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Aquamarine
Category: Restaurants Asian Fusion Asian Fusion [Edit]
713 2nd Ave(between 38th St & 39th St)
New York, NY 10016
Neighborhoods: Midtown East, Murray Hill
(212) 297-1880
- Nearest Transit:
-
Grand Central - 42 St (7, 7X)
Grand Central - 42 St (4, 5, 6, 6X)
Grand Central - 42 St (S)
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Trendy
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
84 reviews for Aquamarine
Review Highlights
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"This is a very trendy sushi place in Murray Hill." In 5 reviews -
"Forget Sushi Samba, order the Sashimi Salsa, extra spicy." In 6 reviews -
"The Thai curry was excellent and it all came to $11." In 10 reviews
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84 reviews in English
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Review from Wendy G.
Very trend restaurant, and food were unexpectedly wonderful, both the presentation and the taste.
The entree quality almost reaches Michelin1-star level. I highly recommend the grilled pork chop and crispy red snapper. They totally wowed me and deserve 5-stars.
Salmon carpaccio and spicy tuna roll as appetizers were both fine.
Ambiance and service could definitely be improved further, thus granted 3.5 star.
Creative and delicious cuisine always worth a visit. I'm so happy and content after dining here more than those pretentious places. You know, it's one of those tiring after-work nights, and it's all about the mood. =) -
Review from Neil B.
5/7/2012
Last night a group of us enjoyed Agesahi Tofu, Gado Gado salad, assorted sushi, excellent Duck fried rice, Mango chicken, Pad Thai and crispy Red Snapper for dinner.
Aquamarine has friendly service, good (though a bit overpriced) food, a creative menu and a nice atmosphere, but when you pour top of the line Ketel One vodka into the mixed drinks to jack up the price/profit without first asking (and of course charge us a premium), you lose a star and lessen my desire to come back to your restaurant to be the recipient of your dishonesty. -
Review from Liz N.
3/5/2012
3 for food 1 for fooling groupon-ers. The deal was pretty good with the $35 prefix dinner for two.. HOWEVER! everyone else who wrote a review about the groupons was correct about their $15+ service charge. What they do is take the original prices of what you ordered from the "groupon" menu and add that bill together ($9 house wine?? wtf? $15/appetizer, $20+/meal..) and they come up with something over $85. Therefore adding tax and tip so you end up coughing up an additional $20... i really really really HATE restaurants that do this... but it's their double-edge sword, lose money for advertising with Groupon, and lose money with customers NEVER coming back to your restaurant... even if the food was good.
Food reviews: $6 Sapporo is good deal. Ambience was nice, we got the wasabi chips appetizer as recommended by another yelper and they were AWESOME. However their food was nothing special of ordinary japanese/chinese fusion. The dinner was definitely not worth $50+ w the groupon. Save your money for some hole in the wall! -
Review from Janine C.
2/28/2012
Ordered take-out from Aquamarine after an intense spicy tuna craving. The delivery was quick and the bill was surprisingly affordable ($34.50 for two).
Here's the break-down:
Spicy Tuna Roll: I was hoping for generous pieces of tuna topped with the "traditional" (i.e. American) creamy, spicy sauce. Instead, it appeared as though they had ground up the tuna with the sauce, which resulted in a somewhat goopy, fishy cream. Although the combination still satisfied my craving, I wouldn't order the spicy tuna roll again.
Shrimp Tempura Roll: There's nothing authentically japanese about this roll. It's creamy, it's crunchy, it's huge-mongous. It also happens to be delicious and I'd order it again. Never in the presence of someone who eats "real" sushi.
Salmon/Avocado Roll: Solid roll. Fresh salmon, creamy avocado ... yum. Can't go wrong with this one.
Gyoza and Shumai: Well executed side-dishes. The gyoza weren't too greasy and had a nice crunch despite having sat in a to-go box for ten minutes. Shumai are a personal favorite of mine and I they hit the spot!
I'd order sushi again from this place, but probably steer clear from the main entrees which are on the pricy side. -
Review from Modo Z.
