Diners' Choice: Japanese restaurants in New York City

OpenTable

Updated April 05, 2025

Looking for restaurants with the best overall Japanese cuisine in New York City? You’re in the right place. Each month OpenTable analyzes more than 400,000 new diner reviews. We sort the results by category to help you discover new favorites. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Tempura Matsui

4.9

4.9 (656)

$50 and over

Japanese

Midtown East

About the restaurant

Welcome to Tempura Matsui –A Michelin One Star–
Tempura Matsui invites you to experience the fine art of cooking tempura. Within a serene setting, guests have a seat at our counter or tables and can view the delicate preparation of lightly frying fresh fish and vegetables.
We only serve Omakase Dinner Course for $280 per person at 2 specific times Tuesdays through Saturdays between 5:30PM and 8PM.
Also, we serve a Lunch Course for $160 per person at 12 noon only on Fridays and Saturdays.
Open irregularly on Sundays.
Tempura Matsui is designed to emulate a Japanese cottage with warm woods, slate floors. A five-seat bar allows guests to wait for their seats while enjoying a glass of wine, sake, cocktail, or beer.
You may make a reservation one month ahead and any cancellations must be made 24 hours prior to the reservation to avoid a $100 charge per person.

Top review

Kyle

Dined 6 days ago

An incredible experience from start to finish. The service was exceptional, and the food was amazing. Every course, from the superb chawanmushi to the cherrystone clam tempura was a joy to eat. What a great experience.

Momokawa

4.8

4.8 (258)

$31 to $50

Japanese

Upper East Side

About the restaurant

Wagyu & Sushi
The restaurant will serve top-quality meals served with the highest quality ingredients, along with a sushi bar led by The Sushi chef with over 30 years of experience.

Top review

Ridwan

Dined 4 days ago

They helped to prepare the food in a timely manner as well as exchange the cold water for warm water. There isn't really anything I can complain about on their side aside from the other patrons being really loud which is not their fault/

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ - Flushing, NY | Chinatown of Queens

4.8

4.8 (876)

$31 to $50

Japanese

Flushing

About the restaurant

Founded in Tokyo in 1996, Gyu-Kaku has become the world’s #1 Japanese BBQ brand! Thanks to our devoted fans we have reached over 700 locations worldwide. Each day, hundreds of thousands of people gather around the table-top smokeless grill, a centerpiece of our dining concept, enjoying selections of premium meats, just off the grill, and other freshly prepared foods from our kitchens, inspiring laughter, conversation, and a magical dining experience.

Our authentic yakiniku (grilled barbeque) dining experience crowns you the chef. Share a variety of delicious appetizers and premium cooked meats over a flaming grill, paired with Japanese sake, frosty cold beers, or other alcoholic and non-alcoholic options of your choice. We're the perfect spot to enjoy time with friends and family, organize an office party, or to spend quality time with your significant other!

Before you go, don't forget to taste our best-seller Harami Skirt Steak or Prime Kalbi Short Rib among other must-try dishes!

Top review

Jane

Dined 2 days ago

Fresh food, good ambience and good service as always

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Experience

Prix-Fixe BBQ Courses for Everyone: Starting at...

Sushi of Gari 46

4.8

4.8 (1869)

$50 and over

Japanese

Theater District

About the restaurant

Beginning in January 2025, we will be open 7 days a week. We look forward to welcoming you with extended hours and more opportunities to dine with us! Please check our updated hours.

For a decade founder Gari Sugio has run a sushi restaurant that is innovative in the way it serves sushi with both cold and warm ingredients, offering more than 130 varieties. Sushi of Gari 46 focuses primarily on serving Gari’s “Signature Omakase” Sushi dinner which shows off his expertise with marinated and spiced raw and slightly cooked ingredients, in addition to a menu of traditional Japanese dishes. The sake selection, by Gari Sugio, is one of the best in town along with a limited wine selection of fine wines.

Please note: Sushi Bar reservation is not available online. Please contact the restaurant directly.

Top review

DeniseVIP

Dined 1 day ago

Lunch at Gari was impeccable, the best sushi in midtown. Simply outstanding, between the service (3x bottles of iced green tea, delicious, were consumed) and the presentation of the pieces, it was beyond impressive. I can't wait to go back!

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4.8

4.8 (37)

$50 and over

Japanese

Flatiron District

About the restaurant

odo is open for lunch and dinner service from Wednesday through Sunday.

The Lounge is open from Tuesday through Saturday

Please note that reservations at the lounge do not offer our Kaiseki Tasting Experience.

odo offers a 20 minute grace period. Please contact us via email if you are running late.

For the consideration of our other guests, children younger than 10 are not allowed at the Chef's Counter. Please note that all guests seated at the Chef's Counter must partake in the tasting course.

While we do our best to accommodate most allergies and dietary restrictions, we cannot accommodate vegan, vegetarian, wheat and gluten-free guests. We are also unable to accommodate guests who cannot consume seafood or seaweed.

Please contact us directly at odo.reservation@gmail.com to ensure we can accommodate your needs.

Cancellations can be refunded up to 48 hours from the reservation. Any cancellations made within 48 hours, as well as no shows will not be refunded.

Top review

Isaac

Dined on Apr 14, 2025

One of the best meals of my life. Never had kaiseki before, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. Every dish was extremely unique, delicious, and balanced. This was a perfect meal in every way.

