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Categories: Japanese, Sushi Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: East VillageAstor Place (6)
1st Ave-14th St (L)
8th St-Broadway (R, W)
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Deep-fried muenster wrapped in seaweed with panko crumbs, oh my!
The only other table of customers in the restaurant included one sorta famous indie chick.
I went with my boyfriend and we wanted to try the hot sake. We accidentally got a large bottle of it, and we had also ordered a good-sized bottle of cold sake. For food, we got the sushi platter, the sashimi platter, the appetizer mentioned above, and mochi. And green tea. Our bill was under $60, and that my friend, is worth 5 stars.
But seriously--I love the atmosphere here--it's so no-nonsense but warm and cozy.
I liked the fact that this place was a hole in the wall. With it's lighting and small space, It made me feel like I was in some ironic indie flick. It's just somewhere to sit and not feel like you are underdressed or overdressed. What you see is what you get.
I wish that my house salad had that miso orange ginger dressing but it had something else on there that I didn't really like. My friend ended up eating it.
The miso soup was just what I needed and my sushi was delicious. And when we got the check we were obviously happy with the money we spent!
downsides: no website, and i think my order cost more than the prices i found on menu pages.
as for the food:
portions are small. not horribly small, but i've had bigger.
i ordered the shrimp tempura roll which apparently is spicy....but it doesn't say that anywhere!
regardless, good sushi. fresh, tasty, etc. and i guess relatively cheap...i'll have to get an updated menu.
Obscure to many, this nook has some strange fare in its menu, namely alligator atom's apple and chicken skin yakitori. No frills decor and indifferent service is somewhat compensated by the low pricing and caliber of food, but not by much.
I was wanting to try this place out for months, because it looks like a total dive piece of s shack from the outside, so I thought it must be good (I lived in Japan for awhile and have nostalgia for such places). The food is, in fact, quite decent, the service is friendly, and the atmosphere as proper ghetto Japanese (I just made that up) as it gets. Enjoy sushi and a Sapporo in non-threatening, not-polished-to-too-ridiculous-a-shine (see my Kyo Ya review), not so expensive environs for once.
I reserve 5 stars in the sushi world for 3, maybe 4 restaurants in the city. That's not to say I wouldn't give another place 5 stars again but I have yet to find the place. Let me say that Natori comes pretty close. I almost want to add another star because of the cool vibe within the restaurant. Something about eating in such a small nondescript place makes me think it's more legit. The food definitely supports this point. Overall - I'm a big fan (just not a 5 star fan).
This hole in the wall reigns over all of the mediocre to terrible sushi restaurants in the East Village, if only for their amazing Miso Soup. We came here on a Thursday (I love those rare moments when my seafood timing is dead-on) and the rolls were unbelievably fresh and luscious. High-quality yellowtail and tuna, with the creamiest avocado. The seaweed salad confused me, as it seemed to be just that: a variety of seaweed species without even a sesame seed or oil or...flavor. Also, skip the sake; it went down as easily as shards of broken glass. We kept it simple with the 3 Roll Special ($13 for Soup, Salad, 3 Rolls, and Sake), but I think it's better to order individual rolls. Though the pieces are small, it was enough to fill our bellies with room to spare for dessert (Momofuku Milk Bar, in this instance).
Hey, any restaurant that plays Deerhoof's "Milkman" all the way through has my support.
Last night I was looking for some sushi on St. Marks...there are many options. I wanted to try a new place, with decent sushi but not very expernsive sushi. I also wanted somewhere quiet...Natori hit the spot.
It is a hole in the wall as other Yelpers have noted. It is laid back and friendly. The tables contained calm students and families.
They let me read for a bit after my meal with no hassle.
There are a few happy hour specials which led me to get a plate with 3 rolls...tuna, california, and yellow tail. Solid sushi. Not huge but pleasing. It comes with choice of miso soup or salad. I had a miso...it was good with a rich smell...I don't think I would rave about it as some Yelpers have but like the sushi it is solid...not just a bowl of sugar soup and a piece of tofu like some places.
