best sushi in town?

ok i hear what you're saying... scoboco's probably only been to like .003% of nyc's sushi restaurants, so what do they know?

well that's true. but here's what i can tell you...

i've enjoyed some pretty amazing meals at blue ribbon sushi in soho, and at tribeca's megu (the tasting menu is awesome). for consistently fresh and tasty chirashi, you can't go wrong with japonica, on university place. jewel bako, on east 5th street, is overrated, in my opinion (admittedly based on only one meal)... better to go across the street to jake's luxury oyster bar. i also like local spots like tomo on 111th and broadway, jorelomen or whatever it's called on e4th (though it can be inconsistent, it's very cheap), and sushi hana on amsterdam in the 80s.

so there's that.

and then there's ushi wakamaru.

now, this place doesn't look like much... a pretty generic sushi bar, with maybe three tables on the other wall, on a nothing stretch of west houston, between mcdougal and sullivan. but the one time dglass and i tried walking in, the place was booked all night, and crowd at the bar was entirely japanese. and when i called to get a res last friday, only one table was available, and the bar was full until closing. and i totally understand why.

i ordered the sushi special, and, from start to finish, i've never had a more delicious serving of fish in my life. the sushi--10 pieces of things like uni and fluke and eel and salmon roe and toro, and 3 pieces of cut yellowtail roll--was utterly pristine, unbelievably scrumptious. even the tamago was amazing! dglass's chirashi (coming in at a very reasonable $20, to my $35 dish) was also beautiful, loaded with chopped pieces of tuna, yellowtail, eel, salmon, and something else.

an outstanding meal. from now on, this is the go-to place for special-treat sushi.