Hatsuhana

TRaditional style service, facilty and food preparation. Everything was excellent - nice restaurant interior, very clean restroom, very polite host, wait staff and coat check. Good food. I ate off the fixed price menu - $27 plus tea.

Pros: Thumbs up

Cons: none

Posted 02/09/09

I sit at the bar every time and have the chef whip up yummy sushi and sashimi. Pros are that it's the best sushi ever. Cons are that it's ruined sushi from any other place for me...;-)

Pros: Midtown/after work or lunch location unforgettable sushi

Cons: decor/scene isn't anything special

Posted 07/29/08

This place got 4 stars from the NY Times.... in 1983. Is 1983 relevant to 2008? Well, my Dad thought so when he based his decision on this review to bring my family and visiting foodies from abroad to show them "good NYC sushi" at, no, not Yasuda or Jewel Bako or the myriad of other great sushi places in the city (Masa is in a league of its own), but at Hatsuhana. As someone who loves and treasures the NYC culinary scene (I feel like a proud father when talking about or introducing outsiders to NYC food), imagine my shame and embarrassment when service for our private party included a 40 minute interval between ordering and service, an hour before anything from the sushi bar was served at all, fish that was shockingly pedestrian, and a bill that surpassed 1000 dollars for a party of 9. After instilling the expectation in our visiting guests that this restaurant would be a representation of top shelf NYC sushi, and the three hour debacle that was our criminally overpriced meal, I felt like I had just watched my son royally F up his piano recital, make the game losing error in his little league game, and come home with straight F's on his report card all at the same time. One word sums up this place for me: Embarassing.

(To clarify, it is not like the food is inedible. In fact, their tempura was fabulous. But overall, their sushi could have been from any cookie cutter take-out sushi place in NYC and after charging those kinds of prices, that is simply unacceptable. I've paid 250 dollars per person for a sushi meal in NYC before, and after paying only a little over 100 per person at Hatsuhana, I never felt so robbed in my life.)

Pros: tempura, private dining available

Cons: service, sushi, ATROCIOUS value

Posted 06/26/08

Food is delicious & fresh, the environment pleasant and service was good. Though I recommend reserevations in advance for lunch as they fill up quickly. Great place to have lunch with a client. Great value from menu.

Posted 09/06/07

I lived in Tokyo for almost ten years, and I have never had sashimi as good as this!!!

Granted, as the other reviewers have suggested, one's experience with sushi/sashimi all depends on the quality of the catch. My trip was just littered with good catch after good catch. The toro (tuna) was like butter. Unbelievable!! The order of uni (sea urchin) was as large as a golf ball and so perfect. The seared sashimi selection was also quite tasty. No matter what was placed in front of me, it was fantastic. Even fish that I normally would not enjoy was perfect.

The staff were always on the ball. Right when I needed a new beer, the waitress was there to confirm the order. Then as I continued my personal conversation, the waitress would quietly bring the bottle, fill my glass, then set the bottle down, twisting it to ensure that the label always faced me and that the bottle was unobtrusive. Very subtle, very "teinei", very "Japanese."

I recommend sitting at the sushi counter and just letting the chefs do their magic. You won't be disappointed!!

The price for two males to eat and drink their fill over a couple of hours of conversation was about $300.

Pros: Ambience

Cons: Price; Restroom

Posted 08/23/07

It's an age old story - someone who tries hard but has no talent competes in a world of those who have the talent but rest on their laurels. Still, the hard worker will never be the best. Such is the case with Hatsuhana. I did not eat in the restaurant, but had food delivered so I cannot speak to the decor. Whether the fish isn't of the highest quality or the chefs are not quite of sushi artist stature, but this restaurant turns out depressingly average, or perhaps slightly above average sushi. The tuna showed promise but I cannot say the same about the rest. However, what this restaurant lacks in quality of food they do make up for in style. The sushi arrived in a nice box, with a wet napkin, and some tea, and soup and salad. There was a card advising me to eat the sushi within two hours. There were a couple of other minor details that showed the restaurant does care about providing a good dining experience. Still, I wish they focused that energy on the food.

