Bond Street

My friend has always wanted to try Bond Street - we went for his birthday on a Saturday. I called two weeks in advance for a 9 o'clock reservation, which was no problem. We arrived at 8:30 for a glass of champagne before we sat down to dinner, which was fine, although the bar is too small for the space and really overcrowded. Our table was ready around 9:30. We had amazing appetizers and mostly great sushi. Our waiter recommended the special toro roll, which we ordered. It was good, but at $26 was not nearly three times as good as anything else on the menu, and that was before we bit into a bone in three out of the six toro roll pieces. I mean...I eat sushi 2-3 times per week, and I have never...ever...encountered a bone...until now. We mentioned it to our waiter, who frankly did not seem overly concerned. He said he would tell the kitchen, and eventually came back with a really lame little petite four platter thingie (double lame since we had both already ordered dessert). The desserts were good - the sake creme brulee is amazing - but I had specifically mentioned that it was a birthday when I made the reservation, and then again when I confirmed the reservation that morning. So frankly, when my friend's dessert came out without a birthday flourish (no candle...no Happy Birthday written on the plate) I was really annoyed. The check was $200 for two people, and I really am happy to pay $200 for dinner - but you pay that kind of money so that it's perfect. And there were just way too many little screw-ups for the price. Our table was half an hour late, the waiter was indifferent at best, bones in the exorbitantly priced special sushi roll (still reeling), no candle, and, to add insult to injury, our waiter dropped the check at the same time as our desserts...really tacky. The crowd was very B&T to boot, so the trendy ambience was wasted. Altogether, there are many, many other places to drop your $200. Pros: Sushi is amazingly fresh and at times outstanding Cons: Service is crappy, bones in sushi roll, cheesy crowd more

Came here the other night with my sister. Made a 7:00 reservation warlier in the day with no problem (although a later time was not available). Service is generally OK (nothing special). We sat in the back by the sushi bar but a table in the dim-lit front would have been nice for better atmosphere. We shared the Mixed Green salad which was big and good but again, nothing special. Ceviche trio was very small but very good (a tad salty). My sister had the Sea Bass which was really good and had great natural flavor. It is served with radish (?) in a sweet orange sauce. I had the lobster tempura roll which was good and the soba noodle and crab roll which was very good. The soba noodle roll is slightly warm which was nice. The crowd is a little bit older and the noise level was pretty low. It was an overall nice experience but i don't think i will be returning anytime soon just because i like places with a little more engery. Pros: food Cons: ambience more

I have been to BondSt many times and everytime it gets better. The sushi is always fresh and very tasty; the tempura is fried to perfection and the kobe beef is worth its weight in gold. Besides the ample seating (up and down stairs avail. for seating), the bar serves up some mean martinis and the ambiance is perfect for a romantic date or a fun night out with a group of friends or co-workers. I give this place two thumbs up in a ""Z"" formation!!! Pros: Food, ambience Cons: $$$$ more

I have never heard of this place before and i eat a lot of sushi. I completely missed the place when i walked by because you have to go up the stairs like you're going to an apartment building (which it is). There is a lounge downstairs and restaurant upstairs. I would recommend fried shrimp with aioli sauce for appetizer..it was so good!!!!! I had a wide variety of sushi and i was very impressed. The sushi was phenomenal but the service was quite pathetic. The waitress never came to ask us if we need anything else. The food took forever. We were waiting for quite a while before we had to ask her again if the food is coming. I would recommend this place for good sushi. Pros: Good Sushi Cons: Bad Service more

I was seated by the sushi bar so it was very loud, but I didn't mind it because all the chefs there were very entertaining and friendly and everyone was happy. As appetizers I had their 'eel dice roll' which was cleverly made and tasted like heaven! Best sushi I've ever had thus far. The other appetizer I ordered was the fried sea bass that came with this spicy sauce which I wasn't too thrilled about. It tasted kinda soapy for some mysterious reason. As an entree I had their broiled chilean sea bass and it was so tasty! I loved it! For dessert I had this chocolate cake which I wasn't impressed with at all. I would definitely go back to try the other items on their menu. Service was just decent. Pros: food Cons: noise more

The irony is that despite everything on the menu [that we tried] being first rate, the 'basic' avocado salmon maki rolled in sesame seeds stands out as my favorite dish. For a chef to be able to make quintessential menu items memorable says something. Pros: Maki, Sake, Sushi Cons: n/a more

no other sushi place can be comparable with bond ( possible sushi 55 in LA). fresh is the point when eating sushi and you can't get any fresher ingredients like in this place. Pros: the freshest sushi in new york town more

Meticulous Attention to Detail. Pros: Exotic Sushi, Great Decor Cons: A little loud believe it or not. more

This is my favorite sushi restaurant in the city. Classy ambience, and the food is fresh and high quality. The upstairs dining area is great for a romantic date. Pros: trendy, delish more

I've been to Bond St 4 times already. The food is hit or miss. Some dishes are great but others just okay. I always order the Lobster Chawan Mushi. I've never had this better anywhere else. The Fried Shrimp in Spicy Aioli sauce is very very tasty. However the fried oysters are not that great. The Risotto is also very very tasty. The miso fish is okay too. Pros: Tasty, Trendy Cons: Some dishes so-so more

