The New York Knickerbockers beat the San Antonio Spurs by one point in game four of the NBA finals when OG Anunoby bolted and heroically redirected the ball to the hoop in the remaining 1.2 seconds of the final quarter; the following evening, not even 24 hours after this historic defeat, I leisurely walked to Sushi W—an interactive omakase restaurant— in the pronounced heat, and New Yorkers greeted me in the streets by saying “Knicks in 5”, “Knicks in 5!”, I beamed back. When I neared the omakase restaurant in the upper west side, which was shyly hiding in-between two larger buildings, I spotted a man wearing his Knicks jersey on top of his suit like it was his second skin.
Sushi W first entered New York City’s consciousness in 2021. Co-owners and husband-and-wife duo Yong Sa and Dora were both born and raised in Japan and are well-versed in the current Edomae sushi trend. Their idea for the restaurant grew out of Yong Sa’s career in finance, where he frequently entertained U.S and Asian institutional investors at Tokyo’s top sushi restaurants. His experience shaped and influenced Sushi W’s menu.
The duo also saw an opportunity to serve better quality for New Yorkers at a reasonable price. The restaurant is underscored with a no-tipping policy, as hospitality is included in the omakase price. They pay their workers fairly, and they know how to manage their equity, I thought to myself, as I walked into the establishment.
While their first dinner service starts at 6pm, I arrived at 5.10pm to savour some of their appetisers and sake. Staff member Caitlin, who styled her hair in a similar manner to American figure skater Alysa Liu, served me, and she helped orient me during my time at the restaurant. She gave me little laminated, hand-written menus: one for the appetisers, and one for the drinks.
I ordered a sake, and all three appetisers: edamame, kampachi sashimi with a ponzu-based sweet and sour sauce, topped with basil, and finally ceviche made using the extra components from nigiri, cucumber, red onions, and lemon juice. The fresh fish arrives daily from Fulton fish market every morning except on Saturdays, and they buy their ingredients from local markets too. The appetisers were waiting on the counter to be eaten as I continued to talk and ask questions to Caitlin.
My omakase experience started at 6pm. My sushi chef, Miguel, took a handful of freshly sliced ginger, firmly squeezed the juice, and carefully placed a generous portion on my deep blue plate resembling koi fish gliding and swirling in a pond.
The sushi quickly started pouring in. In the premium menu, there are a total of 17 sushi, but the dishes you eat will differ if you have dietary requirements. In theory, you have 3.5 minutes to eat each sushi, but with the interactive games included in the hour service, you most likely have two minutes to eat each piece of sushi. Since I am a slow eater, the sushi Miguel prepared gradually filled my plate.
You start with the Akami Zuke with homemade sweet soy sauce, then the Chutoro (tuna) with soy sauce followed by the Chutoro with sea salt. Caitlin informed me that traditionally those three are eaten together in that order. Why? Because the akami is less fatty which means that the customer can better appreciate the taste comparisons of the tuna nigiris.
The Ika (squid), is made by cutting the squid into a thin, noodle like appearance and is topped with lemon zest. I was surprised. I never expected raw squid to be so soft, creamy, and easy to chew. The lemon zest lightly coated and refreshed my mouth which was followed by the subtle spice of the wasabi.
The palm of my hand served as the plate for the Ikura in which Miguel placed a sheet of seaweed, and then rice When he put a spoonful of the salmon roe, he said ‘Yoisho!’, which means ‘let’s go’ in English. Tabitha, another front-of-house staff, instructed me to fold the corners of the seaweed and eat it in one bite. The salmon roe popped popped popped in my mouth.
The next interactive game was a game of Japanese rock, paper, scissors (Janken), which I played with everyone else dining. The winner got the option of ordering two free chutoros, either one of each or two of the same. We all had our hands in the air. Against the 1/12 odds, I won. My winning combination was scissors, rock, rock, paper. I ordered another one of each.
Then came the salmon, which was sprinkled with truffle powder. Salmon and truffles are both strong flavours. You may think how could that work? Yet it did, the fattiness of the salmon complimented the earthiness of the truffle, and because it came in the form of a powder, the truffles were not too overpowering either. It was delicious.
The Negi Kampachi felt like what I can only describe as a warm hug and perfectly concluded my omakase session. With all the tasty food, the hour quickly flew by. From there, I ordered some additional dishes – Kampachi, Branzino, Torotaku, Ika, Salmon and Unagi.
Whilst I was eating the remaining sushi on my plate and trying to brainstorm with Caitlin how best to describe the Unagi (the smokiness reminded me of the smokiness you get from charcoal), a man called Bennett, who painted his pinky fingers in the Knicks orange and blue, approached us and introduced himself as a ‘New York food snob’.
“You gotta know where to eat”, he continued.
He then informed me that he has eaten at Sushi W at least a dozen times, and that they (Sushi W) don’t realise how good they are. I asked Bennett to tell me more about what he thought of the place.
He responded by telling me that the staff and chefs are gracious; the food is great, and affordable, you don’t have to pay a tip, and finally, you don’t feel like you’re in a fancy New York restaurant because the location and environment is very family-oriented.
After my experience, I could attest to what he said. If I was local to the city, I would also dine at Sushi W at least a dozen times. Finally, he said I should end my review by saying that the subways in New York are better than London because they are only about eight steps down – “It’s not a bomb shelter”, he added.
Caitlin and I ended up speaking to Bennett for more than 30 minutes. He then left to get ready for his flight to San Antonio for game five of the NBA finals.
I never met Dora and Yong Sa in person, but it’s clear to see why Sushi W is so successful. The restaurant reflected their caring, fun, patient, humble and respectful energy, especially at a time when restaurants in NYC are struggling to stay afloat.
It was suddenly 10pm. All of the omakase sessions were unsurprisingly fully booked that day. As I exchanged my farewells and left, I saw a sign that read ‘orange and blue skies’, and I realised that Sushi W mirrored being a New Yorker; a Knick.
By the way, the subways in New York City, unlike London, are only about eight steps down. It’s not a bomb shelter.
To find out more about Sushi W, visit sushiwny.com.
Review Sanem Alti
