Tsukushi
“only serving ramen after 10pm, and their omakase is all day (whever those hours are….)”
“Definitely check this place out for late night ramen!”
“This is special food at a very reasonable price, when considering what others try to charge for authentic Japanese food.”
Tsukushi
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I have walked past this unassuming door many times but had no idea there was a Japanese restaurant. There is no sign, just a plain black door.
So find that black door, open another door and you will be welcome to a small Japanese restaurant.
I came here really late, around midnight, when their ramen was available. I sat at the bar. They have a nice collection of Japanese sakes, but I decided to have a kirin. They have a simple menu that had items such as fried rice, ramen etc. They also have an omakase menu but I did not tried that. Most of the guests here were all Japanese, so it felt like Japan.
I decided to go for the ramen. The portion aren't huge but it was good enough for a late night snack. They do take credit cards.
This place is so hidden! It took my friend and I a while to locate the door to this place with no sign, just the name and address number on the black tarp canopy thing over the door. Honestly, it looked a bit scary/sketchy at first. When we opened the door, it was as if we were transported to Japan by walking down a few steps!
It was so traditional and home-y feeling, very authentic, and I really enjoyed our time here. They're open late and start offering ramen after 10pm or 10:30pm. There's only one type of ramen – a house shoyu broth ramen. It wasn't too salty like a lot of the ramen I've had. We also got salmon and cod rod onigiris as well as the green tea mousse for dessert. It was light and delightful. We were quite full after and left very happy finding such a gem through a random hard to find door in midtown. I really like finding places like these. And you know it's good when there's a lot of Japanese businessmen in there.
They are cash only so remember to bring some with you! I believe tip is also included in the total bill, or that's what our waitress told us so I assumed it was for everyone? Definitely check this place out for late night ramen! I heard their omakase is great too.
Unmarked door with no windows, but there is a grey awning that has the name on the corner. Even though there's only about 30 seats including the bar area, there was only one woman manning the entire area. There were three other tables on a Friday night, and we were the only table that did not speak Japanese.
No menu izakaya with very homey, no frills food. There were about five courses of appetizer style dishes, ending with these good sticky rice balls. At the end, you're presented with a menu in case you want anything else. We were still kind of hungry, so we each ordered the regular rice ball – I liked the plum.
Perfectly good home-style cooking, but not exactly somewhere you'd take someone you want to impress.
Ridiculous place. We sat down and ordered drink. Then we were told there's no menu, I didn't understand what did the Japanese waitress said what do they have but "we only have five things to choose". Even no sushi in this hole in the wall place with super high price Japanese restaurant 🙁 won't be back ever again
I'm hungry…it's late. I don't want diner food…know where do I find me some late-night ramen? Oh, I know Tsukushi has late night ramen starting at 10/1030p.
We got there just before 10p. They technically said they didn't start serving ramen until 1030p, but that it'd be okay. My friend and I both ordered the ramen, and it hit the spot. It was delicious, the broth was far from bland. It wasn't served scalding hot. It was about $10…which is actually less the than usual bowl at Hide-Chan, Ippudo or Totto, but I think it might actually be a slightly smaller portion yet still filling.
The place is very unassuming, there's no name or real store front. There's an awning with an address and a wooden door. It made me feel like I might've been entering a dungeon or something of the like. The place is small, quaint and clean.
TLDR: check out their late-night ramen
This place is perfect if you're here on business long term and can get the meal expensed. I say that because it's definitely a light, delicious, home style meal, but it's not worth the price out of your own pocket. I can get a much more exciting and delicious meal for 50 bucks. But if you're stuck here, away from home, this is perfect for getting away from the more in your face kind of restaurant meals. And I say all of this since I can get extremely similar food for free a bus ride away, so I feel really ripped off.
The decor I didn't expect to be that great, nor do I usually care. But this almost felt like they were trying to look kind of sad. The posters on the walls were held up with scotch tape. The place also smelled a little strange.
And most importantly, the food:
Brussels Sprouts – roasted, topped with bonito, and some form of soy sauce on the bottom, which allowed for an unpleasant distribution of no to extreme saltiness. The brussels sprouts themselves were properly roasted, but nothing you can't do at home.
Braised Eggplant – Two pieces of scored eggplant, braised in some sort of fatty meat stock, most likely pork, with a touch of soy. The eggplant melted in your mouth and I found it delicious since it tasted extremely similar to something my parents would make at home. However, it was served colder than room temperature, which I found to be not the most appropriate serving temperature for the perceived fattiness of the dish. Probably the best dish, but still not impressive.
Sashimi – Uni, Fluke, Octopus. Nothing out of the ordinary. The uni tasted fresh, but more sea-like than I prefer.
Fried Chicken Salad – My friend and I joked that they only gave this to us because they were out of fried chicken. Very small, but nicely fried, pieces of chicken on a few tomato chunks and mesclun mix. It was tasty but for omakase it was very much a lolwut are you serious kind of dish.
Fried Mackerel – a sadly small whole fish. it tasted fresh? that's about it.
Dumplings – steamed meatballs with sticky rice on the outside. Tasty, but my neighbor used to make this shit for us all the time. There was a Japanese pasta salad on the side, but that was like a waste of calories.
I wouldn't rule out coming back, but it's not at the top of my revisit list.
Tsukushi is hard to explain. I'd been told about it years ago and only recently built up the courage to try it. The way it was described to me was a hole-in-the-wall omakase (chef's choice only) izakaya filled with Japanese customers. I imagined a tiny place behind a traditional doorway curtain with a narrow counter and one counter chef and perhaps an assistant.
In so many ways this is an accurate depiction and yet was nothing like how I imagined it in my head. The entrance is a solid black door and only tiny lettering on the awning lets you know you're in the right place. However, it's wider than I imagined with a good half dozen or more tables filling out the triangle shaped room (check out the men's room to find one corner of the triangle). It's also brighter than I imagined. I felt more like I was in someone's kitchen than in a restaurant. True to description, the staff and other customers were all Japanese.
The menu was much simpler than I expected. Whatever the chef decides he wants to cook that way – whatever is seasonal – that's what you'll get, and you'll like it. The dishes aren't as creative as you'd find at other celebrity chef izakayas, but that's okay. What you get is carefully prepared Japanese comfort food.
The drink menu is shochu heavy and the food pairs very well with the spirit. If you're lucky you'll find some hard-to-get shochus on their menu, but they are apparently sold out often so you'll be left with more usual selections and a few unexpected ones. The chef definitely knows his shochu and how to make his food match.
I suspect this is the kind of place I'll need to visit several times to feel welcomed and apparently once you're a regular you can order ala carte, you just have to know what's available, because there's still no food menu. However, once you reach that point there may not be a more authentic home-style izakaya in NYC. It's got all the character of a neighborhood joint where the staff know the customers and vice versa. You may sense that some other places, but here it feels authentic.
Kampai!
Super low-key (practically no sign) place that has a very distinct family feel once you are inside. The service is very subdued but polite. They only have omakase service before 10pm (I think). I was initially annoyed at this, but as it turned out, the food was extremely meticulously prepared, understated (as with the restaurant itself) but super tasty. Also, I would've appreciated upfront disclosure of the pricing, but I remember not being bothered by it in the end as it was much cheaper than I had expected based on the amount of food we got.
A wonderful, quiet spot to unwind with friends over quality sake and snacks.
PS. I did not try the ramen but heard good things from my friends.