Omakase Under $300 in New York City Recommendations for 2025
Editor’s Note: This blog is part of the “2025 New York City Sushi Guide‘, presented by Ledge Headwear. The digital guide features a number of articles, collections, “best ofs” and “What to dos” for the Big Apple, and can accessed directly at NYCSushiGuide.com. As always, we appreciate your support of the blog and Ledge Headwear, the designer cap brand designed in New York and handmade in the hills of Piemonte at a generational family factory.
When I moved to New York City in 2012, the most expensive sushiya – besides the diamond mine Masa – was the original Ichimura at Brushstroke. The price of an Omakase?
$150.
So it’s bonkers to think that ten years later, $300 is considered cheapish.
Full details on my recommendations are below.
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Kosaka is the brainchild of Chef Yoshi Kousaka, ex of Jewel Bako, a restaurant in the east village of NYC that I absolutely loved. The small, ambient sushiya blends into its residential surroundings of the west village. The entrance is unassuming, but if you notice it, it will certainly impress: drapes and ceramic art on the inside shelf, visible both outside and in.
Helpful servers and hosts wait inside to escort patrons to either the L Shaped sushi bar or 1 of the few small tables. Chef Yoshi presides over the entire meal himself, and – not shockingly – creates an omakase like an artist. $250.
As more sushiya continue to open in New York City, reasonably minds can certainly ask whether the newbies are any good, a cynical attempt to take advantage of a trend, or a bit of both. But what’s indisputable is that these sushiya continue to create oasis’ (oasises? oasi?) from the chaotic energy of New York City streets.
There’s the serene Sushi Mumi on jammed St. Mark’s Place. The non-descript Sushi Ichimura in TriBeCa. The elegant Yoshino in the Bowery. But perhaps none are as positively jarring on an initial entrance as Tsubame, a newly opened sushiya in East TriBeCa. $225.
Takeda is – as you might expect – run by its namesake, Takeda. Takeda-san is a 25-year veteran of the New York City sushi scene, but this is his first time in the catbird seat. Though there’s another chef next to him to handle the volume from the 8 seat counter, it’s fully clear who the Itamae and captain of the ship is. Takeda sources, cleans, cuts, cooks (in some cases) and serves the meal himself, entirely based on what’s in season. During our late January visit, that meant Tai (sea bream) from Kagoshima (city on Kyushu) was on the menu as was Amadai (Tilefish) and Kobashira (muscle of surf clam). All have longer seasons, but there’s ebbs and flows to quality. $280.
Sushi Mumi recently opened inside the same space as Kura, which I reviewed – and loved – back in 2014. I wasn’t alone – Kura was famous for value and for pioneering high quality sushi in the neighborhood (alongside Jewel Bako). The legend behind the counter, Marco Lin, is an Itamae In the truest sense – chef and co-owner. Lin was previously at Sushi Ginza Onodera and Blue Ribbon, two well-regarded sushiya that nevertheless are part of corporate empires.
Mumi is an opportunity for Lin to not just be his own boss, but chart his own path creatively. And he takes full advantage. $250.