Avenue A Japanese Restaurant
“It was pretty good, but I have to say that the reason to come here is for sake bombs.”
“Definitely a great pre-party spot for the East Village.”
“The atmosphere is unlike any other sushi place i''ve been…the DJ keeps the music going, the disco ball and the lighting are great, and the employees are really friendly!”
Avenue A Japanese Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
4 reviews
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Is this a bar or a sushi restaurant? It's half of each and double the price. If you're going to get the regular rolls, then the prices are ok, and so is the quality. If you stray from that into something more interesting, the prices sky rockets.
Then we get to the drinks. That are far overpriced. Not only that, but they also ran out of hot sake. How does a sushi restaurant / bar run out of hot sake, on a Friday night!
Good sushi and fun place to gather the troupes for an evening out in the 'hood. Whenever I have guest from out of town that like sushi, I make a point to start out here. Cranking DJ is a bonus.
Service is good and decor is delightfully dark. Staff is great about adding yet another chair and table to the group. If you're a local, or even if you're not, stop in early evening for their prix fixe special.
Wow this had to be one of my strangest dining experiences in ny. We decided to try Ave A sushi since it was close and had good yelp reviews. Upon arrival we hesitated. Yelpers mentioned the lounge-y vibe but failed to mention its more of a hipster meets cheesy disco. It is like they converted a normal restaurant and added random neon lights, surfboards, and pink paint on the exterior. Add the confused service and we were in for an interesting meal.
First off the bento box special is a good deal but the shumai was mushy. We ordered beef negimaki bento and it was gross – severely overcooked, dry meat and a weird aftertaste from the scallions. The Chilean sea bass was much better, tender and flaky overall. The highlight was the snowball roll – salmon avocado with white tuna. We ate it and instantly regretted not ordering more sushi instead of the awful negimaki. Also, the restaurant was really empty cause we went early but our server was so clueless it didnt make a difference. He didn't know about the specials, then tried to take our normal menus away just bc we wanted to see the specials. Though friendly, we had 3 different people coming to bring food, water, and change. I asked the busboy for a new spoon cause mine was dirty, and he took it away, gave it to our waiter…and 15 minutes later I was sharing a spoon with my date because both of them were chilling on chairs staring into space.
In summary? Avoid the beef at all costs, the sushi tasted pretty fresh, and the ambiance/service is just plain weird. If I had only eaten sushi, I probably would given it another star.
– overall rating: 2.5
– I've been with this restaurant through more than enough management changes; once upon a time my family's "go to" spot for Japanese
– they used to provide a very unique and interesting atmosphere along with great service and fresh reasonably priced sushi. . . still an interesting atmosphere, nothing compared to what it used to be, decent service, creative presentation, sub par sushi quality
– they cut the tuna sashimi improperly, though it looks pretty on the plate, they cut WITH the fatty grain and not against it, making eating each slice an unfortunate experience
– the seaweed skin of the sushi was stale. . . if you're an experienced sushi eater, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say the texture was kind of soggy, something which would never occur if kept properly
– the tobiko roll came out well enough but the ikura roll sadly did not, the eggs were not fresh and after having about 2 bites, I determined had very recently expired, suffice it to say, I didn't finish that roll