A sophomore outpost of this speakeasy-style sushi restaurant has opened up in the labyrinth
beneath the Jue Lan Club restaurant in Chelsea, and it’s just as big of a success as the Time
Square flagship. Neon lights point the way down a few steps and through a funky, yet ominous
stairwell covered from ceiling to floor in bright, mesmerizing graffiti. A velvet couch lies behind the host stand, where you can check in and order a cocktail before taking your place at the bar. The room is dimly lit, casting a glow on the retro furniture that renders the atmosphere (there’s no other word for it) sexy.
Sushi by Bou’s 12-piece omakase is a unique concept birthed from Chef Daniel Bouhadana and
restauranteur Michael Sinensky, enabling each guest to experience a superb selection of
omakase at a fixed price of $50. Just like the original, the catch here is that once you’ve taken your seat at the sushi bar, the timer starts and you have 30 minutes to enjoy your meal.
The lunch shift accommodates four seatings per day, and the dinner service nine seatings per
day, making efficient culinary and service skills a necessity for this to succeed. The chefs are
polite and entertaining, chatting amicably as they go about their work, which they may have
already done 10 times that day.
As in a traditional omakase, each course features a different fish, some simply cut and placed
on a bed of perfectly pearled sushi rice, and some garnished with a creative addition, such as
the charcoal salt that rests atop the raw scallop (my favorite piece of the night).
The line-up at Sushi by Bou remains fixed and stars tried and true cuts of Akami, Hamachi, toro,
salmon, albacore, ikura, uni, scallop, shrimp, wagyu, unagi, and our second favorite of the night,
wagyuni. Wagynui is a delicate cut of seared wagyu beef topped with the creamy funk of
creamsicle-colored uni that Chef has deemed “millenial surf and turf,” and we’re not mad about
it.
The most recent update to already out-of- the-box dining options at Sushi by Bou is an in-house
tenure by sushi Chef Oona Tempest, cleverly nicknamed “Sushi by Bae.” Tempest, one of New York’s only female sushi chefs, crafts a 90-minute, $100 omakase menu in the space on Tuesdays through Saturdays at 6pm, 7:30pm, and 9pm. With so many exciting changes in such a short amount of time, we’re excited to see what’s next for this talented group of innovators.
Twisted Talk: Have you dined at any of the Sushi by Bou locations yet? How often do go out for sushi? Discuss below!
