I don’t usually travel more than 2 miles in Manhattan to eat at the same restaurant twice, but I do it for Sushi Yasaka.
A year ago when I first visited Sushi Yasaka, I knew right away that it was one of the best kept secrets of the Upper West Side. I was so sad to have discovered it so late in the game (actually J discovered it), and just when I was moving away from the Upper West where I was in their delivery zone!
I love Sushi Yasaka for its no frills and oh-so-fresh sushi. Okay, the super affordable (for Manhattan) price point doesn’t hurt either.
Fast forward to a year later, the once semi-undiscovered gem has actually gotten a lot of traction and every 2-3 months when I actually make the trek to the west side and come for dinner, I have noticed that it’s been progressively more busy.
The once empty sushi joint now has one-hour wait times on Saturday nights. Good thing we made a reservation on OpenTable earlier in the day and were seated right away! I guess more and more people have finally discovered what I did a year ago, Sushi Yasaka seriously makes some fresh sushi.
Don’t come here expecting fru-fru rolls. Fresh fish is what you come here for.
My favorite thing to order here is the Yaki Salmon Avocado Donburi ($18) which is marinated salmon that’s been lightly seared with the skin, and served as sashimi served on top of sushi rice. I mean, I love all salmon sashimi, but this is honestly the best I’ve ever had. It’s buttery perfection – just a slice of heaven – and then add avocado into the mix and you’ve got me taking transferring on 3 subway lines just to get a bite.
It’s the 6 to the S to the 1 for those who are curious.*
I order this. Every. Single. Time. It’s really that good, and I mean, come on, look at how pretty it is…
So to supplement the Salmon Donburi, I usually order one of their combos. This time around, we ordered the Sushi Combo ($21), which includes 9 pieces of sushi and 1 of their rolls. Every piece of sushi that was presented to us was perfectly sliced, fresh, and sitting on top of quality sushi rice that you just don’t find very often in Manhattan at this price point.
In addition to their awesome sushi combos, they serve a relatively affordable Omakase ($45), which I have yet to try. I think I will have to come back soon and have a seat at the bar to give this a try.
I’ll let you know how it is once I do, but I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.
So if you’re looking for a good meal in the Upper West Side, look no more and hop over to Sushi Yasaka. Just make sure you make a reservation before you do.
*Okay, I lied, I clearly didn’t transfer on 3 subway lines, I’m lazy and took a cab up.
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Sushi Yasaka | Yelp
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Sushi Yasaka | |
| * Overall | |
| ★★★☆ ☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| Upper West Side / Japanese / Sushi | |
| * Street Address | |
| 251 West 72nd St., New York, NY 10023 | |
| * Phone | |
| (212) 496-8460 |