Manhattan, NY
5/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Lovely decoration. The area is pure commercial though. If you're a UN staff, it's a walking distance from the UN secretariat. I recommend it
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Review from Art L.
1/9/2012
Aquamarine, located on a non-descript section of Second Avenue and 38th Street in Manhattan continues the frustrating search for a true Pan-Asian fusion restaurant that does everything, and I mean every cuisine, reasonablly well. Unfortunately for the Cheap Guy, all he found were a few hints of food-making dexterity and more than a few hints of culinary subterfuge. For the record, I am basing this review on only one visit and we did use a dining voucher for this meal, which helped in broadening my sample. We had:
1. Bento Box
2. Spicy Snow Crab Roll
3. Yellowtail Jalapeño Roll
4. Salmon Avocado Roll
5. Panko Fried Oyster Roll
We concentrated heavily on the Japanese side of the menu, as I feel that this is a nice gauge for the overall menu.
On the positive end, we had the Bento Box, which for $23, was a reasonable value, which included 6-7 slices of decent quality sashimi, an special roll, a salad, a well made and flavorful negimaki and some tempura. It was more than enough food. The only minus was that we had to remind our server that a bowl of rice comes with the bento box.
In another big positive, the Panko Fried Oyster Roll is a great value at $6.25 and contains two large oysters smothered in sweet soy. The crunchy texture of the oyster, taste and size made this a must have.
The salmon avocado roll was a bit ordinary, with low grade cuts of salmon embedded into the roll.
Now for the next two items, this is what I call "culinary subterfuge." The Yellowtail Jalapeno Roll held great promise, a change of pace from regular Yellowtail Scallion. The Jalapeno was fresh and hot as expected, but what I didn't expect was that the Yellowtail, probably wasn't Yellowtail. It appeared to be either red snapper or whitefish, with translucent flesh. They must have figured that most diners wouldn't open up their rolls. But upon sight and taste, I knew it wasn't Yellowtail, a major disappointment. For reference, we compared the yellowtail that was served up in the Bento box which had a totally different appearance.
The second instance was the Spicy Snow Crab Roll. I give the sushi chefs credit for creating a larger than average roll, but how did it come to be larger than average? I concluded that it was filler, and lot's of it. You can taste the crab - crabstick, which I have nothing against,- but unfortunately there was a lot of breadcrumb filler mixed in with the crabmeat. After eating this starchified roll, I barely had room left in my stomach to finish the meal.
Finally as for the service, the overworked waiters and servers, provided curt service and were noticeably rushed. There was just one instance of what I perceived to be "rudeness" which happened at the point when we produced our dining voucher. The waiter just rushed away with it without taking our orders, which he already knew we were ready to provide. The service here will not give diners the warm and fuzzies, but in such a large, crowded venue, that may be expected. In the final analysis, two stars seem warranted. -
Review from jenna c.
1/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
Had a groupon...
(food gets 5 stars. everything else is 3)
extremely ODD waitress. But the food was so great, that having to track her down wasn't too bad. And she just acted weird. Spilled a few things, knocked stuff over. And the house wine was oddly $9. AND the 80's dance playlist didn't go w/ the atmosphere... nor did the sports on the tv's. hate that.)
But on to the food----
Now to the food:
YOU MUST GET THE AVOCADO & TUNA w/ WASABI CHIPS were UNREAL!
The sweet potato tempura roll--- RIDICULOUS
Spicy Tuna roll also good.
Eggplant w/ Basil & Garlic was great as well.
so it's a mixed bag. my suggestion--- get takeout. -
Review from Rani N.
New York, NY
4/13/2012
The venue is actually quite contemporary and well decorated. The staff is friendly and helpful. My issues were more with the food being about average compared to all the other pan-asian restaurants I've been to while being more expensive. The sushi faring slightly better. The drinks are strong but also expensive as they are trying to be more of a trendy bar in an area that isn't really all that trendy. So overall an average experience.
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Review from Eric B.
Honolulu, HI
1/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
Food was great and atmosphere was good. I heard about the place by buying a Groupon. It includes two glasses of wine, two appetizers and two entrees for $34. It was a great deal and the food for the most part was good. They gave us a pri-fixe menu and we chose the Salmon carpaccio and spicy tuna/avocado appetiZers. Both were really good.
