Kotobuki Manhattan
“Missed my chance the first time, but I'll try their K-Mac sliders the next time I stop by here.”
“We decided on the spicy tuna pizza, caterpillar remixed roll and the sushi+sashimi platter for one.”
“We ordered the sashimi platter, which was HUGE and oh so fresh and the U.F.O roll.”
Kotobuki Manhattan
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Tip: get here at or before 7pm on a weekend evening and chances are you'll get a good seat. After that, you'll be waiting in line for forever. My wife and I got here shortly after 7, and they even seated her before I arrived (where the hell does that ever happen in the city?!) We started with some edamame, which wasn't oversalted, too hot, or too cold. They also waited for us to finish our appetizers before serving us our sushi, which it seems no other sushi place ever does. Is it some sort of Japanese cultural thing to be served another course while you're still eating the first? We also had some sort of fried potato-y thing that we dipped into some sort of sauce. Too lazy to look it up on the online menu but it was good. An appetizer. My wife got a boatload of sushi that she couldn't finish, and I got spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls. The tuna was better than the salmon, but both were okay. Our overall experience was great until a group of four loud, drunk single young-women-soon-to-be-spinsters in ill-fitting dresses that showed way too much of stuff they didn't need to show way too much of sat at a table next to us and loudly, drunkenly, ordered saki. Sigh.
I really, really like it here!
Last Saturday I ate here with 2 friends, and we all enjoyed our meal. The prices were super reasonable, and all of the sushi tasted incredibly fresh. The miso soup (something so simple), was really noteworthy. There were also several inexpensive sake options to choose from, which was great. The sushi bar looked impeccable clean, which is always appreciated.
After waiting about 20-30 min to be seated on a Saturday night (the time the hostess advised), the service was quick and efficient.
I would definitely recommend, and expect to be back.
I can see someone having a bad experience here since upon leaving at around 8-830PM, service was getting a bit spotty and the line for a table was out the door. I however got there at 630PM, sauntered right in and feasted with 3 friends.
We ordered up some edamame and kmac sliders (2 per order) to start. A heaping portion of hot, steaming edamame and the kmac sliders were spicy tuna tartar, rice and avocado patties sandwiched between two rice-crisps that made up the "bun". Definitely a fun take on the slider and delicious to boot, but nothing too legendary.
We went with the sushi & sashimi platter for three. Mind you I was with three men and myself and this was MORE than enough food. Like almost left a man behind so much food. It was a little over $100. What? Literally I think it was 18 pieces of sashimi, 13 pieces of sushi, 7 rolls (including some bangers), soup, salad, salmon carpaccio and a tuna salad. It was a lot of delicious and very fresh fish. We were all so delighted that we found the sushi deal of the century in NYC. Seriously, all that food, sake and beers for about $50 per person? Like whoa.
Lets be honest, you can't really get a better deal than that, and if you can, you best let me know ASAP.
If you're a group and dining late, be prepared to wait for your food and a table, but you're definitely not gonna find a better bang for your buck than that huge platter.
5 stars (although I have a feeling the 4 star average is spot on).
Now, this is not high end sushi or anything along the lines of traditional. You don't come here if you're looking for the omakase/kaiseke service you would get from the $$$$ Japanese restaurants (Masa, Yasuda, Nakazawa, etc).
If on the otherhand, you want casual sushi/sashimi or Americanized sushi rolls, this would be the place to go because the portions are generous and the fish is fresh! I always order the Sashimi Deluxe which is the best offer in the area and the place does not look super sketchy or dirty. The Sashimi Deluxe also comes with a riceless UFO roll which is salmon/tuna/avocado wrapped in white daikon radish. It also comes with salmon carpaccio which is cajun/old bay seasoned seared chunks of salmon. It's a bit unnecessarily oily but as far as I see it, they're very generous with the sashimi so I almost see this as a freebie or bonus when compared to what you'd get at the other restaurants in the area.
Service isn't the best but they try. It honestly hasn't really bothered me. They constantly refill my water and bring my food on a timely basis so I'm not complaining if they're English is spotty. I come here at least twice a month when I just want to gorge myself on raw fish!
It's a solid go to on a sun-thurs night/lunch. The price is right and the quality is exceptional given the price point.
However, the acoustics in this place are terrible. Every little sound seems to echo off the walls and scream back at you. I'm not usually bothered by the noise level in restaurants but this one was bad enough to make me want to order take out the next time around.
This place is amazing, so fresh and affordable, I absolutely am a huge sucker of sashimi, and needless to say, I'm satisfied! We had sashimi deluxe, "shortgun"(cucumber wrapped sushi, fantastic), something else(can't remember the name but was excellent) and fried ice-cream (quite interesting). The bill came out in total was $50, split between two people and the portion was generous! I'm totally coming back again.
I have no choice but to go the 1 star route with this.
My brother is a sushi buff, and we sometimes grab sushi dinner on Sunday nights. We both love the stuff. Nick always tells me how this is his favorite place to go, and I finally met him there.
You know what? The food was really good! The tuna fresh and the rolls creative and well balanced. The salmon was perfect and I did really like the food.
BUT. Big but.
The service was at an all time low. One of the most insane and ridiculous meals I have had. The food took over an hour to come. Other tables were getting their meals and every time we asked for it, they said okay, they would check. But never told us if it was coming. We only ordered sushi, nothing complicated, nothing that had to be cooked.
We had to ask a million times for more water, when the food finally came it came in piecemeal, and most of the sushi was warm. Like it had been sitting out on a counter for a while warm. Weird warm.
The waiter made no apologies, didn't comp anything. We had to beg for our bill, beg for more water, beg for someone to take our credit cards so we could pay. We were there for almost two hours. Didn't order one cocktail. Just wanted a quick in and out.
Most frustrating meal ever. And, the waitstaff was sort of rude about the whole thing. I mean, they would walk right by us when I loudly said "Excuse me! Can we please have more water?" I finally started asking any waiter I saw, instead of ours, and they would say okay and then never re-appear. So weird. So angry.
So, I don't care how good the sushi is. I am not coming back. There are tons and tons of delicious sushi places in this city, and in this area especially. Nope, nope, nope on Kotobuki.
This place is probably one of the best Japanese restaurants for the $$ price range. We got 1 order of salmon sashimi (my all-time fav), and surprise! It was 3 small/medium slices of super fresh salmon: a nice bright pink, fatty streaks, moist and sweet –droolworthy stuff– for 3 bucks!
Also ordered 2 of the special rolls to try out: the mardi gras gone wild and coquette. Both were delicious. On a side note, I found the menu layout hilarious. It was like a challenge– are you an "amateur roll" type of person? Or will you go for the "super special list…" if you dare…
The yakiudon was good but a little pricey. I was itching to try some appetizers from the super special list like spicy tuna pizza, but sadly did not have the room 🙁
This is an awesome restaurant for a more casual Japanese dinner (we can't all shell out $9 per piece for sashimi). Interior is standard/trendy; service could've been better. And you kind of have to awkwardly squeeze between tables to make it to the restroom.
BUT all in all, there's really fresh fish + interesting rolls + a variety of cooked dishes. Honestly, it tops all of the Japanese restaurants on St. Marks so eat dinner here, THEN walk over to grab some drinks, go barhop, whatever floats your boat.