15 pc omakase and was blown away. Let’s start with the condiments. The quality of soy sauce, wasabi, and ginger are at a very high quality. I would not be surprised if you tell me they use real wasabi.
You can skip: live clam, uni (from Cali), toro
Best bet: everything else. Really, you are safe ordering almost anything

Pleasantly surprised by chef’s selection omasake. Great selection of non-​standard fishes. Plus I was able to abstain from the fish that weren’t my favorites.
Bonus: meeting someone at the sushi bar who made me laugh while I was at a table.
Not my style: music is heavy house and not romantic at all.

Sushi Dojo was on point on my revisit.
The sake sommelier was on point tonight and made my experience a 5 star!!! Ask him for some suggestions and he will show his skills.
Omakase at 45 dollars is a steal and well done.

Like visual reviews better? Check out our piece by piece review here:
Otherwise read my wall of text (sorry).
Another morimoto Alumni David Bouhadana (boohadanna) opened up a delcious sushi restaurant. Sushi dojo is not only known for serving up delicious pieces, but it also offers possibly the most affordable omakase dinner set in the city at around 85 $.
Chef Bouhadana is no longer working here so we couldn’t get him as our chef sadly. Still give this place a chance, we thought it was delicious and affordable despite this setback. We got the omakase course which consisterd of 15 chef selected pieces. With a relaxed and laid back environment we were ready to taste all the unique sushi the sushi chef was going curate.
They keep this place affordable by trying to win at the fish auctions at low bids. When the fish first comes into season, it is at it’s highest cost, purchasing fish at a later date will allow the price to fall and make it more affordable.
1. The sweet aroma and pleasing texture of red snapper make it a favorite of mine. Starting off with this first is a delight. Chewy, and light on flavor alone it’s a great starting piece.
2. Striped jack is one of the more luxury farm raised fish that are available. Since they don’t have a lot of space to swim they have a higher fat content. A pretty popular fish all year round.
3. Mackerel has always been my kryptonite sushi piece. I’ve always gotten nauseated from the strong fishy taste, but once I started eating at more professional restaurants my mind has slowly changed. They salt-​cure and vinegar wash it perfectly. My whole perception is flipped now.
4. Salmon is an oily fish that has a semi-​soft texture. King Salmon is a fattier version with strong flavor high in omega-​3 and vitamin e. Here he torched it a bit and topped it with a little soy sauce and negi.
5. There was a time when Uni was the second hardest piece for me to keep down. At least in the past because I never really ate well prepared sushi before a few years ago. Now this is rapidly becoming a favorite. The creamy feel and ocean smell of uni is one of the top delicacies in Japan. I wish I realized it’s greatness earlier.
6. Lean tuna from Canada is firm and has very little fat. One of the true icons of sushi, it’s best served with minimal additional ingredients, allowing you to focus in on it’s impactful flavor.
7. Sweet shrimp as it’s name implies sweet. Chewy, simple and delicious. A bonus of getting sweet shrimp is that the other half of the body is also prepared and served which I will touch upon in a minute since it’s still cooking.
8. Mackerel (saba) is different from Horse Mackerel (aji) in that it is slightly stronger flavored. It is often used to test a sushi chef’s skills since it is more difficult to marinade than other sushi pieces.
9. Uni again, but this time from Maine. This sea urchin is more brinier than the sweet floral taste of the Santa Barbara relative. Complemented with salmon roe. I love seeing Maine represented here.
7b. Back to the sweet shrimp. This is the other half of what we ate before, coated in potato starch and fried to a crisp. The brain is a delicacy in itself and can be consumed whole this way. Season with salt and crunch away.
10. My first time eating ocean trout. It was a little fattier and richer than salmon. It had a melt in your mouth sensation that I love and get from Otoro.
11. A very inexpensive fish and yet packs a punch of flavor. The Spanish mackerel came blowtorched lightly and flaked with burnt negi. It was interesting trying out 3 different types of mackerel in one sitting. I liked this last piece the best out of the 3.
12. Scallops are prepared by immersing them in saltwater the same concentration as seawater. This allows for any trapped sand to be expelled. It is the softest sushi in the shellfish category. Ours was seasoned with yuzu to give it a nice citrus bitterness to contrast its naturally sweet flesh.
Fati — 14. The Otoro at Dojo was interesting. I almost always have eaten it raw so that you get the buttery flavor. Enjoyable, but I prefer raw over cooked. I feel as though this was a wasted opportunity for delicious raw otoro.
15. This piece just fell apart in your mouth. Very tasty as Anago usually is. It is probably one of the easiest introductory sushi pieces since it is cooked and not too exotically
Dojo means place of study, and Bouhadana wanted to litereally teach his guests about sushi as they ate. We didn’t really get this level of treatment, but our chef was attentive and walked us through what each piece was and where they were from.