I went there last night with a couple of friends and we were so disappointed with our waitress we seriously considered not tipping. She was unprepared to discuss the menu and recommend sake and overall extremely rude. Even the fact that she was pretty-it seems to be the only criteria they consider when hiring- didn't do much for her since she was so unfriendly and pretentious. The food was okay. I recommend the crab cake and the seared tuna with foie gras for appetizers. The sushi and sashimi were not great so I would probably order a hot entrée instead. I really like going to nice restaurants but would go for good service + good food over trendy anytime. Pros: ambiance, prompt seating Cons: servers more

I recently went back to bondst. after not having been there in some time - it's now clear why they're still as popular as ever. Service was consientious and the food was delicious and fresh. The decor is nice but it could possibly use a bit of updating. It was also good to see that the same guy (with short dark hair) is still there at the front door. It's that kind of consistency that has turned bondst. into a New York institution. more

I have been coming here for years and the food is more consistent than ever. A few new faces, but all the srevers are friendly and HOT. It is the best of everything here at this Exceptional sushi place more

Nice atmosphere and trendy dining room but the food was only average and the service was confused at best and a disaster at worst. The waiter brought me a Sapporo, which was very nice of him but I ordered wine. Then they brought me a tempura entree, which I also did not order. We had to ask for my girlfriend's wine 3 times before it arrived. We even started joking with the couple next to us, who seemed equally disappointed. By the time we got our yellowtail, we both agreed that we'd had better at far cheaper places. Finally, it took them almost 45 minutes to get us our check after we asked for it. Maybe we just caught them on a bad night, but with so many great Japanese places in NYC, I can't imagine going back. Pros: Atmosphere Cons: Service, Value more

Service: shamefully bad - the bartender was clipped and rude, setting the tone for the evening. It seems like the restaurant hiring practices are geared to cultivating an unfriendly, cooler-than-thou atmosphere. I got over aspiring to that level of obnoxious some time in the 90's, and wish the staff at BondSt would too! If there is a redeeming factor about BondSt, its the food. It was inconsistent, though. The 6BondSt. and SushiSextet disappointed - over-marinated and combined with flavors that clashed versus complimented. I recommend the kobe beef appetizer and the spicy tuna and crispy shrimp rolls. Skip the AkaDashi soup! BondSt is run with a real sense of entitlement. They need to do more to earn repeat business to cultivate a strong following - their following is spotty at best, which doesn't bode well for staying-power in this tough city! Cons: service more

Went there on a Saturday Night. Lots of pretty girls looking for a rich guy. $10 beers (they only have 3, Kirin, Sapporo, and 1 other). Gets pretty crowded, definitely need a reservation for dinner. Bartenders look like model wannabes and threw out my friend's beer before he was finished (about 1/4 left). When he complained, he was told, ""you were done with it anyway."" A place to see and be seen, but if you're just looking to chill out and hang, this is not the place. Pros: Trendy Cons: Fake more

We were lucky to get reservations a couple days before for a Friday nite. Super trendy...naturally. It's a nice spot though. Very romatic in the dining room. Because of our short reservations we had a table in the back by the sushi place. The food was excellent and well presented. The salmon was very tastey and the sushi was very good. My only minus on the place....and if you are a fan of my posts you know I always have one, is that the smoked salmon sushi was too smoked. It hardend one side. I hope to be back. If you are in the back room, must of the blue hairs don't know that they sushi people jaw at you when you leave and arrive b/c you need to show them RESPECT and bow. Most giggle and laugh. Pros: Money Food more

Have been going here for years and have always enjoyed outstanding food and service. There are cheaper places, but for the quality and atmosphere (and beautiful staff) I think it's totally worth it. They have always been very helpful about last-minute reservations and special occasions, too, which is definitely a big plus. I recommend sitting in the sushi bar area so you can watch the chefs - it's a lot of fun. more

The food (sushi, the bass, tuna..yum!) and drinks (saketinis!) were wonderful. The decor was gorgeous and very zen-like. The restaurant even had an elevator. The place was packed. The hosts/hostesses looked like aspiring models/actresses. We made reservations and they called us up to offer us better seating, so that was a nice gesture. Our waitress unfortunately wasn't so great. She was a bit of an ice queen. Pros: decor, food, drinks Cons: service more

I recently dined at Bond St. for my 3 year anniversary. The food was top notch...I highly recommend the sea bass, it was sooooo good. Despite what I read about the service; our waiter went above and beyond to make us feel very special. Without any prompting on my part he brought out my girlfriends desert with a candle and he had the cook right ""happy anniversary"" on the plate in chocolate sauce. This made her night and made our getaway weekend absolutely perfect. THE FOOD AND SERVICE WERE UNBELIEVABLE! THIS IS A GREAT DATE SPOT! Price was not as bad as I thought...Our bill was around $200 including tip. Pros: Great Food, Excellent Service Cons: $$$ more