Sushi of Gari

402 E. 78th St., Upper East Side, NY

8.5

map & more

Neighborhood
Upper East Side

Cuisine
Japanese
Sushi

212-517-5340

Official Website

By Andrew Steinthal
October 14, 2010

Sushi of Gari is the best sushi on the Upper East Side. Hands down. It’s not even up for discussion. You know why Sushi Seki is so good? Because the guy who started it learned from Gari himself, Masatoshi “Gari” Sugio. As discussed in the review of Gari’s 46th St. location, it’s all about the omakase.

Sushi of Gari’s flagship location and headquarters on 78th street is a small space. Good luck scoring a table during prime time. A seat at the bar is actually a better option – that way you can get one on one interaction with the Japanese Chuck Bass lookalike sushi chef. Seriously – we wouldn’t mention if it wasn’t so disturbingly uncanny. Name dropping Gossip Girl characters is not something we’re proud of. At any rate, Japanese Chuck Bass is a talented guy, and just like everyone else that works at Gari, he’s super friendly. Not only is the sushi incredible, but the service here is amazing as well.

We have a rather eccentric friend who’s not only obsessed with Gari’s sushi, but has quite an affinity for their toilet. Because I’m beyond uncomfortable writing about a bidet, I’m going to pull a direct quote from an email she sent me last week after returning from a meal at Gari in which she strategically planned out four trips to the bathroom. “Can I please tell you how amazing the toilet at Sushi of Gari on 78th street is? It’s AAAAAMAZING. It’s a TOTO model that has full bidet options for men and women with front and rear cleaning as well as different settings for pulsating or oscillating streams. The seat is heated and has arm rests with other control settings that I don’t even understand. I purposely drink a lot the day I know I am going to Gari and don’t pee before I leave to go there so I can optimize the amount of times I can use the toilet while I am there. I know, I’m crazy. But, this is by far and away my favorite toilet in NYC.” Wow. So yeah, ladies, make sure you take advantage of those oscillating streams.

Food Rundown:

Tempura
One of Gari’s signature apps. If you dig tempura, absolutely order their lightly deep fried shrimp and vegetable tempura dish to share.

Hamaguri
Up the ante on standard miso soup and try Gari’s hamaguri – a fish broth with little neck clams and scallion. It’s excellent.

Steamed Crab Dumplings
A standout appetizer, these crab dumps are worth an order for the table.

Omakase
Gari’s signature. This is the reason why you’re coming here. The chef’s daily selection of fresh, seasonal, sushi and sashimi. Don’t even think about being a wuss and ordering sushi by the slice. It’ll wind up being more expensive and nowhere near as amazing, we promise. The omakase is fifty dollars well spent, and you’ll be thinking about it for days to come. Although the rotation changes everyday, here are some of our favorite preparations we’ve seen more than once: salmon with broiled tomato, tuna with tofu, red snapper with salad, and, our favorite, yellowtail with jalapeno. Check out the twitpic. There’s a reason why people freak out about this place.

Rolls
You can’t go wrong with any of their rolls, but here it goes with the favorites. The fried oyster roll is straight chronic, and is finished in a spicy sauce of sorts which is incredible. We love the fatty tuna with scallion as well as the spicy tuna -Gari slays tuna. The spicy sauteed scallop is another big winner. Lastly, the eel/cucumber is always a favorite, and they raise the bar to the next level with this one.