Ichimura At Brushstroke

Amazing, and well worth the price to get fresh, seasonal, quality sushi from Mr Ichimura-​san. He serves all 8 seats himself, and explains each and every piece of sushi before you eat it. Make a note of your favorite as he will ask you what you want for your final piece. Salivating just thinking about it.

What can I say? Sat the the sushi bar and watched the master do his magic. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ experience. Cocktails impeccable. Would recommend.

The hubs and I came to Ichimura at Brushstroke to celebrate my birthday (Dinner #4) — I was super excited about Ichimura, as this 2 Michelin-​starred sushi bar only has 8 exclusive seats! What makes this restaurant even more unique is that it is situated inside another 1 Michelin-​starred restaurant, the Brushstroke! Chef Eiji Ichimura serves a traditional edo-​mae sushi at the sushi bar, and it is omakase only. We came a bit earlier, as there are no reserved seatings at the bar, but it is at a first-​come, first-​serve basis. The whole experience was super delightful! Chef Ichimura is super kind and super friendly, and he really focuses on each piece with such attention to detail. It was sooo lovely watching him cut the fresh fish and do a perfect preparation. The chef even had a wonderful sense of humor, and it was just a great relaxing, delicious evening! My favorites were the toro, of course, while the hubs really enjoyed the Spanish mackerel. Desserts were phenomenal, as I had the Matcha & Hojicha Emperor Soy Sauce Gelato & Matcha Ice Cream, while the hubs had the Sake Crème Brulee with Homemade Sweet Sake Soup — both were super delicious! I even got to take a picture with the chef, and it was just a terrific evening: D If you are looking for an intimate lovely sushi dinner experience, go to Ichimura — you won’t be disappointed! :D Just note that there are only 2 seatings, one at 6PM and one at 9PM.
+Chef Eiji Ichimura: D
+omakase
+8 exclusive seats only!
+Matcha & Hojicha Emperor Soy Sauce Gelato & Matcha Ice Cream dessert

I must say I was a bit disappointed. That’s not to say Ichimura was bad, it just wasn’t very impressive. Before I go into the food, I will say that Chef Ichimura is exactly what a sushi chef should be. He alone handles all the preparation, serving, and cleaning of his spotless sushi bar. All sushi chefs should take note at his professionalism and passion for his work.
Now for an omakase that includes 18 sushi pieces, sashimi, and starters, you’re definitely not walking away hungry from this place. I enjoyed the Ichimura thoroughly, but I kept waiting for that piece that blew me away. Sadly, that never came.
Some general opinions:
— The sushi was too cold in some cases
— Would have enjoyed a warm piece such as unagi at the end
— Some of the fish was a bit bland, maybe more variety
— The layered toro was a very unique concept to me
— Loved the Japanese uni
Overall, I expected more for the price point. Especially since Bouley is one of my favorite French restaurant.

I’ve been doing a tasting test of New York City’s top Omakase restaurants for about two years. The problem is, that when I stumbled on Ichimura, it made it hard to go anywhere else. Chef Eiji Ichimura serves sushi in traditional edo-​mae style. Carefully aging the fish before it is served to give it an exquisite flavor. When you are willing to spend $ 400 per person 4 times at the same place in one year, you know it’s outstanding. This is the kind of meal that you end up day dreaming about.
I rate my omakase experiences on: food, serving style (is it traditional enough?), ambiance, and service and Ichimura gets a perfect score on all 4 counts.
Food: A 5 star omakase experience has to have freshly grated wasabi root ground in small circles on top of a wooden board covered with shark skin. Check. The rice grains must be perfectly oblong, not smashed together. One must be able to see each individual grain of rice forming the rice ball on its own. The rice wine vinegar and sugar glaze must neither be too tart nor too sweet. Check. The fish should be able to stand alone with complex flavors without the addition of soy sauce. Check. The uni should be Japanese. Check. One should wake up the next day fantasizing about the Otoro. Check. 5.
Serving Style: There are two seatings a night for 8 people at the sushi bar – meaning that everyone experiences the meal at the same time. Chef Ichimura serves each morsel individually, explaining the origin of each fish and sometimes even pulling out pictures. For those that are new to sushi, it is explained that the nigiri is to be eaten with the hands. 5.
Ambiance: quiet, classy, subtle, personalized, décor that mimics the philosophy of wabi-​sabi. In the case of Ichimura, the walls are made up of old paperback books with dioramas of tiny little people carved into the wall. Except you will only notice that the walls are made of books if you take the time to really observe your surroundings. Lastly, lighting: not too dark, not too bright (ahem…Kurumazushi and Nakazawa). 5.
Service: as expected in any reputable Japanese establishment: excellent. 5.
Go! Go! Go!