Uh Maze Zing!
Sushi Dojo is exactly where you want to be at if you’re a fan of sushi and a fan of feel good music. We didn’t bother with rezzie and just walked in while it opened.
Caught seat at the corner of the sushi bar which I’m such a big fan of. Omakase runs 85 dollars for 15 pieces. Yes please! Probably one of the best deals in the city for this quality of fish.
Honestly I should of came years ago prior to chef David Bouhadana release, but after hearsay of some racial epithet outburst — I’m ok with being served by another just as skilled. My most gracious thanks to chef Jun.
If you sit at the bar, the omakase is mandatory. You can also order off the menu as well! We started off with
— Manilla clams
— Uni Croquette
As for the main course
— Red Snapper
— Amber Jack (kanpachi)
— Bluefin Tuna
— Horse Mackerel
— Squid
— Fluke
— Mackerel
— Tasmanian Trout
— Hokkaido Uni
— Chu-​Toro (medium fat tuna)
— Scallop & Uni from Santa Barbara
— O-​toro (fattiest tuna)
— Golden eye snapper
— Fresh Water Unagi Eel
Just amazing! Most of the seafood derived from Japan’s infamous Tsukiji Fish Market. After one taste, you can really tell the difference between your everyday sushi and this powerhouse. Well worth the price value and really affable employees here. Worth coming back? I’m making my next reservation as I write this. 30 stars if possible. Do it, you won’t be sorry.

Dojo has been my go to spot for sushi omakase because of quality, price, location, and Chef. Let me preface this by saying that my favorite Chef, Takeshi, is no longer working here so that might lessen my visits but it was great every time I’ve been there. Chef Takeshi always gave us more pieces than the advertised 15 and we always left very full. I haven’t been back since he’s left but from all the other reviews and photos it seems that Chef Mako, who has taken over the spot as head sushi chef at the sushi bar, is doing very well and I may have to pay a visit for his omakase soon.

Legit sushi. I came here recently for dinner on a Friday night (note: definitely make a reservation beforehand). We ordered the 15-​piece omakase ($ 85), which was delicious! All the pieces were super fresh. My favorites were the toro and scallop. For uni lovers, they have 3 different types (Maine, Hokkaido, and Santa Barbara), so you really get to compare and contrast. The waitstaff was friendly and courteous. I definitely recommend this place for quality sushi at a decent price.
–L.

This place is small but cozy. The service was good. They would check to make sure everything is fine. I had the 15 piece and 1 hand roll omakase. It was definitely an enjoyable experience! The sushi was fresh and witnessing how it was being made was interesting. I love that they put lemon juice on some of the sushi pieces because it was refreshing. I’m not a fan of Uni so I didn’t get any Uni sushi but my friend did. Apparently, winter is the season for uni’s in California. He really enjoyed it. I had a little piece of it and it wasn’t bad at all. Maybe I’ll try Uni next time.

Sadly, my path never crossed with David Bouhadana here at Sushi Dojo. However, a friend did recommend a visit with Chef Takeshi before he part ways with the establishment. The reservation process was a breeze, leaving a good impression already. Every great sushi omakase experience I’ve had, it tends to be a very serious affair. What they do differently here is that they still serve excellent sushi but in a completely different atmosphere. Here at Sushi Dojo, the dimly lit 14-​seat counter bar has more of a casual and lively ambience.
The sushi bar’s omakase options are simplified to combinations from $ 45 for 10 pieces to $ 85 for 15 pieces and a hand roll. A la carte dining is also offered at the tables scattered around the sushi bar. Throughout the meal, Chef Takeshi showed off his knife and plating skills while still managing to interact with us. His repute of being exceptionally generous with additional nigiri pieces is indeed true. I must say he’s one of the most engaging, down-​to-​earth, and practical sushi chefs I’ve ever encountered. Each sushi piece served, expressed his creativity and technique based on each fish. I left here beyond satisfied and hope to return soon.
Overall, excellent sushi at an affordable and modest price. It’s unrivaled to the big boy establishments such as Sushi Nakazawa or Ichimura but the price to quality/​quantity ratio is unbeatable.
***P.S. Takeshi Sato-san’s last day will be on January 16^th 2016, so I would also recommend taking a visit if you haven’t already done so. His next endeavor will be at Kyoya!

Out of the NYC’s cheap omakase spot, Sushi Dojo is on the top of my list for that. When it comes to good quality sushi for a great value and fair price mark; Sushi Dojo, Tanoshi, Kanoyama, Sushi Katsuei, and 1or8 are always among the buzz in that category, but between them all, I like Sushi Dojo the best following with Tanoshi as second! I’ve been here twice already but unfortunately it will end now that they got rid of their head sushi-​chef, David Bouhadana, who was the fun bright light in the atmosphere, and even my own personal favorite from Sushi Dojo, Chef Takeshi, who is also leaving the establishment very soon.
My first impression on my experience at Sushi Dojo was that it was very different from other omakase places in the city. It wasn’t quite and peaceful, and it wasn’t sleek or fancy as well… but instead it was more lively, a little stuffy and small with a loud atmosphere and very upbeat mainstream top40s kind of music.
For $ 45 you get 10 pieces of sushi or $ 85 for 15 pieces and a roll… which Chef Takeshi always hooked it up and gave more anyways! All the raw fishes are incredibly fresh, and Chef Takeshi’s beautiful craftsmanship into each of his nigiris are all oh so wonderful to the tastebuds! I would of minus a star from Dojo due to some certain personal reasons based on professionalism (no, not from the cool chefs)… but hey, just because of the high quality fish for a kickass price is worthy of 5 stars alone. Where ever David or Takeshi’s next food journey is… I’m following! Maybe they should join together to be a hand in hand duo again at the next place! :P