I also tried a fried alligator w/ plum sauce appetizer. This was a surprise...I don't know when I last had alligator but I wouldn't have expected it on this menu. It is served deep fried sliced in half and in that slice they put a touch of plum sauce and some kind of leaf. Sweet, rich, clean....yummy.
I will definately go back.
4 solid stars...for solid sushi.
I see no reason to ever return here. The most average of sushi. Inexpensive for the area. Yes, the avocado is creamy. But it was just...the most boring sushi experience of my life. In the most boring nook ever. With the most inconvenient bathroom. Blah. Blah. Blah.
The freshest sushi for the price, hands-down. My favorite sushi/Japanese restaurant in the city. The natto pancake is something everyone should try too.
The service is consistently friendly and attentive. A totally unpretentious place. It does tend to get packed though at dinner.
Small, relaxed, inexpensive. Pretty traditional as sushi goes. I found the specials to be unique and interesting (they generally aren't maki or mere slabs of fish). I've taken two other sushi lovers here and they also declared Natori to be definitely well above par.
My parents used to go on dates here before I was born, and it's my mothers favorite restaurant. The first time I came I took one bite of the tuna and avocado salad and I was sold. Natori is my favorite restaurant now, too. I don't care if you won't eat raw fish or hate fish in general. Unless it is a threat to your health, you must try this salad..
I'm not saying that's the only reason to come to Natori! I'm really into the whole cardboard box dining thing (I'd be more flattered if a date took me to a hole in the wall like this rather than some upscale Americanized Japanese restaurant). I've enjoyed every dish that I've tried here, and each one has a very home-cooked taste.
I also reccomend the miso soup, the chicken katsudon, the nabeyaki udon, and any of the teriyaki dishes.
All the positive reviews I read about this place convinced me to go. And to be honest, I would have been better off dipping my $20 in the soy sauce and eating it, because it sure would have tasted better than the food I ordered.
I got one of the specials which included miso soup, salad, a mini seafood okonomiyaki, and a donburi with broiled salmon, egg and some other stuff. The bottom line is, the miso soup was the best part of the meal. It had a good amount of seaweed and tofu in it. The okonomiyaki didn't have the usual sauce on it, but this weird orange dressing that completely ruined it. The salmon didn't taste like anything, and the salad was nothing more than a few pieces of iceberg lettuce swimming in dressing. I had to hold back my urge to imitate a commercial I saw in Japan and shout, "MAZUI!" Because that pretty much says it all.
I think I've finally found it - my above and beyond Japanese restaurant in New York. I've been searching for so long, yet come up with case after case of not-terrible-but-not-great, especially in this neighborhood! But Natori is just what I've been craving.
First off, the gator. Oh my goodness, delicious! I've tried it both broiled and fried and both are nice. I think I prefer the broiled. It tastes a little like breakfast sausage. In a good way. Do they have alligators in Japan? Or is this a just-for-America specialty? Either way I'll be back for more.
Secondly, soft shell crab. mmmm. One of my new favorites and they just happen to serve it.
Thirdly, this is the only place I have ever had mackerel and enjoyed it. Usually it is a little too weird and "fishy" for me, but here it was fresh and had a hint of lemon - I was quite pleasantly surprised!
You should probably not come here because it is cute and small and I don't want to have to wait for a table.
WOW! Cannot believe that this hole in the wall place was good, but I'd go back tomorrow! Stopped in because it was cold, and there was an "early bird" special in advertised outside that seemed like a good deal.
I'm happy if I leave a sushi place satisfied, and my bill is under 25 bucks. I got that, and I thought the service was super dupes, and I thought the sushi was also a little bit better than the rest, and maybe just a little more authentic.
The tuna roll was smaller, but better. I can't quite put my finger on why it was so good, it just was. Everything I had was tremendous, and it's a cozy little joint, off the beaten path, and it makes you feel like you're in on a secret.
I'll be back, and I'm bringing the troops.