First of all, make sure you are able to differentiate brushstroke and ichimura at brushstroke, which is the sushi bar and has one more Michelin-​star than its parent. Ichimura is a completely separate restaurant — Eiji Ichimura was certainly good enough that David Bouley was willing to share a section of his restaurant with him.
Reservation was not easy to secure on the other hand, so make sure to call them one month in advance. (They will occasionally put you on the wait list, do not accept it and call earlier next time, wait list never turns into a real reservation to my past and limited experience).
Now time to start my review. Chef Ichimura had been in charge of the sushi bar in NYC for more than thirty years. The best thing about sushi was that the flavor and feel could perfectly reveal experience of chef. Omakase here started with assorted appetizers, which Chef Ichimura introduced to us one by one and my favorite has been the toro and uni. Then the sashimi part brought itself up. This was actually my first time seeing the chef producing wasabi in front of us, interesting! For sashimi, there’s less of a thing about skill (though you could argue that cutting the fish would also be a skill set) and more about the quality, which was exactly what Ichimura tried to present during his Omakase. Toro fish was again, not surprisingly, beating my expectations by far, thanks to the fresh wasabi and sea salt. Next came the egg custard with black truffle and mushroom — had to admit this was the best egg custard I’ve ever eaten on earth, custard completely absorbed the flavor and was at the same time not overwhelming.
Finally, sushi. Felt like I’ve been waiting for this point for so long and almost got over prepared. Chef Ichimura indeed prepared each sushi consistently well and only by taking one bite would reveal the true feeling.
I think the best part about Ichimura was the interaction with the chef, through which I have learned a lot about sushi preparation. Really hope that one day I could return and appreciate more! Thank you very much chef Ichimura, thanks for bringing the amazing fish to us.

I wondered if it could deliver to the high hype and prices…
It truly did and left me in bliss, leaving me with the experience and memories of one of the finest & most memorable meals of my life…

Amazing… just amazing! Fantastic omakase in such an intimate setting with the chef!

Worthy of the Michelin 2 Stars.
This gem is located inside another restaurant, Brush Stroke, and seats only 8.
A treat to watch Master Chef Eiji Ichimura at work. He does all the work, preparing, serving, explaining the food, and even cleaning the trays afterwards.
Tasting menu included a starter course (6 different, unique pieces), sashimi platter, crab/​mushroom/​white truffle custard, and 20 different pieces of ‘melt in your mouth’ sushi, prepared and served one piece at a time, including two toro nigiri, stacked with multiple layers of different grade toro.
My vote for best sushi restaurant in NYC. Better than Yasuda’s, imo.
Highly recommended.
: A+

Be sure to come Here in your birthday. You get a birthday dessert!
My hubby ordered a crab dinner. Skip that it tasted like rubber
Seat at the sushi bar if u r a party of 2. Not exactly a romantic place. The décor is filled w beautiful large planks of wood
Everything else was DELICIOUS I love the ginger ale. It was amazing. The tofu made me home sick. I never tasted anything on New York that bought me back home.
If u r a Big eater do the tasting menu.
Afterwards check out the bathroom
Service is a little slow — my ginger ale was empty and she never asked me for another drink.

Second time here and chef Ichimura never disappoints! The menu has changed based on seasonal material availabilities. For example, they only have Santa Barbara uni currently due to the declining of quality of Hokkaido Uni.
The first course (six small appetizers) is just amazing, especially the octopus topped with uni.
The second course is the sashimi plate with toro (best toro ever), tuna, clam and etc. all very fresh. The wasabi was hand made on the spot and the sea salt comes from the oldest sea salt producer in Japan.
The third course is chawanmushi topped with truffles. Simply amazing.
The fourth course/​part of the meal consists of 21 pieces of sushi. From the sea-​bream to the Spanish mackerel and the yellow tail. And let’s not forget the famous toro over toro! (triple toro)
dessert: same menu as the restaurant brushstroke. Your usual ice cream+ cake combo. I recommend the roasted green tea pudding. This is not as heavy as the crème brûlée.
The service is very good too. They have some good sake and Japanese whiskey on their list.
It is truly the best the sushi in town.

Absolutely delicious and top notch fish. My boyfriend and I came here for his birthday and he was completely blown away by the quality of the food. Ichimura grates fresh wasabi for the nigiri and sashimi.
This is an eight person bar so you are up and personal with the chef. I really enjoyed the intimate ambiance — you can’t be afraid of making noise or having a conversation. There were times the room did fall quiet because all the diners were intently watching Ichimura work.

