Sushi Ichimasa - Review

Intro
Sushi Ichimasa - Slightly Recommended
302 W 50th St, New York 10019
between 8th Ave & 9th Ave
Phone: (212) 315-4800

Met up some of the dudes for sushi, but Sushi Yasuda was booked. Sad to say the only time I'm eating sushi in NYC it's either at Sushi Yasuda or East Japanese for some conveyor belt sushi. I decided to ask Porthos for a rec and he mentioned Sushi Ichimasa for some traditional fisherman style sushi, so decided to give a try. Although the fish was quite tasty, I was looking for a more customized sushi meal which you don't get here. I give the restaurant an 79/100.

Our Menu
Ordered the Omakase $60
1) Salmon Sashimi - Smoked **
2) 7 pieces of sushi *
3) Sushi Roll - Avocado and Toro *
4) Mochi Ice Cream *

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) First time I've had something like this. Salmon was cut sashimi style, but it was nicely smoked (not aggressive) and reminded of the best smoked salmon. Pretty f'n wesome.
2) Next up, 7 pieces of sushi ranging for anago, kampachi, uni and the like. Everything had solid flavor and great texture on the fish - very fresh stuff. The rice was a little hard and clumped together, but again my benchmark is generally Sushi Yasuda and Hatsuhana.
3) More of an Americanized style of sushi roll, but still pretty tasty. Pieces of toro and avocado with some sweet sauce drizzled on top.
4) Tasty mochi ice cream...nuff said.

Overall Restaurant Experience (79/100)

• Food 8.0/10 – Pretty solid sushi here and everything was pretty good - nothing mind blowing, but pretty happy.
  
• Service 6.0/10 – The place is run by what looks like a husband and wife team. The wife serves everyone in the 15-20 seat joint. The husband is the lone sushi chef. Because of this, it takes forever to get your order in and your food. We sat at the sushi counter and ordered the omakase. Unfortunately, this is not the omakase I was expecting - you know the interaction between sushi chef and diner, where they customize the pieces for you individually based on your likes and disklikes. This omakase is a basically a set menu with zero interaction with the chef.
  
• Atmosphere 7.5/10 – Uber tiny place that was packed. Typical Sushi looking joint with lots of wood everywhere, but felt nice and cozy. Groups consisted of pairs of 2 with a large group in the back. Made reservations that day for 7pm and was seated immediately.
  
• Price 6.5/10 – $100 for everything (sake and tip included) which seemed a tad pricey for the entire experience.
  

Closing Comments
Ok, so the question always is would I go back? If I were in the area and wanted cheap/solid sushi, I would order the $40 omakase since it was exactly the same minus the uni, ungai, and toro. But, if I was really craving good sushi, I would have to pass and check out some other place.