I love this place primarily for their very tasty and well-made unagi tofu stew. It's served up in this large, flat cast-iron pan with a layer of napa cabbage, a layer of silken tofu triangles and pieces of unagi, then all lightly binded together with some beaten egg in a slightly sweet, sukiyaki-like broth. You pair this with a bowl of plain white rice on a cold day. OH!!!!!!!!!!! YUM!
They also have an appetizer made from fried chicken that is lightly stewed in a broth with grated radish. That's also really good. Chirashi here is always very fresh as well.
Overall, this is a reliable, affordable, down-to-earth place for a casual dinner with family or with friends.
Japanese tapas night! Just order off the appetizer and daily special lists and you can't go wrong.
Chirashi was excellent, just the perfect balance of fish and rice (more fish to rice is always the way to go!). Friends got the udon, and maki rolls, but I still think the apps were the best.
Did get a bit confused by the double entrance. Guess we showed up just before the other entrance opened up, and we stood inside the first entrance like dorks, and got stared at. (Normally, I just like looking at other people like dorks.)
Natori is my go-to restaurant for convenient, reliably good, tasty Japanese food with that home-cooking twist. And it's wonderfully affordable. I could eat here on any given night and be totally content.
This place is regularly frequented by a mix of Japanese and Americans. The space itself has absolutely no ambience at all -- it's brightly lit, small and not expensively decorated -- but you come here for the food, not the scene. It's a quiet, calm kind of place, but I've had dinner there with groups as large as 8 and chatted away the evening with lots of fish, sake and beer, and they were very accommodating. Be warned though, this is not the place to go if you are in a hurry. Their service is basic and polite but if they have a packed house the food can take a while to come up. You should come here when you are looking to relax, stay awhile and savor & enjoy the wonderful food.
This place doesn't cater to the average American palate -- some of the menus are in Japanese, and they have a lot of exotic dishes that you don't see on most sushi menus, like simmered pumpkin, natto pancakes, deep fried alligator meat and baby clams in miso. This is the Japanese "home cooking" twist that I appreciate so much about this place. When I go, I always order their awesome okonomiyaki, and if they are offering the fatty tuna with scallion roll, I order that too because of its delicate, delicious flavor. Another thing this place does very well is salads -- their seaweed salad has 3-4 different kinds of seaweed, and their green salads go beyond the usual iceberg lettuce. Their green salad with avocado is crisp and vinegary and big enough to share between 2 people.
If you order sashimi or sushi, you can be sure that the fish will be buttery, fresh and tasty -- always a delight. I have a bias toward their simple, perfect mackerel, but pretty much any fish you order is going to be very good -- I've had their salmon, eel, yellow tail and tuna also and it has all been great. Their rolls are also wonderful -- if you order the standards like the spicy tuna, they do them well, but the rolls they offer on their nightly specials are much more interesting -- like their nice crunchy salmon skin roll, and as I said, my favorite fatty tuna with scallion!
This place was introduced to me by an old roommate, and I in turn have introduced it to many -- and all have loved, loved the food. Definitely one of the better places on the St. Mark's Japanese Row!
This place serves my favorite type of Japanese food. Something I'd like to call comfort food. Everyone has a different idea of what their comfort food is, but for me, this is it.
Free range chicken
okonomiyaki - 4 different kinds
takoyaki
sashimi
assorted small dishes and large meals
beer
tea
The place isn't fancy AT ALL but the food has been consistently good. This place only gets 4 stars because the staff that work there are not nice. They take your order with a side of attitude. So beware. Don't take it personal.
I finally stopped by for dinner after walking by this place twice a day for the past year.
I got a sashimi plate. My friends got the choleste don (chirashi with uni) and salmon neck (daily special). The salmon neck was very salty. The chirashi looked awesome. My sashimi was really fresh and a good portion. The rest of the menu looked very good...
Food was fast. Nothing to complain about with the service. I love this block of St Marks because it's not as loud and bustle-y. And the restaurant is so unassuming. I'd love to come back here again and try more of the dishes. (Might even bump it up to 4!)
