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Ise Japanese Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Nearest Transit:
-
57th St-6th Ave (F)
5th Ave-53rd St (E, V)
5th Ave-60th St (N, R, W)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
16 reviews for Ise Japanese Restaurant
My friend and I ventured in this hidden little ramen joint after work last week. They were packed! This little place offers nearly a dozen different type of ramen and standard rice dishes. I had the Tonkotsu Ramen (pork bone broth) and my friend got the Katsu Don (pork cutlet & egg over rice). We also shared an order of fried pork dumplings. All of this was just $31 (tax and tip included).
Lets start with the appetizer. The dumpling was made in house with lots of filling. They certainly didn't skimp there. Grilled to nice golden brownness, they were just perfect.
My Tonkotsu Ramen was really really good. The broth was excellent. Their pork slices (cha-siu) was good, but is a little on the lean side (I like mine a little fatty!). The noodles were nice and chewy--as it should be. I also got the extra curry rice on the side (only $3). It was good, but the curry is definitely packaged (hence the 4-star instead of 5-star).
My friend's Katsu Don was quite good as well. The pork cutlet was nicely done (still juicy; not too dry) and the sauce was just right.
All in all, I am a fan. Lower East Side probably has better ramen (such as Rai Rai Ken), but in this area, Ise is a sure bet. It's no wonder they are packed.
We went to dinner on Saturday night and the restaurant is almost filled. Didn't have to wait for a table for 2 ppl. Most of the customers spoke in Japanese with some older Japanese guys sitting by the bar drinking and eating. First impression was pretty authentic and good value.
ISE is one of my favorite Japanese restaurant in NY due to it's great value (low price and good sushi). However, this 56th street location's sushi was a disappointment!
I ordered a sashimi rice bowl and my gf ordered a sushi deluxe. The fish is NOT fresh and my rice tasted like left over rice, dry and hard. Sushi rice need to be moist and soft so it can stick together. I have 30 years of rice eating experience on a daily basis as an Asian. The basic requirement for good sushi are refresh fish and good rice. That fish need to melt in my mouth with fresh taste. This place fail at both rice and fish. We ordered the grill squid and that was pretty good for $6. Never will go back for sushi at this place but I really want to try their noodle since so many people talk about but I have high expectation for a $9 bowl of Ramen. The bill over $50 for 2 ppl.
Not what you'd expect from the exterior which marks this place as just another generic midtown Japanese place. The décor isn't much to look at but the service is a solid and the food has yet to disappoint. There's a menu and all but the crowds seem to come in for the lunch specials, every day there an A, B, and C special, once it runs out they take down the tag at the end of the sushi bar. I've hand a bunch of the specials and a bunch of the menu items and its really quite good, especially considering the reasonableness of the pricing. Never been for anything other than lunch but I'd be willing to wager its still worth it after dark.
The staff here is unbelievably NICE. The food here is cheap in price but not in quality. My date and I split a pork belly appetizer, two bowls of udon, and a green tea dessert. Total bill came to about $30. The pork belly was tender and mouth watering delicious. And, the udon portions were huge. I'm giving this place less than a five star only because our waitress was a little spacey towards the end. Not sure what happened, but it took a reeeaaaally long time for us to order dessert/ get the dessert, get the check, etc. She was nice the whole time, just inattentive towards the end. Probably just a fluke, so yeah I'm def a fan.
I've hesitated writing a review on this place, desperate to keep it my little secret. A few months ago you could enter and it'd be dead as a dog. Now, even before the midtown dinner rush, more than half the tables are full, and with Japanese business people no less!
They've got fantastically fresh raw fish (I always end up getting the Chirashi), and various authentic appetizers and main courses that you will be hard pressed to find elsewhere. The cost is decent, the wait staff is courteous and attentive, and they surprise you with a mini appetizer and hot towel when you are seated at a table or the sushi bar (the appetizer is different everyday, ranging from unidentifiable marinated meat to stewed potato).
Ultimately, is my default dinner joint when I'm in the area. It's got a lovely atmosphere, like you've been shipped off to a cozy little restaurant in Japan (complete with tatami mat rooms if you have a bigger party), and being utterly surrounded by people speaking the language only increases the experience.
Lunch spot for mid-towners. Went here with my ex-assistant for a quick bite.
They have nice teishokus, but nothing to write home about.
When going to ISE, be sure to bring along your favorite Japanese pal who both reads and speaks the language. They have a number of untranslated menus that have the goods!
Had soft shell crab mid crab season, great tuna sashimi and most of their specials that night (from the mystery menu.)
Go. Eat. Enjoy.
omg totally diff from the financial district location as it is much much smaller and filled with locals who are japanese... so make sure u bring someone who speaks the language because the good stuff is all in japanese!!!
anyway we got a lil room to ourselves around 8pm and it seriously felt like i was eating mom's cooked foods in japan if i were japanese! lol. ordered tons of dishes... but beware this place is pricey!!!
ordered the following:
-teriyaki fish head : my favorite, very sweet and tender!
-tempura mushrooms - good balance to the meal
-veggies - bitter yet salty homecooked taste to it
-tofu soup - again light broth tasted very homecooked without msg
-fried ikura (squid) - er a lil over fried and dried out
-special snails dish - not chewy cooked on hot dish... fresh!
