Lan Japanese Restaurant

Awesome , awesome , awesome...My first ten visits were seriously authentic and hearthy..well priced ...hidden gem...great area..this is fun more

A good friend of mine treated me to dinner here and it was fantastic! We ordered the Chef's Tasting Menu and I loved it! The food is fresh, the staff great and I was pleasantly surprised how dish wonderfully completed the next. Pros: Loved the decor! more

I am a New Yorker and very picky about where I eat and drink. The choices are endless and there are many great places to choose from. Living in NYC until 2005 I really missed the restaurants that I would frequent when I moved away. One of these all time favorites is LAN. I would dine here at least once a month and would entertain guest here at the bar. When I return to NYC and my friends come to NYC for the first time I always refer them to LAN as one of my favorite places for sushi or grilled meats. The owners are the same but the staff and management are different but always polite and professional. It gets crowded quick so reservation is recommended. I beautiful way to start a romantic evening. Authentic unique Japanese cuisine. more

Yesterday I went to this restaurant with my families coming from out of town, and I have been ever so sorry that I brought them there. Initially, we were really impressed with the nice cutlery and tableware, but the experience pretty much ended there. We ordered 3 appetizers, 3 main courses, and a shabu-shabu for two. It took 30 minutes for the first appetizer to come. It was a 12-dollar crab salad that barely fill the cavity in my tooth. Imagine when the 4 of us saw the portion. You would think that small portion is compensated by quality. But there is zero quality, it tasted like something I can make myself- two pieces of thinly-sliced avacado with the kind of crab salad you get in any deli. The following dishes, a lobster egg custard and tofu with sea urchin. Egg custard is edible, similarly mediocre. The sea urchin became hard because it sat on a piece of steamed tofu- the sea urchin was consequently ruined. And mind u, the two lousy dishes were served at a 20-minute interval. At this point we have been fed up with, not food, but anger. I complained to the manager about how slow the food came. He listened and left. After 5 minutes he came back, uttering 3 words, "RED OR WHITE," with a noticeable roll of his eyes. The apology was very perfunctory, just like their decor, their food, the design of the menu- pretentious with no content. The main courses and the shabu-shabu came afterwards. Black cod was average. Sushi for two was very, very third-rate. You can get the same quality in whole food with much less money. The shabu shabu is not even worth mentioning. So it had been about 3 hours before we could get the check; to complete the experience, even the bill took the waiter 10 minutes to get. My overall opinion is that the only thing that the restaurant can boast about is the tableware. The service is polite but essentially fake and perfunctory. The wait is exasperating. And the food, bottom line, is not worth your consideration or actually my further comment. Pros: tableware Cons: everything else more

A wonderful experience ! will eat there again and again. Staff are very friendly ! wine selection is great ! five stars. more

I went here with both my parents for my birthday. My dad and I both had the Sushi Tasting Menu, and my mom created her own little tasting menu out of appetizers, which the staff were happy to do for her. The tasting menu was unbelievable. It is a ton of food, that two light eaters could probably split. It was something like 7 courses. I eat sushi quite a bit, and really enjoyed the pieces the chef put together. It was well balanced between sashimi, sushi, and other dishes. This restaurant deserves the praise other reviews have posted about the beef. My mom had one of the beef appetizers that was tender and wonderful. I was a little nervous about the negative reviews from some people that said the service was poor. Our reservation was for 7pm (they seated us right away), and I think that those who make later reservations my experience slightly slower service. The table next to us had a little trouble getting all their appetizers out at the same time, but all our courses came out promtly. I think earlier reservations will help you if you fear a longer meal time. So in short, I highly recommend LAN, and again big props to all the CitySearch users who post really helpful reviews. I would never have tried this great place without them. Pros: Food, ambience, friendly staff Cons: Later reservations may experiance slightly longer delays in getting food more

Stopped by this east side spot the other night just to try it out-- I'm a big fan of sushi, and have frequented a few other spots on the east side as well as some midtown, but this is the first time that I have been blown away-- in the same price range as the other spots I frequent, but LAN had some of the freshest cuts of fish I have had-- I asked the sushi chef why the fish was so good-- he said a lot of their fish comes straight from Japan, and they serve a lot of more traditional japanese fish there-- among other pieces I had the masaba -mackerel- and it blew my mind-- also had their Shrimp Dumplings, and I'm usually a purist about just eating sushi when I'm eating sushi-- but these shrimp dumplings had some of the most well-balanced complex tastes I have experienced in a dumpling-- almost wish I was drinking a nice white wine with them, but I was already enjoying a very fine cup of sake with my sushi-- definitely a new favorite. Pros: very friendly waitstaff Cons: a little dim on the lighting more

We went to Lan to celebrate my boyfriend's promotion last night, and our experience was enough to ruin what should otherwise have been a wonderful evening. I ordered an appetizer from the sushi bar and the chef's special sushi, and he ordered the tasting menu. We split a carafe of warm sake, as it was chilly out ?the sake was tepid, at best, when it came out. It took about 30 minutes for the first course from the tasting menu to come out, and we sat at the table literally starving for nearly an hour. You could tell that we weren't the only ones suffering ? in the whole restaurant, we could only see a handful of tables actually eating. A lot of the diners had the same famished looks on their faces as us. All the while, the waitstaff scurried around avoiding the tables and the irritated customers. Finally, my boyfriend complained to the waitress about the pacing of the meal, at which point she apologized and hurried away. When we still failed to receive any food, we found the manager and complained to him. At that point, food started trickling our way. The food itself was acceptable, but not extraordinary?certainly not good enough to justify the ridiculously bad service. I found the rice in my sushi to be cooked a little unevenly, with parts of it mushy and other parts too firm. The fish itself was good, though it looked a little dried out from sitting atop the sushi bar for too long. 2 hours into the meal, we decided we had had enough, and got up to leave. Even though we had not received everything we ordered, they still had the gall to charge us full price. Now, I've done my fair share of waiting tables in the past, and if a customer had the kind of piss-poor experience we did, I sure as hell would have at least comped the dessert, or a drink, or SOMETHING. As it was, we left Lan feeling unsatisfied, angry, and $136 lighter. I would never, ever go back to this place. more

this place was always so great...has it been sold recently? new staff, no japanese hostesses...seems very different. (and not in a good way). bring back the japanese authenticity please. Pros: fresh fish, interesting menu Cons: seems to be less japanese than it used to be more