I honestly don’t know where else one could find such an amazing omakase at such a fair price point in NYC.
Fish is top quality and fresh. Price can’t be beat — 15 piece omakase for $ 85! (and yes, they really do give more than 15. might be a good way of marketing ;D). Chef Takeshi is a total sweetheart and lights up when talking about life in Japan back in the day.
My sister and I had a ressie for the sushi bar and walked in with high expectations that we did not want to have in fear of being disappointed. We were also secretly hoping that the chef was going to give us more than the 15 pieces stated on paper — Thanks to fellow Unilocalers below me raving about Sushi Dojo’s generosity. We counted 20 pieces each. Yep, Chef Takeshi gave us 20. This review is long overdue and as much as I love sushi, I’m horrible with names. I can barely remember the name of the fish I ate, but I can tell you that every piece left me beyond satisfied. I do remember having uni twice. toro twice. and a mind blowing piece of trout and mackerel. Sorry, not too helpful, but that’s all I’ve got. I totally preferred the tamago here over the super raved about tamago at Nakazawa (boohoo.) as well. My tuna hand roll here also tasted better than the one I had at Nakazawa. ha!
Love.

The food at Sushi Dojo is great, especially for the price.
We made a reservation at this place for the same day (Friday) and were able to get a 8pm reservation, which was great albeit a little nerve wracking. The restaurant itself isn’t much to look at — it actually looked kind of boarded up and we thought it had maybe shut down.
Inside is dark but better than outside. We were seated quickly.
The service is the one complaint I have about this place. Our server regularly failed to come back to us and it took a while to get our order in. To put this in perspective, we ordered apps and entrees and were there for over two hours. And it’s a small place. It took a while to get wine refills and to flag someone down to ask questions.
Anyway, on to the good stuff — with the exception of the service being painfully slow, most of the staff seemed nice. One lady kind of snapped at me for asking for sweet chili sauce (for the app, not the sushi…) but other than that, everyone was pleasant.
We ordered a bottle of wine and the edamame, the ohitashi, and the fireied shishito peppers. I’m weighing this review HEAVILY towards the sushi, because the apps were nothing to write home about.
The wine selection was affordable. Good.
Edamame is edamame. Fine, good.
The shishito peppers were VERY mild even though they were described to us as being pretty spicy. Meh.
The ohitashi was my favorite of the apps, but it was also a little bland. Greens, mushrooms, some dashi broth.
The star of the show is the omakase. At only $ 45 per person as compared to omakase for 100+ at most other high end sushi places, this is a steal and a no-​brainer for first timers. You can also swap out items you don’t like (raw shrimp, uni, whatever it may be) with no issue.
Each piece was excellent. If this was an omakase review alone, it would get a 4.5. Our server was patient about explaining the pieces to us, and our replacement pieces were great. Don’t expect anything too nuts at this place, but the fish is very solid. I was thinking about it for like four days afterwards.
I will definitely be back, and I hope to give this place a 4 or higher when I do, because the omakase deserves it.

Sushi Dojo is really great sushi but on top of that, it’s also a really great dining experience and much of this is because of Chef David’s commitment to fun — this isn’t a serene, quiet shrine to fish. There’s disco music happening with lots of sake shared between the chefs and the customers at the bar.
This isn’t to downplay the quality of the sushi at Dojo. We had several excellent pieces, all culminating in the uni flight, which for lovers of urchin, is a must order. The Hokkaido uni blows you away.
Can’t wait to come back!

Tried the $ 45 Sushi Deluxe, an assortment of «ten most valuable sushi pieces.»
Let’s face it. $ 4.5 per piece of sushi is neither cheap nor expensive in NYC. But Sushi Dojo gives you pieces like sea urchin (uni), o-​toro, sea scallop, sea eel (anago), and more. Of course, there are mainstays like yellowtail, red snapper, regular tuna, and mackerel. But overall this is an excellent deal if you’re into the more «exotic» types of sushi. Sushi is fresh but I do prefer pre-​sauced nigiri.
We also tried appetizers of fried soft-​shelled crab (deliciously crispy and served with a soy-​based dipping sauce), kakuni or pork belly (chopstick tender), and fried shrimp (eaten whole and melts in your mouth — 6 pieces for $ 9). The appetizers alone merit a visit to Sushi Dojo, and you can build a whole meal around them, since the sushi just seems to pop in your mouth and vanish as soon as it arrives on the table.
I still wouldn’t say it’s better than Yasuda or Ichimura, but it’s definitely a great deal. Better than places like 15 East 15 and much cheaper than Masa or Nakazawa!