-nasu (eggplant) - nicely sweetened wish i could make mine like that!
-some beef thingy - that was alright not much flavor to that one
-some beef tongue thing - not as tender and flavorful as gyu kaku's
-special sashimi - toro was super melted!, aki was perfect, and some red fish was good too...
Great authentic Japanese midtown lunch hot-spot. They are famous for their great lunch special selections which cost $12 ~ $16 and range from bento boxes, donburi, udon, to katsu. I had the tonkatsu sashimi lunch special and the portion was BIG! Most lunches comes with salad / soup, and dessert. Definitely great value for the portion, selection and location. Although always busy, the servers are very friendly and helpful. If you are lucky, you might even get to sit in the limited tatami rooms in the back and enjoy your meal in traditional Japanese style.
The restaurant caters to the casual diners thus their sushi, although fresh, is not of the highest grade and their tonkatsu, although big and crispy, is not made with the most katsu suitable pork. I would recommend trying their daily specials.
If i could review this place based on the dessert alone, i would give it about 4.5 stars. I have just been spoiled by other Japanese places that the food here did not surprise me. It was all solid Japanese food. Good flavors, good service, Fairly nice accommodations. Just about all was good at this place and I'm sure I'm coming back for more. It is better than other similar places around. But not quite as the good ones I've been to. We had some yakitori items from the menu. Yeah, this is not the other yakitori down on 55th, but it was solid food, nicely prepared and plated. Chicken wings, steak, and so on. All very nice with a good sear.
To close it all up, we ordered the one dessert i hadn't heard of, or couldn't pronounce. It was a green tea soup with these Japanese squishy balls in it, at the bottom it had powdered vanilla beans. It was really nice. Had a bit of the tea bitterness with the sweetness of sugar and the nice touch of natural vanilla bean. Very nice.
This place is very inconspicuous, but I think it's a great find. Their lunches are of principal interest from a value standpoint (they have a number of excellent lunch specials that great buys), but the dinners are worth it as well. Ise's strengths are that they do pretty much everything well. There's nothing here that I think is among the best that I've had, but virtually everything that I've had here (save for the Tonkatsu) is dependably very good -- even the sushi, which I was not expecting. This place caters to a mostly Japanese crowd, so know that going in -- but if you want some good authentic Japanese food at good prices, this is a really good option.
This place gets 5 stars for their lobster tempura. I've always ordered their shrimp tempura (not greasy at all) for lunch and on my last visit, they had the lobster special. I was blown away by the flavor and amount of food I was served. Even the leftover was amazing the next day.
This sushi joint ,conveniently located in Midtown Manhattan that offers great service. I give their sushi and bento boxes 4 stars.
Ask Joe, the manager, to hook you up with a tatami room. He's the best host in the block!
Went here on a Friday evening and it felt like we were no longer in NY. We had searched this neighborhood for a decent and quick place and I was a little irritated when we stumbled upon Ise. We were seated immediately at the Sushi bar in the back and were surrounded by Japanese clientele drinking, eating and laughing. The staff was friendly and accommodating. And the sushi was excellent. Super fresh salmon (best I've had in a long time) and wonderful shrimp tempura. I can't wait to go back.
this place has great lunch specials. the raw fish is fresh, food is tasty and service is fast!
I have been to ISE twice in the past two years. It is consistently good with nice service and incredibly reasonable prices for the freshest fish, veggies, and meats. This time we got yakitori, sauteed chines broccoli, the grilled snapper head (on the specials menu), skate sashimi, summer rolls, shumai and grilled whole pike makerel. We were seated at one of the tatami rooms on a Sunday night. The waitress translated the specials menu and recommended a nice cold sake. She was attentive, but unobtrusive. We sat and ate slowly and enjoyed a great dinner. The previous visit was on a Friday night when the place was packed and yet the service was just as attentive. It really is the go-to place for Japanese ex-pats. We were the only non-Asians there and we were made to feel very welcome. We paid $90 for seven dishes and three bottles of cold sake (each sake bottle serves about nine small cups). It was a peaceful, lovely bargain Sunday night meals. I can't wait to return!
my friend and i came here last night for dinner a few months ago. we ordered the lobster tempura, sauted ginger pork, and the "queen" roll. each thing was approximately $15. the waitress was very nice and honest when we asked her for a recommendation (we went with the pork because of her). the place is pretty quiet too, so it was really easy to get a table. unfortunately, the food was just not very good. the tempura batter was thick and weighed down by oil, so i couldn't eat more than one piece. the pork was very dry, cut into thin slices, and tasted like airplane food. the roll was ok, but it was just tuna and avocado sprinkled with some sprouts. i was pretty disappointed with the food. for dessert, we split the green tea mousse with sesame and rice cake dessert (it had a long japanese name i don't remember) and the red bean ice cream. the green tea dessert tasted very powdery, like they had dumped too much green tea powder and not enough water. the rice cakes were nice and chewy, though there were too few of them. the red bean ice cream was ok, but i found that it tasted more like melon than like red bean. overall, i probably won't come again because there are other restaurants in the area.