Restaurant Nippon

4.9

4.9 (791)

$31 to $50

Japanese

Midtown East

About the restaurant

Welcome to Nippon, the heartbeat of authentic Japanese cuisine in New York City since 1963. Nestled on 52nd Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenue, we invite you to indulge in a culinary journey through traditional Edo-mae (Tokyo) style dishes.

Signature Dish: Experience our iconic Beef Negimayaki, a dish that originated right here at Nippon and has since become a global favorite. Delight in our Tempura straight from the tempura bar, a standout feature of our menu. We also take pride in our in-house creations, including premium ni-hachi soba noodles and house-made tofu, which elevate every dish to an extraordinary level.

Special Features: For a truly authentic experience, reserve our Japanese-style tatami room, a private space designed for intimate gatherings with traditional floor seating and elegant décor.

Join us at Nippon, where tradition meets innovation in a setting as timeless as our heritage.

Top review

Marcia

Dined 2 days ago

Always a pleasure. Excellent service and friendly staff. A favorite!

Sushi of Gari - Upper East Side

4.8

4.8 (1038)

$50 and over

Japanese

Upper East Side

About the restaurant

Beginning in December 2024, we will be open 7 days a week. We look forward to welcoming you with extended hours and more opportunities to dine with us! Please check our updated hours.

Welcome to Sushi of Gari Upper East Side! This restaurant is the first restaurant specializing in the wonderful taste of Gari Signature Sushi. This restaurant is rather a small establishment, but we offer an amazing Sushi as well as many traditional Japanese dishes. In addition to many very fresh authentic Japanese Sushi, let us surprise you by Gari's originality: some area slightly cooked, or marinated, and served with a variety of home-made sauces or other delicacies which enhance the daily market's freshest seafood, many of which are from Japan especially for Sushi of Gari.

Please note: Sushi Bar reservation is not available online. Please contact the restaurant directly.

Top review

Diane

Dined on Apr 12, 2025

The omekase sushi was creatively prepared, fresh and delicious!

Nami Nori - Williamsburg

4.8

4.8 (59)

$31 to $50

Japanese

Williamsburg

About the restaurant

Nami Nori is a casual, award. winning, temaki bar specializing in open-style sushi hand rolls. Our menu features signature temaki, including crunchy varieties, as well as takes on the classics and a special vegan section. The open-style temaki allows guests to enjoy a wide variety of flavors, in each fun-to-eat, visually tempting bite.

We also serve Japanese-inspired snacks and appetizers, along with a selection of beer, sake and wine, available on tap and by the bottle. Nami Nori is a casual yet elegant temaki bar offering guests a unique sushi dining experience in Williamsburg. Coming from the rarified Japanese restaurants in which they trained, partners Taka Sakaeda, Jihan Lee and Lisa Limb envisioned Nami Nori to be a more inclusive place that balances accessibility with a dedication to quality and creativity with a respect for traditional techniques.

Nami Nori is a place to share with friends, old and new.

Top review

Sofia

Dined on Apr 15, 2025

Cute place, but the food and drinks were very hit or miss, and that was not what I was expected for $60/person. I would pay the $9-12 for the salmon-avocado and toro-negi temaki again, they were great, but my drink was so bad they might have actually gotten the recipe wrong. I was quite literally gagged. Overall, 6/10 with a high standard deviation. Also, we have a reservation a week in advance and we still got sat at the bar for 20 minutes waiting for a table to open up–not a big deal but still annoying. I went with my cousin, we both got three temaki and a cocktail and split the Japanese potato salad (a lot of yuzu, but still good), we spent ~$130 including tip. Her cocktail was very good (vermouth with a dried orange on top, very strong, great flavor, very pretty presentation) and mine was so bad it was confusing (Matcharita 2.0). It was bitter, sour, and salty with salt going all the way around the rim. I wiped the salt off after a while, but even with that my cousin told me to stop drinking it because she would see me grimace every time I took a sip. The temaki were similar, the salmon-avocado and toro-negi were amazing, I would pay the $9-12 for them again, but the smoked salmon one was not good. It was topped with a bitter vegetable that really threw off the flavor and the nori's texture was really thrown off by the 'everything bagel' crust it had, which tasted a bit stale.

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill - Financial District

4.8

4.8 (404)

$30 and under

Japanese

Financial District

About the restaurant

We serve Japanese seafood, hot entrees & signature fried chicken plated in a sophisticated atmosphere located at the corner of Maiden Lane and William Street, with a view of Louise Nevelson Plaza across from the Federal Reserve, our menu features expertly prepared traditional Japanese Sushi and Sashimi, and is complimented by signature entrees from our hot kitchen, including Grilled Skirt Steak, Oxtail Fried Rice, Steamed Lobster, Japanese A5 Wagyu, and our famous Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken. We are proud to offer a distinctive beverage program featuring Japanese imported beers, cocktails, sake and shochu and other cocktails.

Top review

Laura

Dined on Apr 12, 2025

Absolutely fantastic - every bite was spectacular. Highly rec the Crispy Rice app. Also loved the yellowtail and Serrano app. Not overpriced and great ambiance and service. We’ll def be back!

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4.7

4.7 (50)

$50 and over

Japanese