As it’s been a few years since my last visit, I need a refresher on the sushi scene as of late. Does Yoshino top Noz? What’s the ranking within the Noz family (Noz, 17, Market)? Are there any other spots that should be considered above these? I only have one night dedicated to sushi so trying to make the best decision.
I liked sushi sho the bestest
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Concur. Sho. That is fo’ sho.
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Mitani, Mekumi, Yoshitake, and maybe one other famous sushi restaurant from Japan opening in NY in 2025, apparently.
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Home of the greenbacks!
Wow, not one I would have expected to make a NYC expansion.
on upcoming openings
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Yes, Mekumi’s a surprise to me as well. Will the NY branch feature crab or Noto products? I’m not sure. Very, very interesting.
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Yoshitake has been trying to open in NY for a while. In 2018, a sushi chef in NY told me he had tried years before. Likely his abalone liver sauce will be featured, even if we’ve seen many follow. Though I don’t care about Michelin ratings, particularly in Japan, his achievements in that will certainly carry over in terms of reputation. Also, his branch Sushi Shikon in Hong Kong confers another boost in recognition outside of Japan.
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The other famous sushi restaurant opening next year will have a lot of ingredients on display (I think some can guess who it may be). A chef in Japan told me, but I haven’t seen anything official or read anything. I could be wrong but could’ve sworn he said a certain Nakakmeguro name. I’ll wait until it’s official, because for example there was supposed to be a different big name before at a nice hotel but that didn’t come to fruition.
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Mitani is actually rather exciting, particularly for its otsumami and alcohol pairings. Despite a food influencer calling it “no frills” or something, I think that the meal here is a bit creative especially compared to other Japanese sushiya. There are many “no frills” sushiya, but Mitani isn’t one of them, stylistically they are a little flashy with a fancy setting (food is served on a glass sushi geta) with unique and great otsumami.
Great alcohol pairings alongside otsumami, which is maybe what they’re most famous for. I’ve had various excellent Juyondai, Shinshu Kirei, some Next5 bottlings, etc. alongside some decent village Burgundy. Both times I’ve had my favorite Shinshu Kirei Kinmon Nishiki, a phantom bottle that’s seriously good with food.
I’ve been to two branches in Kioicho, not Yotsuya, but speaking with others, I hear the Kioicho branches are stylistically faithful to the honten. I can see this working well in NY. Certainly at these expected price points, these high-end sushiya will have to differentiate themselves.
Here’s some fancy otsumami I’ve had at Mitani branches, not the kind you’d see at normal sushiya:
- shirako risotto with fried amadai and karasumi. with Shinshu Kirei (one of my very favorites) and a rose champagne.
- kinki (channel rockfish) with its liver; ankimo with toasted rice cracker. with Masuizumi barrel aged kijoshu.
- hotaru ika with its innards, asatsuki, and shiso
- fried awabi with dashi ankake and seaweed
- ni-hamaguri with ankake sauce
right now, it seems like Sushi Sho and Sushi Yoshino are the top places. It’s interesting how the NY scene has evolved. 15-20 years ago, there was a big gap compared to what it is now. back then, maybe Masa was considered the top (some had allegiance to Yasuda or Kurumazushi). Then around 2016ish or so the scene seemed to level up significantly, and yet again since the pandemic with Sho and Yoshino opening. Now that more are following, NY seems poised to be the high-end sushi destination outside of Japan.
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