For entree, we ordered jumbo shrimp w/walnuts and the Chicken udon. Both were good, although the udon was nothing too special. The runner serving us brought us rice with the shrimp, which we were later charged for even though we didn't order it in the first place. The waitress apologized but at first did not offer to remove it. When we persisted, she removed it.
All in all, was a good experience with pretty good service. I would go back again. Thanks to groupon for this discovery! -
Review from James K.
New York, NY
3/4/2012
Complete bullshit. Stay away. After I took my first bite of nigiri with rice that had almost no vinegar- took a look around the room and realized I was the only asian in here... Dumb mistake.
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Review from Lloyd P.
Bronx, NY
1/26/2012 1 Check-in Here
I usually like this place but this past time I had the dinner special bento box and it was mediocre.
Stick to the sushi or the Pad-Thai. -
Review from Erica A.
Manhattan, NY
4/4/2012
Love this place. A little pricey but the food is awesome, be sure to look out for groupons/deals. My favorites are the spicy tuna guacamole, rock shrimp tempura, and dynamite roll.
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Review from LaDonna F.
ROOSEVELT ISL, NY
3/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
Food was tasty, but a bit over priced. Thank goodness, for Groupons! If I could recommend one item, it would be the Spicy Tuna Guacamole w/Wasabi Chips. Very delicious, but they give you a ton of dip and four little chips. They will accommodate you with 4 more chips for $1.00. My experience here was not worth a second trip. Our server was MIA most of the time, but was tipped very well, since it was included in the bill.
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Review from Anna K.
Manhattan, NY
1/20/2012
I would caution anyone going to this restaurant to redeem an online voucher. My boyfriend and I went with a $40 voucher, presented it to our waitress and proceeded to order our dinner. When it was time to get our check, they refused to bring us our check and redeem our voucher. When I asked why, they said we had not met the conditions of our voucher, even though we had spent more than $40 dollars. The waitress argued that the voucher meant one person had to eat $40 worth of food for it to be redeemable.
How many people do they think can eat $40 worth of cheap sushi?
When I asked her to bring me the voucher and indicate where on the voucher it detailed that, she pointed to the section that reads:
Valid until April 3, 2012
Limit one per person
May purchase one additional voucher as a gift
She said the "limit one per person" meant that one person had to eat the $40 value. I explained to her this actually means I can't use moer than one voucher for dinner, which I obviuosly wasn't. When I demanded to speak with her manager she just stood there, continuing to argue that I needed to order something off the dessert menu. This still made no sense to me, and I told her I would not simply continue ordering food until they decided I could use my voucher.
At the expense of salvaging our night and my sanity, my boyfriend quickly ordered something off the dessert menu.
Finally they gave us our check, and we saw they had applied their own gratuity of 18%. We thought this was extremely odd, and figured this was jsut their way of getting gratuity since we were clearly unhappy and planning to leave little to none. When we asked them why we had had automatic gratuity applied to a party of two, they stammered and couldn't come up with a good reason and simply demanded we pay.
All in all, this was an awful experience as far as customer service goes. They were clearly trying to mislead customers and manipulate information to mislead customers. -
Review from Josh M.
Manhattan, NY
3/1/2012
I wouldn't go out of my way to go here, but if I lived in Murray Hill (I don't) and a friend said let's meet here for dinner I wouldn't object. I thought the crispy snapper was pretty good.
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Review from Liz C.
6/28/2011
Disclaimer: I've never actually set foot in Aquamarine, so reviewing my once-to-twice-weekly delivery lunch orders from them is a little like passing a value judgment on a precocious pen-pal -
Lunch specials: a smattering of pan-Asian offerings -sushi, curry, satay- max out at $9 (+ an additional 25% off through http://DailyGobble.com, emphasis on 'daily'), and include your choice of miso soup or crusty iceberg salad. To my palate, the sushi is unspectacular (even by midtown lunch standards) but the hot entrees (the sambal sauce over rice, in particular), are a delicious deal. -
Review from Alexandra C.