Posted 03/16/07

Ever since Chicago Hatsuhana closed several yrs ago, Im struggling to find a good sushi houses in IL.
I had a trip to NYC during August and of course we wont miss the opportunity to visit Hatsuhana.
I cant say its the best Sushi restaurant in NYC coz I dont live there. But I guarantee you if you put this Hatushana in Chicago, itll be the best Sushi house in the entire IL.
IL has some good Sushi houses owned by Japanese chefs and some of them worked for Hatushnana but when comes down to the freshness of the fish, its incomparable and unfortunately, freshness is the biggest thing in Japanese cuisine.

You have to have a reservation because during lunch time, this place is packed.

The price is expensive especially therere so many alternatives in NYC but the restaurant is always busy which is a sign of how good they are.

Ill have to give it 9.8 out of 10 since I gave both Sakura restaurants in IL 9.5.

Pros: Good food, freash fish good presentation

Cons: Crowded

Posted 10/26/06

I really like the decor in this restaurant, and the staff is insanely friendly... EVERY member of the staff says hi to you in Japanese (which I'm not going to attempt to spell) when you walk in, and they do a great job of checking in on you without hovering. Their miso soup is outstanding, but the sushi was a little disappointing. They give you quite generous pieces of fish for the sushi which is far longer than the rice (but they could use a little more rice actually), but the salmon definitely was a little tough, the yellowtail was ok, not the best, and the eel was pretty good. The tuna was their strongest by far. Still, a good deal for the money... you get quite a lot of sushi for between $19-35 in their lunch specials. I also wanted to mention that they DO season their sushi and put QUITE a lot of wasabi on it (except it's on top of the rice and under the fish, so I didn't notice that at first... and I tend to put a lot of wasabi in my soy sauce... so I guess it goes without saying, but my first taste was kiiiind of uncomfortable), so ask them to adjust accordingly if you have a problem with that.

Pros: Awesome miso soup, really nice staff

Cons: not the BEST sushi ever, but still good

Posted 07/28/06

Sit at the sushi bar for some top notch authentic sushi. I have never been disappointed. This is one of the best places in NYC for real sushi, and prices are reasonable considering the quality they serve. If I'm craving some good pieces, I would definitely come to Hatsuhana over any of the other high-end sushi restaurants in the city. When ordering the anago, get it "sawa-ni" style. Mouthwatering...

Pros: Top Notch Quality, Authentic Sushi

Posted 09/16/04

The selection of fresh fish is great here. I've been to this restaurant about 10 times and the quality of the sushi is conistantly high. The sushi chefs that I've had have always been very skilled. Service is good, however, there have been times where communication was a problem(langauage). With that said, the price is very steep. For a dinner of 3, with no alcohol, our bill was $450 for about 60 pieces of sushi. I haven't had the other dishes/entrees and cannot comment on the overall food of the restaurant. The place gets busy, however, never too crowded.

Pros: Fresh Fish Selection

Cons: Overly High Price

Posted 10/24/03

Hatsuahana is OK, but for the same price you can go to Sushiden a short walk away and experience better food, atmosphere, and service. I tried Hatsuhana for lunch last week because Sushiden was closed, and I was generally disappointed.

Sushiden has a much cleaner, spaced out feel, making its atmosphere superior. It feels like there are more staff members per customer at sushiden, and both the quality and selection at sushiden is considerably better. As stated before, the prices are very similar.

It just doesn't make any sense to me to eat at Hatsuhana with the best midtown sushi restaurant a mere block or two away.

Posted 01/05/03

I really have to hand it to Hatsuhana. No other restaurant approaches authentic sushi as passionately as they do. Despite tremendous pressure from these so called "trendy" and "hip" sushi boutiques to abandon their art & change their format, Hatsuhana has preserved their concept. I admit that times have definitely changed but Hatsuhana's excellent sushi has not. They're still the only Japanese restaurant to have ever recieved four stars in the New York Times, and their sushi continues to prove why.

Pros: Delicious, Authentic, Best Quality

Posted 09/19/02