Sushi Gari opens on Restaurant Row

IntroOur friends have been patrons of Gari for 20 years, before Gari opened Gari Sushi.  At the last minute last night we were invited to come along to the pre-opening at Gari Sushi on Restaurant Row.  This is his fourth restaurant, the other three are on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and Tokyo.  Tonight his new restaurant on West 46th Street between 8/9th will open to the public.

It was an eating extravaganza.  Same menu, same concept but just as good if you are a Gari Sushi fan.

We started with a small square piece of custard in a tiny round bowl.  I thought it was tofu but quite frankly it tasted too good.   This was actually sesame seeds that had been boiled down and made into a custard that they served with a dollop of wasabi and a light ponzu sauce.  It was really good and creamy.

Second course was a plate of sashimi.  Lobster thinly sliced with a citrus type sauce,  pieces of yellowtail with a spicy sauce, kumamoto oysters (my fav) with a wasabi tang and tuna with a smattering of ginger.  All delicious.  Each piece had a flavor to complement the fish but nothing too overpowering.

Our third plate and the plates that followed were all sushi.  What Gari does is basically use something on each piece of fish to create a different experience.  Tuna with a dollop of a puree of tofu, mackerel with a plum sauce but my favorite on this plate was salmon with a warm layer of roasted tomatoes over the top.  Really interesting.

Next up deep fried tarot root chips with a mixture of salad and mushrooms served over a piece of white fish, citrus sauce over mackerel, ginger sauce over Toro and a jalapeno sauce over yellowtail.

Fifth plate, we actually ate more than I realized, was Mackerel with small veggies with a citrus sauce, tuna with chopped daikon radish on top,  white fish with sauteed mushrooms on top and roasted oysters wrapped in seaweed and a wasabi sauce.  The oysters were really interesting and good.

Our last plate was scallops with red peppercorns,  seared Toro with ginger, cooked sea eel (this was really good) and torched urchin (basically charred).

Dessert was red bean and green tea ice cream.

The sake at all his restaurants is Gari's exclusively that he gets in Japan. 

The restaurant is small and simple.  Very similar to his Westside restaurant.  I have never been to the Eastside.  As a rule, I am a sushi purist.  I am not a big fan of the toppings on each of the different pieces of fish.  Gari continues to serve a lot of the same fish through out the night but the change of toppings, sauce and textures is his signature.  Some are really good and innovative, others I could pass on.  Gari is such a character and certainly one of the more creative sushi chefs in NYC.  Big congratulations on opening this space.  Now there is at least one other top restaurant in the theater district.  Something that area has been calling for.  My guess is he will be packed from day one. 

blog comments powered by Disqus

Joanne Wilson Joanne Wilson loves food, books, and music. She lives in New York City. Her husband Fred and children Jessica, Emily, and Josh are bloggers too. More »

gotham gal updates

RSS    Email updates    Gotham Gal Twitter updates

ask gotham gal

Powered by Formspring.

books of the moment

  • Helen Oyeyemi: Boy, Snow, Bird: A Novel

    Helen Oyeyemi: Boy, Snow, Bird: A Novel
    I wanted to love this book. There are 3 sections. The first one pulled me in but I found that the second and third were not as interesting. A topic worth writing race issues is interesting but the book rambled. Alas.

  • Andrea Portes: Bury This

    Andrea Portes: Bury This
    A 25 year old unsolved town murder inspires a group of college kids to make a documentary around it with the belief that with the tools we have today that it can be solved. The writing is unique. Rapid short sentences that keeps the reader engaged. Super sad story.

  • Susan Minot: Thirty Girls

    Susan Minot: Thirty Girls
    This is based on a true story of a group of young women who were taken by the Kony LRA rebels in Africa while living and studying at a church. We follow a journalist and her experience on reporting about the girls who have survived by escaping. Learning about their traumatic experiences is heartbreaking. How and why this continues to go on in Africa is mind-boggling. I would have preferred Minot to spend more time with those girls than getting inside the journalists head. Regardless I really am glad I read this book. It is an absolutely worthy read.

  • Anna Quindlen: Still Life with Bread Crumbs: A Novel

    Anna Quindlen: Still Life with Bread Crumbs: A Novel
    A simple story about life, love and art. A 60 year old woman still evolving and finding herself. Really enjoyed it.

  • Jean Hanff Korelitz: You Should Have Known

    Jean Hanff Korelitz: You Should Have Known
    This book comes out on March 18th. The book moves fast with lots of twists and turns. A psychiatrist who has just written about how you should have known you were in a bad relationship finds her husband to not be who she thought he was. The perfect beach read.

  • Bill Bryson: One Summer: America, 1927

    Bill Bryson: One Summer: America, 1927
    My sister recommended this book. What happened that summer from baseball to Lindbergh and aviation to Henry Ford, Calvin Coolidge, Hoover, prohibition, Mt Rushmore, talking movies, theater, Al Capone and the first ponzi scheme. A great historic read.

  • Kim Malone Scott: Virtual Love

    Kim Malone Scott: Virtual Love
    Not sure how I stumbled on this book but I am glad that I did. The book is about a woman trying to figure out her life. She was an entrepreneur and closed her company. She moved to SF to work at Google and run the Ad Sense division. She is in bad male relationships and needs to figure out why so she can get in a good one. There are a lot of thoughts bouncing around her head in regards to her personal struggles. Truly enjoyable well written insightful book.

  • Jhumpa Lahiri: The Lowland

    Jhumpa Lahiri: The Lowland
    I had read both the Namesake and Lahiri's short stories and I felt both of those books were so much better than the Lowland. There was not on character I liked. None of them lived in the future or the present they all lived in the past. Their lives were just utterly depressing. Also the book was way too long. It is certainly a saga about the turmoil in Calcutta in the 60's and the havoc it wreaked on one family in the post. Perhaps if they all had sought therapy then their lives would have been happier. Would not recommend.

  • Liane Moriarty: The Husband's Secret

    Liane Moriarty: The Husband's Secret
    This is a great book for vacation reading. I read it in a day. Engaging characters who are living real lives and each come with their own baggage. I won't give away the premise of the book but I really enjoyed it.

  • Kate Atkinson: Life After Life: A Novel

    Kate Atkinson: Life After Life: A Novel
    I have read most of Atkinson's books. This was an interesting concept. The book mostly takes place during the world wars yet a bit of a challenge to read. It took me a long time to get into the book and then I decided to soldier through. Many of the chapters are essentially redo's of the characters life so that in one chapter they end up dying where in another chapter they continue to live due to a few shifts that take place. Each small decision you make has to do with the life you end lead. Interesting but did not love the book as much as I wanted to.