Ambiance:
Chef Ichimura is a soft spoken man who skillfully and delicately shows off his sushi craft. The 8 person counter he serves is set off in a private room to the right when walking into the restaurant. Depending on the crowd, the room can feel exclusive or stuffy. When we went, it felt more like the latter. The atmosphere was quiet sans the sound of the knife cutting fish and you end up finding yourself having whispers of conversation with your guest. Don’t even bother to try and have a private conversation during the two and a half hour session.
Food:
Each plate is passed to you directly by Chef Ichimura after you see him putting particular attention to detail to them. His nigiri style is much more traditional that combines the simple flavors of fish, rice, a dash of wasabi, and a brush of soy sauce. Sometimes you may find a shiso leaf or salt in there. Walk in with the expectation that this will be a purist and not creative experience and you’ll be fine. Surprisingly, most of the fish I received was still chewy (striped bass, amberjack and mackerel to name a few) and still contained some sinews hidden inside. I expected higher quality cuts and was let down by this caliber of restaurant. I did come on a Saturday night so maybe we can attribute the poorer quality fish to the fish market being closed. Maybe. The chu-​toro, oh-​toro, and jackfish were amazing though.
Recommendation:
For $ 195/​person, I expected simple amenities such as water to be included in the price but when I saw that each guest was charged $ 8 for water, I felt nickel and dimed. I would go here if you started to exhaust your omakases in NYC but I personally liked my omakase experience at places such as Nakazawa (when I went one month after opening) or even at Jewel Bako (when Chef Yoshi is preparing).

Unbelievable.
Came here the evening of getting engaged, was greeted with champagne, and was offered first choice of seats at the Chef’s table.
Then began 3 hours of the best fish I’ve eaten. Chef walked us through each dish as he prepared it right in front of us. Each slice and movement of his hands was the result of decades of skill. The non-​fish dishes were excellent and sometimes bazaar. I lost count of the dishes but maybe there were 20, you will not leave hungry.
The room is intimate with no music and 8 people eating. The waiter was excellent, each mouthful of water or wine was topped up straight away.
You have to go.

Looking back. My assessment was correct in that it is now a 2 star restaurant.
However the 2^nd time I came wasn’t as memorable as the first. Still great. Maybe the seasonal offerings didn’t taste as good to me as the prior season? Still I would say it is the best sushi spot in NYC. Although I haven’t been to Masa. When I say sushi, I mean nigiri as in fresh raw fish. No California rolls here.
Do yourself a favor, make a reservation and try it out yourself. Unless of course you like California rolls.

Ichimura is 5 stars for those who take sushi very seriously.
Imagine yourself in a zen like room, with a gentle Japanese sushi chef floating around the counter as he masterfully slices the best fish available for your meal. He then gently lays the sushi on your plate and explains what it is and the noteworthy points of the preparation. Repeat this sequence for each piece that’s part of the omakase (I had 18).
If that sounded monotonous to you, then you’d be better served elsewhere. The magic of dining at Ichimura is in the intimacy of the experience — a master displaying his craft and everyone around him truly captivated by every step of the process. That is something you hardly see.
One last thing — the black truffle chawanmushi appetizer was ridiculous and the best of its kind I will ever have. The sushi follows, and it gets even better from there.

was super excited to try ichimura given the 2 stars from michelin and the rave reviews! location is in tribeca, tucked away to the right side of brushstroke (which i also wanna try at some point)… there are only 9 seats at the bar, and my understanding is that eiji ichimura personally serves omakase every seating — there are 2 per day.
the experience is well worth the price tag — ichimura’s finesse with the knife and his strokes with sushi rice are mesmerizing to watch, not to mention that the RICE IS SOO GOOD. edomae style sushi requires the rice to be at the perfect temperature, and that day, each fluffy pillow was perfection. bite after bite of delicious — you’re not overly full at the end of the meal, but definitely fully satisfied. we ordered a couple cocktails to go with our meal, but the sake and wine list is extensive.
why not 5 stars? i went with a friend and wanted to catch up over dinner — this is not the perfect place for that because it is veryyyy serene and quiet. almost no one was talking to those they came to dinner with, soooo. meeps!

THIS IS THE BEST PLACE TO GET OMAKASE SUSHI. Hands down the best place, ever. I’ve tried many omakase sushis around the states and this, THIS GEM, was the best.
18 sushis 2 appetizers and 1 sashimi plate. It was worth the price and worth all the hassle trying to reserve for the seats. Chef ichimura was super nice and he catered towards what we can and cannot eat. The plating was beautiful and the fish were sooooo fresh. I was so full afterwards.
You HAVE TO GO. I PROMISE YOU YOULL LOVE IT SO MUCH YOULL COME BACK.
See my photos for reference, noms.
But one thing though, the waiter was not nice at all to us, maybe because we look really young compared to the other customers?