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06/23/08 update:
I came back here with a friend. I wasn't extremely hungry so I got the special seafood okonomiyaki which came with squid, shrimp, and another kind of seafood. The okonomiyaki was excellent (I like it on the crispier side) as was the salmon sashimi. However, the service wasn't that great. I'd give this place 3.5 stars... If service was better, maybe I'd bump it up to 4.
Place was packed when we went, hole in the wall and tiny as every other place in NY. Food is off the chain and love the soup, it was damn good, although the mushroom was a bit slimy, no it was not shitake mushrooms either.
Service was quick, cash and credit, parking is hard to find so get their on foot or by by ways of public transit and walk yer ass over der.
Had the bbq squid, sometimes i just like watching what other patrons are already eating and i ask them what they are having, usually a good thing to do.
Love love love Natori. Their early bird special keeps me coming back for more. $13 for soup or salad, a bottle of sake or a beer and a regular sushi, $11 if you change your entree to donkatsu, which is absolutely delish.
It's never crowded which I totally don't get. Interestingly, I have seen quite a few celebs while eating there, like the cast of Big Love, Claire Daines, Julia Stiles. So Hollywood knows about this place but the locals not so much.
Service can get a bit attitudey depending on who you get. One particular waitress definitely. If the food wasn't so good and the restaurant practically at my doorstep, I might consider heading elsewhere so often for dinner. Ok, maybe not. Love this place. I let it go that the waitress just likes to eat pickles, hence the scrunched up sourpuss she sports.
I liked how unassuming this place is, and overall I was pleased with our meal.
The service was slow and spotty but acceptable (sometimes the waitress will fill my water glass, but not my friends and vice versa.) We were in no kind of hurry and i didn't mind that they took quite a while bringing us our food because it was nice just to hang out in there. Don't go if you are trying to get in and out in under an hour. The space is tiny so I don't think there's room for more than one server.
The food was good, but not consistent. We ordered the sizzled pumpkin, age tofu, a big miso soup with salmon, tofu and noodles, an avocado roll and a fermented soybean roll.
The age tofu, avocado roll and soup were extremely delicious. the pumpkin was not very interesting, but not bad. The soybean roll was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten in a Japanese restaurant. I think it's an acquired taste. Yuck.
We got green tea ice cream for dessert which was yummy.
Overall I had a good time and I would definitely go back.
this is my sushi place that i go to when i don't want to think about where to go for sushi. the food has always been consistent and is reasonably priced.
the place has a charming atmosphere that requires a certain getting used to because of its bright white lighting, but after a couple of times, you will realize how quaint and nice the restaurant is.
for starters, i always get the sashimi appetizer. the fish is really fresh and the selection is diverse for being an app. you get several differents types of fish: salmon, yellowtail, tuna, and one other one (can't remember).
as for the sushi and sushi rolls, there's nothing special but it's consistent. and sometimes consistency in food is more important than having a wow meal once.
i highly recommend this place for a low-key dinner with friends or just by yourself. don't expect fast service but it is friendly enough.
I've been patronizing Natori since 1999, and still go at times, but unfortunately, the food is no longer as fresh, portions are smaller. The only thing better seems to be the service. After the past few years of having a snooty waitress (I believe her name was Emi, and she worked on the weekends for dinner time), she seems to be gone. I have not lost hope, however, and will still be going to them. I just hope that things improve!
The thing that always makes me choose Natori is the sizzling pumpkin. It's the simplest of dishes, but somehow, you can't get it like that anywhere else; I've tried making it at home but it didn't work. So whenever I eat at Natori, I choose the pumpkin, the goma ae, which is a watercress salad in sesame, and some kind of fish or seafood appetizer. The service is excellent and the large colorful fish who live in the Natori aquarium have a tranquilizing effect. Or maybe it's the sake.
I cant get enuf of this place. i'm amazed there's not a line out the door. I like the magura nuta, unfiltered sake, tuna avacado salad, goma ae, chicken pancake - it comes to the table moving. Been a regular since 2000. other faves are Cube 63 on Clinton, and Bozu in wmsbrg
sashimi special and deep fried alligator. relaxing setting.
Happy Hour Deal~Just 4…
Jersey City, NJ
Welcome Yelp Guests
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
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