Some of the other reviewers cited this restaurant as expensive and slow in service. It is "expensive", if by expensive you mean above $30 per person, but it does fall under $50 for the average eater, minus booze. for a manhattan eatery, i thought it was reasonably priced. And the "slow service" is reasonable for the amount of chef staff. i found the wait staff to be not only very courteous, but also extremely helpful. in short: if you're planning a night to just go eat a great meal with friends, get the heavenly steak, hunker down, and enjoy the conversation. Pros: Good fish, but better steak Cons: Dim Lighting more

Rather than allow Citysearch restaurant reviews to degenerate to the point where most reviews are written by restaurant employees, here's the truth about Lan. Although food of reasonable quality is used, it is available at much lower prices in dozens of other NYC Japanese restaurants. Lan is simply not serving superlative Japanese fare, and customers are being gouged a bit. Further, the place suffers from a bias which is unfortunate, but nonetheless real, in several NYC Asian eateries and bars. Namely, there is a considerable bias against non-Asians. Don't expect the same treatment there regardless of your race. The management is trying to build a restaurant by young Asians, for young-to-middle aged Asians. Pros: Average Japanese food, friendly bartenders. Cons: The food is overpriced for what it is. more

This place has some of the best sushi I have ever had, anywhere, and the prices are relatively reasonable considering the quality of the fish. The service was a little slow, but still good. Nice atmosphere and very fresh food make this one of the better sushi places in NY. I went on a rainy Tuesday night and it was still pretty crowded. I'm sure there are long waits on the weekends. Pros: Great sushi Cons: None more

this place has gone through some amazing developments since it opened up over a decade ago. shabu shabu was it's main specialty but now they've got some awesome steaks and kitchen dishes as well as a solid and amazing sushi bar. the service has improved and the management has really don a great job.. kudos!!! Pros: wide selection of great food across the board Cons: sometimes a long wait more

Lan is well known for their Shabu Shabu and Sushi, but to tell you the truth, everything they do is to this caliber. Lan has been one of my favorite places to go eat for years. After several initial great meals, I had to meet the kitchen staff and compliment them on a wonderful job. Chef Akiyama commands his kitchen with typical Japanese efficiency and cleanliness. It is no wonder why meal after meal, this restaurant places as one of my top 5 favorite eateries in Manhattan. With a solid understanding of quality ingredients, his dishes are cleaver and delicious. Yasu-san, the Sake Sommelier is another key element that brings joy to many of their patrons. His joyful hospitality and extreme knowledge in Premium Sakes puts Lan at the forefront of the Manhattan Sake Renaissance. If you have a Japanese craving, hop in a cab and get yourself down to 3rd ave between 10th and 11th street. Pros: Extremely Fair Menu Pricing Cons: Hard to get reservation late in the week more

Consistently good and larger portions of sushi and sashimi. Great atmosphere and wonderful staff. Highly recommended! Pros: food service Cons: none more

Went there a couple nights ago and this place is low-key, but impressive. The restaurant is not too big or small and great for bringing a date. Had the shabu shabu and the tofu appetizer. From the service to the food, this place is truly authentic Japanese. I will definitely be back. Pros: Excellent service, great desserts Cons: n/a more

I'm very food picky So for me to write a good review for a resturant is rare. LAN is one of the best Japanese Food Places I have ever been. They have a menu that really steps away from the normal when it comes to asian dining. I had a layered flaky fish that I would say had a french flair to it. The only thing was I wish the portion was larger. I will go back for more. Rosa Pros: GREAT FOOD, NICE PLACE , GREAT STAFF more

This was the best service I've ever received in New York City. My boyfriend and I shared the Prime Rib Shabu Shabu for two. The quality of the meat was excellent. The vegetables were fresh. The Peanut Sauce was perfect and the other sauce was great too. For appetizers we started out with the oyster special, why not when it was only $14! We also ordered yellowtail sushi- very good and edamame-can't go wrong. For dessert I had the green tea tiramisu and ice cream- I loved both, my bf who doesn't really like green tea actually really liked the tiramisu. The atmosphere here is relaxing and serene, check out the bathroom- it's beautiful. I highly recommend this restaurant, especially for a date. Pros: Excellent Service, Great Atmosphere, Food Quality more

Went for dinner with 3 friends and had great service, great sushi and did not feel rushed at all. Place is small enough that the noise is not deafening. Could have a pleasant dinner conversation w/o shouting over the crowd. Try the warm sake--delicious! Pros: affordable, somewhat quiet more

went with 8 people for dinner on a saturday night. Got there at 9:30. they servced us drinks but we never got the food!!! They kept on giving us drinks, running up a tab, and said that the sushi was backed up. Meanwhile, everyone else in the restaurant was being served but us!! Bottom line is that we ended up walking out at 12:30- 3 HOURS LATER!!! we were the only people left in the restaurant- they were cleaning up as we left. the manager offered us some more free wine- very insulting!! ended up walking out with $40 off of a $300 bill. This place is terrible Pros: none Cons: service, service, service more