Michelin recently added Blanca, llis, and Sushi Sho among several other restaurants to its newest edition of the guide. Though the star ceremony has not yet taken place, these restaurants are set to be featured in the next edition of the guide.
What really stands out is the amount of praise they give to Sushi Sho. The phrases "mastery of the highest order", "an omakase like no other" and "the kitchen and service teams work in perfect tandem" are not things Michelin takes lightly.
Comparing this absolutely glowing review of Sushi Sho alongside recent 3-star reviews such as RE-NAA in Norway, it’s very likely that Sushi Sho in NYC will debut at the 3 star level.
by UnderstandingHot9999
9 Comments
It’s great
Is it “like no other” or just “better than others”?
You don’t know much about Sushi Sho or Keiji Nakazawa. First – this is a group with multiple locations globally, and NY isn’t their flagship (original location is in Japan). Nakazawa also famously threw out the Michelin inspector who came to his original restaurant many years ago because he thought the inspector didn’t know sushi well enough to judge them. He doesn’t have a great relationship with the guide.
0% chance of getting 3 stars. I’m sure it’s great but you are missing the forest for the trees here.
The one person I know who went absolutely loved it. Their fav in the city they said. But, possibly the 2nd most expensive behind masa because the restaurant meal is somewhat split. When u reserve for $450 what you get is what the restaurant calls “short omakase”. You wont be full. You’re expected to buy a la carte menu items after that. A la carte pieces are $35 and not pieces given in the omakase. The idea is to let you curate the end of your meal to your preferences. Apparently most people usually get 3-5 pieces afterwards
[deleted]
I am a regular at his Hawaii restaurant. Although the quality has lowered since he has left to work on his NYC project, it was a tabelog top 1000 restaurant at one point which is kind of cool considering it wasn’t even in Japan. Of course you could get a comparable course for cheaper in Japan, and that’s true. I’m not surprised to hear about this.
This is all well and good, but their no-photography policy bothers the hell out of me. If they one day get 3 stars, they’ll join no-photo Masa (and while Brooklyn Fare lifted their no-photo policy years ago, purportedly Chef Ramirez still doesn’t really like it), making New York of all places almost as hostile as Tokyo.
I’m sympathetic to instagrammers ruining dinner, but I don’t have a social media, I just want to remember this very expensive dinner years down the road, especially if it’s a very subtle and admittedly uniform style like sushi with many courses. It feels too authoritarian on the rights of the paying diner, doubly so when it’s in a culturally liberal country like the US rather than Japan. Plenty of places even in Japan deal with atmosphere and “privacy” concerns by only allowing photos of food.
Edit: what’s especially odd is that Sushi Sho Tokyo and Honolulu (or his disciples’ offshoots) don’t ban photos, so if anything it’s inverted in that New York *specifically* bans it vs conservative Japan, so it’s not even cultural or the chef’s consistent personal temperament.
I help sell them sake. Have done a few tastings during the day, and have eaten dinner once.
The quality of the fish isn’t as high as some other shops, but the technique is something else. It’s incredibly impressive cooking.
This will sound self serving, it’s also maybe the only omakase in the city where the food makes complete sense with sake. I’m a big believer in tea with sushi, especially the first time you eat with a chef, but sho has tons of chimni, and even many of the regular dishes have deep, intense umami that is perfect for pairing with sake.
The staff also takes it very seriously, and are very knowledgeable. Nakazawa-san’s daughter (who works there) worked at Aramasa.
It was possibly the best meal I’ve ever had. It’s the only place I’ve ever made my next reservation while I was still sitting at the restaurant.