New York, NY
9/17/2011
Found everything here to really be lacking in flavor.
Plain tasting salmon rolls and soup.
Way too pricey for the dinner menu for what you get.
Maybe their lunch specials are better. I've only tried there food once here, but the place is definitely good to grab a fruit martini. . -
Review from Alexandra N.
Brooklyn, NY
2/19/2012 1 Check-in Here
Great for easy sushi lunch during the week. I believe it was at $10 or $12 lunch special, two rolls, miso soup and mixed greens salad. They can have you in and out of there in less than an hour or you could take it more leisurely. Great service and good deals makes it's a lunch spot you can always rely on. I was hesitant to write a review cause i don't really want it to catch on!
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Review from Kristin W.
Philadelphia, PA
7/27/2011
The portions are reasonable and the sushi looks fresh, but I found the flavor lacking.
The best roll I tried was the Tuna Trio (crunchy, spicy tuna with red and white tuna on top, but not very spicy). The Wasabi Roll had flavor, but it was mostly overpowered by the generous amount of black and green roe. I was disappointed by the Salmon and Avocado that had very little taste.
Points for speedy delivery, but I'd rather wait a little longer for more flavor. -
Review from Usha L P.
Jamaica, NY
2/23/2012
Went on a Saturday night to celebrate my sister's birthday with her friends. While I'm a New Yorker that does not like sushi (don't judge me) I really enjoyed my food. I had veggie spring rolls with plum sauce and the Panko Chicken (tonkatsu sause has a nice spicy kick), and the chocolate mousse pyramid dessert is rich and seductive (!) Everyone else loved their sushi and MY drink (can't remember what it's called ... Aqua-something made with blue curaçao liqueur).
Very nice Zen-like ambiance - stone/pebble walls and birch tree branches. Only drawback is that we missed our table reservation and ended up trying to fit six people at two bar tables on stools near the front window with a bitter draft leaking in. And the waitstaff could be a little friendlier. Still, a good time was had by all, and there was much rejoicing (yay) -
Review from Martin H.
Manhattan, NY
6/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
OOTW!
Just had a great Biz Lunch here - took three people out to eat, used my DailyGobble (http://www.dailygobble...) offer and saved like $22.
Rainbow roll / Alaska Roll / Shrimp Tempura - were top tier in the neighborhood -
Review from Todd S.
New York, NY
1/28/2012
Nice atmosphere. Always see my neigbors here. Bar with TVs. Diverse asain menu sushi, to thai to chinese.
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Review from Marysol D.
Belleville, NJ
1/13/2012
No stars. I've been here over 15 times but today will be my last. My fiancé ordered the lunch platter and requested no sesame seeds on his roll due to a severe allergy. The waiter insisted that there was no way they could make any substitutions even after we indicated that he would stop breathing if he ate it. They then offered him edamame as a substitution with no reduction in price. I am still in awe that this restaurant would not make a substitution for an allergy. I highly do not recommend this restaurant.
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Review from A C.
Brooklyn, NY
1/14/2012
The lunch special is amazing here. Get the pork chop, you will NOT regret it. Tons of food, affordable prices. My coworkers got the sushi lunch and also thought it was great.
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Review from R D.
Brooklyn, NY
1/10/2012
Chicken Fried Rice.....is basically heaven in a bowl!! I am not a fan of Japanese food at all but I could eat their Fried Rice Daily. Only bad thing is it's $10 just for a bowl of rice (when an entire meal with sushi, salad, and soup is only like $9). Not sure they compared prices when making up the menu.
The blonde hostess is pretty snobby otherwise it's great. -
Review from Todd D.
Danville, CA
7/5/2011
Good sushi & a nice vibe; classy decor. Unfortunately the chicken teriyaki came to the table cold. My companions were too polite to send it back but it'd be nice if the waitstaff had noticed that the entrees were essentially untouched.
The lychee cucumber cocktail was pretty amazing - made up for everything, as far as I was concerned. -
Review from L M.
