The Best Walk-In Only Restaurants For When You Didn’t Make A Reservation
Forgot to make plans for tonight? It’s the perfect time to try one of NYC’s great restaurants that don’t take reservations anyway.
It takes a special restaurant to stay relevant and popular over a near twenty year span, and that’s exactly what the original Blue Ribbon Sushi has done. Every night, this place is slammed with the cream of the NYC crop. It’s an understated clubhouse without a membership program. A restaurant that isn’t written about much anymore, yet still filled with savvy diners nightly. It’s got an electric vibe, that’s perfect for a midnight sushi snack. Yes, that’s Leonardo DiCaprio posted up in a corner booth, being completely left alone. Well done, New York.
The fish at Blue Ribbon Sushi is fresh, flown in daily from all across the Atlantic and Pacific, and the huge menu has something for every sushi lover. As long as they’re not from LA or Japan, it’s a great place to Impress an Out of Towner with a Classic NYC Establishment. It’s a small restaurant, but the waits aren’t as bad as they used to be. That being said, we’ve never been here before 10pm.
Our love for the Blue Ribbon franchise is well documented, as the Brasserie has a 9.0 rating, and is one of our all time favorite restaurants. Sure, Blue Ribbon sold out, but even their hotel restaurants are of the highest quality. You can surely find better sushi in this town, but you certainly can’t find a better hang. Especially at 11pm on a Tuesday.
Food Rundown
Toro Tataki
A tremendous way to start off your meal, the tuna belly appetizer comes with a quail egg on top. Everything is better with an egg on top.
Kanpachi Usuzukuri
A classic, must order dish, simply made up of thinly sliced amberjack in an amazing yuzu pepper sauce. Do it.
Kai Moriawase Sunomono
Another one of our favorite starters to share, this is an assortment of clams of in all shapes and sizes, swimming in an addicting vinegar sauce.
Live Scallop Sashimi
Raw scallops, sliced and probably still a little bit alive until you eat the sh
Soft Shell Crab
If it’s in season and on the specials menu, this is required ordering. Speaking of the specials menu, that’s an area from which you should do a significant amount of ordering.
Karai Sakana
Blue Ribbon Sushi’s signature spicy seafood soup. On a cold night, this thing hits the spot. Their miso soups are great too.
Saikyoyaki Entrée
When going big at a sushi restaurant in NYC, you go for the black cod. Blue Ribbon’s is broiled and served in miso sauce, as are pretty much all the rest of them on menus across the world. Either way, it’s stellar. And expensive.
Special Rolls
Our go-to’s and favorites: Dragon Roll with Eel, Avocado and Radish. Spicy Crab Roll with Blue Crab and Shiso. Sake Kawa with Crispy Salmon Skin and Cucumber. Kaki Fri, the fried oyster roll.
Sashimi Deluxe
18 pieces of their finest fish. Forget the sushi platter, go sashimi and go deluxe.
Blue Ribbon Platter
This thing arrives at the table like bottle service with a sparkler. So much to look at. So much to see. It’s like SimCity, made out of fish. Trust us, you’ll have plenty to eat. And for $150, you better.
Green Tea Ice Cream
End your sushi meal proper and finish with a scoop of delicious green tea ice cream.