I should say that I am honored to have had the privilege to dine here. Chef Ichimura served up one spectacular meal and I am looking forward to the day that I’ll be able to come back.
The experience from booking a reservation all the way to the end was pleasant, without a hitch in the process. I called in on a weekday afternoon and left a message with a very pleasant hostess requesting a reservation about 2, 2.5 weeks out. I was a little worried because it was Valentine’s weekend and was hoping I could scoot in a couple days early. I asked for the 12^th or 13^th, 6PM seating preferred, but open to a 9PM. Two days later, I get a call from Ichimura and they confirmed an open seating on the 12^th. Bingo. All set. A day later, I got another call, and the person on the line mentioned that they noticed I had asked for the 12^th or the 13^th and that a spot opened up on the 13^th, and was going to offer me the choice of day. Amazing! Who calls someone back after they’ve already confirmed? Anyway, I stuck with my date but thanked the person profusely for keeping me in mind.
When I got to Ichimura on the 12^th, my eagerness had clearly taken over my senses and I got to the restaurant about 20 min early. So early that the door was still locked and neither Brushstroke nor Ichimura were open yet. The hostess kindly opened the door and invited me in from the cold, and proceeded to take my coat and offered me a drink menu in a little waiting area. I obliged by ordering a Yamazaki 12 yr on the rocks. As I waited and sipped on this amazing whisky, I watched my fellow diners trickle in one by one up til 6PM. One of them happened to be my wife who had accidentally walked into Bouley across the street. :) Google maps fail.
Entering the dining room of Ichimura, it takes a while for one to notice that the far wall is made of books stacked on top of each other in some parquet type design. Embedded in the wall is a little diorama, really cool and funky to see. This part of the restaurant brings you into a place of zen, and if you’re not comfortable with silence, you might squirm a bit initially. It feels wrong to be loud in this room, but not in an oppressive way. You just kinda feel the reverence for tradition and respect.
I’m going to forgo delving into the food too much, just because so many others can say it better. All I can say is, you don’t earn two Michelin stars if your food is just decent, or just good. It should be sublime and emblazon itself into the taste centers of your brain. And that it did. (reference pics)
Just a couple of comments on Chef Ichimura. He is very soft spoken, but when spoken to in his native Japanese, his demeanor brightens and he converses very easily and is prone to some laughter and chuckling. Brush up on your Japanese folks, or be envious of those who can speak. He was really gracious during the entire meal, I know he gets showered with compliments all the time, but he acknowledges all those praises with a nod/​short bow. At the end of the meal, he even stood behind the counter and took a photo with us, which is one of the highlights of my 2015 so far.
Lastly, I’ll be honest. This is a pricey meal. I think it’s justified. The care put into each piece of deliciousness, the meticulous preparation beforehand, the quality of the ingredients, all factor into the price of this meal. At the end of the day, even though you pay the bill, you feel as if the Chef and his staff did you a service, and in a way, I almost feel that should be the way you leave the table at any meal. I can’t wait to come back. Thanks again, Chef Ichimura!

I have to write a review while the taste is still fresh on my mind.
I believe I had the best sushi I have ever had just now. this place really gave me such a good experience it has completely ruined regular convenience store prepackaged sushi for me. Chef Ichimura chuckled when I said that.
The whole ambiance is very zen. The quiet actually was somewhat like meditation and this craft is really like watching artpieces coming into fruition in front of your eyes. I couldn’t help but be impressed with the precision and care with which the chef handled every piece of fish. I feel very humbled to have gone through this experience, because I really don’t feel like I know enough to give a review of this place justice.
The sushi melts in your mouth as it should. He ages the fish anywhere between ⁵⁄₆ min to 2 – 3 weeks– edomae style. yes I read my Pete Wells review. It was very interesting to hear the chef talk about every piece of fish. He would say how big or small or any particular interesting qualities about each piece.
I can tell you what I ate and what he served but it really is not the same as experiencing it yourself. The difference in temperature of the fish and the rice, with just the right amount of wasabi and soy sauce to flavor it, really brings out the taste. The quality is simply superb.
It didn’t feel rushed, and the pace didn’t feel slow. It was just perfect as I came on a Tuesday where it wasn’t filled with people. This place didn’t feel like it needed to «live up to the hype» and it certainly didn’t disappoint. My first official omakase experience really raised my expectations. we will see if this affects my point of view of other places from now on.
Very well deserved praises for this place. I would say make the call for reservations when you are mentally prepared.