ASTORIA, NY
12/30/2011
Bad, from beginning to end. The sushi rolls were dry and had clearly been made in advance. I had the worst curry I've ever eaten at a restaurant, and my boyfriend had the mango chicken, which was OK but the sauce lacked flavor and there was far too much of it. Our server was friendly but hardly spoke English. We won't be going back.
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Review from Aditi S.
Manhattan, NY
2/11/2011
Ok
Decor - 2 stars
Food - 3 Stars
Service - 3 Stars
Music - Weird?
This place is really close to my apartment so I went in for a quick dinner - The vibe of the place is nice, I enjoyed the bamboo wall separators. The food was meh - like, there are thousands of sushi places in murray hill nothing really set this one apart.
I ordered hot sake for $10, yeah, I know what did I expect ? But it was terrible, like really, terrible. It tasted like nail polish remover, not that I've had nail polish remover but I am sure thats what it taste like. Also, this place was kind of pricey for a murray hill sushi joint. -
Review from Danielle S.
Brooklyn, NY
9/19/2010 1 Check-in Here
What's with the mediocre reviews? The sushi from this place is freaking orgasmic.
Honestly, the sushi here is just beyond. I can't even put words to it. Add on the great ambience, great presentation, and great service, and voila, the perfect place for sushi.
I love that they add tempura inside to add some crunchy texture. I've also had the sashimi classic, which is an amazing assortment of raw fish over ice. You have never tasted fish that fresh.
Definitely go for the sushi and you won't be disappointed.Listed in: my favorite eats in the hill
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Review from Jessica C.
Brooklyn, NY
6/27/2011
Aquamarine is our office's tried and true favorite for lunch deliveries, especially since we get 25% off via DailyGobble (http://goo.gl/XcK8G). With fresh fish and fast delivery to Midtown East, they're really hard to beat. I've always stuck with the rolls (Yellowtail Scallion, Tuna Cucumber and Salmon Avocado), but my coworkers also rave about the Sambal lunch. As for service, I really appreciate the clear and courteous person who handles phone orders; this and the discount really separate Aquamarine from the rest!
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Review from Steve S.
San Francisco, CA
11/24/2007
This place suffers from serious "white tablecloth syndrome" Medorcre asian food and sushi gets dressed up with some nice tableclothes, and all of a suddden they can charge you extra.
That said, the food is servicable, so if you are in the area, why not? -
Review from tiger c.
NY
Updated - 6/9/2011 2 Check-ins Here
6/9/11 update ordered from there again. Sambal lunch special is to die for!!!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/7/2011
New Fave Lunch Place in Midtown!!!
We ordered lunch in and it was great. Fast delivery, tasty +… Read more »
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Review from G J.
New York, NY
1/26/2009
We walked in here out of curiosity since we assumed our Thursday night was going to end in a total bust, lol. (Long story....)
My cousin and I thought the place looked attractive enough and the menu prices didn't make us run away. So we decided to stay. It was extremely packed but we were seated right away (a plus). I wasn't into the decor that much and wouldn't want to waste my words writing about the physical aspects, :). As long as its clean and I don't see any cockroaches, I was good., :)
We were starving yet weren't in a experimental mood, so we kept it safe. I ordered an appetizer; crispy crab dumplings (four duplings per order), and a Chilean sea bass for my entree. My cousin ordered an assortment of salmon and california rolls.
I wasn't feeling the black bean sauce that came with the fish; I found it too salty but the sea bass was delicious! And if you care about your diet like I do, it was steamed, not fried (a plus, plus, plus) My cousin enjoyed her rolls and fell in love with my crab dumplings; she stole two of them. We were tempted to order more but decided to order dessert. I don't remember the exact name of the dessert but it was within the chocolate mousse cake family. The cake looked like a half circle with whipped, silky chocolate syrup inside. My cousin and I tore the poor dessert up! lol
Well, you know the night ended crazy!
After we finished paying the bill, some young dude who was completely drunk ran up into the place yelling something "you're f****ing my wife!" to this other guy by the bar! All the waiters ran to the front, trying to pin the drunk dude down because he was really flipping out.
