As someone who eats a lot of food professionally, every once in a while you need a reset. And for me, that means either ordering from Dig or opting for a restaurant meal that I know isn’t going to send me into a food coma: sushi, and, more specifically, hand rolls. They come in a bunch of styles, funnel-shaped and cigar-shaped and taco-shaped, containing some combination of protein (usually crab, salmon, tuna or yellowtail), rice and accouterment like fried shallots or miso butter, though there are plenty of vegan and vegetarian versions. Even the most hedonistic meal at a hand roll restaurant is tame by most standards.
For a while, there were only a few players in the field, notably KazuNori, the self-proclaimed “original hand roll bar” from the Sugarfish team — they even own the handrollbar.com domain — which opened its first New York City location in NoMad in 2014. And KazuNori has remained dominant for a reason — quality seafood, warm sushi rice (a requirement according to KazuNori obsessive and “Where to Eat” contributor, Becky Hughes), and lightning fast service. The only problem, KazuNori can take forever to get into, which is why I have some excellent alternatives.
A new arrival in Long Island City
While I’d be hard pressed to try every single hand roll restaurant (there are at least a dozen), I have visited enough of them to distinguish the bad from the good, and the good from the very good. For instance, the Nami Nori mini chain has always been incredibly solid and with menu items like tempura misto and Japanese potato salad plus cocktails and wine, it offers more of a traditional restaurant experience than the fast-paced bar atmosphere.
Sushi Saint, a hand roll spot with one other location in Orlando, Fla., just landed in Long Island City, Queens. On one hand, the hand rolls were lovingly prepared with intriguing flavor combinations, especially one featuring torched scallops and brown butter, but the venue leaves much to be desired. Despite its sleek website, Sushi Saint is down a flight of stairs in the lobby of a hotel that I’m relatively sure hasn’t welcomed guests in quite some time. But if you can get over the aesthetics, and the fact that it’s only open on Fridays and Saturdays, it’s an overall pleasant dining experience.
Power lunch on a budget, or splurge a little
Recently, I’ve developed a habit of dropping by hand roll bars when the Times cafeteria just isn’t cutting it. My favorites spots are the confusingly named but altogether delicious Handroll Bar Rolling, a Japanese hand roll restaurant near Herald Square, and Mari.ne Handroll, the more casual Bryant Park-adjacent offshoot of Mari, a Korean hand roll restaurant with a Michelin star. A filling five-roll set at each costs $30 and $29, both featuring the usual crab, yellowtail, salmon and tuna, but Mari.ne is a much better option for vegans and vegetarians.
All that said, not every hand roll experience is easy on the wallet, and if you’re looking for something at the corner of casual and high-end, you can’t go wrong with Noz Market on the Upper East Side, the sibling to Michelin-starred Sushi Noz, where multicourse dinners start at $550 before tax and tip.
You’ll find an extensive à la carte menu of nigiri as well as hand rolls, served funnel-style, priced from $6 (avocado, oshinko) to $22 (toro taku). Your itamae will be sure to tell you where that seafood came from — salmon from Scotland, amberjack from Japan — all while preparing hand rolls in the staid and refined manner that only swanky sushi restaurants can. It’s the best of both worlds, even if I couldn’t afford to enjoy it regularly.
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