Food GPS » Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill (Uptown) – New York, NY

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill (Uptown) – New York, NY – August 5th, 2008

Posted August 5, 2008 at 1:08 pm

Reported by: Neil DeSilva

Address:
308 West 58th Street
New York, NY 10019

Phone Number:
212 397 0404

Heartache. Sorrow. Unbearable ennui. The perils of Central Park South and Columbus Circle. The gilded cage of uptown Manhattan is at its most mindless and corporate here.

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill (a/k/a Blue Ribbon Uptown), therefore, is a welcome oasis of downtown sanity in a sea of sleek, high-refractive index skyscrapers and musty hotels.

As with everything the Bromberg Brothers do with their growing Blue Ribbon prefecture, the menu is dependably great, uneven, and idiosyncratic. The staff, importantly, is generally spectacular—witty, discerning and generous…like a friendly intramural team from Alphabet City or Williamsburg.

Open until 2am, take your meal either at a table in the back, or more enjoyably, at the bar. Very few hotel guests from the surrounding 6 Hotel are to be found at Blue Ribbon Uptown, which is a decided plus.

As for what to eat, it’s simple: edamame, flash fried mackerel, sushi/sashimi/sake to your heart’s content, repeat. Truly a great sake selection. The cuts of fish come in at an A-; below Sushi Yasuda, but above 90% of other local establishments. A number of the Blue Ribbon family’s classic non-Nipponese dishes are also available.

Note: if you’re a starving artist or on a budget, do marry rich. More pragmatically, prices can be reasonable, especially for the fixed item sushi dinners.