We had front row seating to this live, fatal attraction type drama. I mean, it wasn''t funny and one of the owners looked embarrassed as hell (who wouldn't?) I really felt bad for the mistress (I don't know the name for the "other" man), he looked scared, drunk, emotional and definitely humiliated. After they calm the husband, they got him out the restauarant. The mistress went back to sipping his drink, like nothing happened...
Everyone went back to their eating and regular convos. I was giddy, probably because that was the only exciting event that happened during the day for me.....
But I would definitely go back, :) (wink) -
Review from Jackie K.
Waltham, MA
2/23/2011 2 Check-ins Here
The fish was fresh-the Wasabi roll is covered in roe with no tempura so you could really taste how fresh the fish is (esp on the rainbow roll) About 1/2 the rolls are reasonably prices with the speciality rolls are little high priced but also good. I guess compared to the high end sushi places where you pay 25 for a roll, I don't see the difference. Also, I did not personally order a entree because of the reviews on yelp but I tried two entrees and they were both good The vegetable casserole (last entree option) was really flavorful. I also tried an eggplant and tofu dish that was good.
Service was great--quick and attentive.
Music--very weird but I like that because it's funny. -
Review from Katie Z.
New York, NY
1/30/2009
A good and affordable midtown east lunch option.
They call themselves Asian Fusion, and basically do Japanese and Thai. Their lunch specials involve bento box-like platters (with either pad thai, sashimi, sushi rolls teriyaki or a thai pork chop) which comes with soup, salad, gyoza, a sesame salad and a coconut custard for $11. You can also get lunch special sized sushi deals for $8.99. That's a pretty good deal for the neighborhood.
It's also pretty good for groups -- we came with a group of 12 and they could accomodate us at lunch time without issue.
I wasn't blown away by the quality of the sushi, but it was fine and it's a good option for a midtown lunch. And we all know there aren't many. -
Review from pranay b.
Basking Ridge, NJ
12/17/2010
We went here for a holiday party, for a total of about 10 people. We were given our own space in the back. Service was great (but then again, it usually is with a larger group...so, I'd not use that as a metric when the dinner is for a couple only). The food----everything from the sushi, to the dumplings, to the skewers---was amazing. The drinks weren't bad either---I had a malbec, and it was quite good.
I'd love to try this place again, in a smaller group, or as a couple. -
Review from Timi D.
New York, NY
11/30/2007
So, I arrived before my friend and put my name down at with the hostess. I was surprised at how rude she was, but I brushed it off thinking that maybe she was PMSing or something like that. So I went to the bar with all intentions of ordering a drink. About 20 minutes went by and they still had not taken my order (in the mean time my friend had come and joined me). Finally we received our drinks and were eventually sat at our table. It took our waiter 30 MINUTES to approach us and to even ask how we were. OK, I understand if it is a busy night that service won't be great, but c'mon! At least greet us!
Once we were greeted the service was cold and unfriendly. He rarely came to the table and never once asked if there was anything that we needed (we had to ask for SOY SAUCE). After we were done eating we had to ask at least 3 times for the bill. The sushi was so-so, mine fell apart in my chopsticks and my friend's was so covered in wasabi you couldn't really taste it whatsoever. We left a not so great tip due to the poor service and I definitely won't be coming back here again. Total waste of money except for the drinks which were strong and good. -
Review from Varun V.
12/16/2009
Nice enough decor, but the food was really really bland.
I really wanted to like this place, but it was completely not worth it even given the reasonable prices. -
Review from Alessa M.
2/17/2010
I ate at Aquamarine for a friend's birthday. She had made reservations so the waiting period wasn't too long. I'd say about 15 mins. We were seated and chose dishes. I had (if I remember) the Thai Curry Chicken(this was before I found out spicy food was a no no for me). It's not inexpensive but affordable. I'd say in total maybe $20-$25 per person. So if you have a big party be ready to shuck up cash.
The drinks weren't all that great, and if memory serves the water was funny that night.
The ambiance of the place was nice. Dimmed lighting and lots of blue (as if we were the tank).
It's a once and a place type of place.Listed in: Best Eats....
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Review from maureen b.
Manhattan, NY
1/21/2012
Really good food. Especially love the gaucamole(tuna and wasabi chips), crab dumplings and cod.
