Their fish are fresh and oysters are GREAT! If you can take sashimi, that’s a better choice than the sushi with rice. Their rice is made a little hard unlike other places and break apart easily. The oysters are pretty cheap being $ 7.95 for 6 pieces and most importantly, delicious. I’m not normally a fan of raw oysters but it’s a must from here.
Paula R.
Place rating: 5 Manhattan, NY
After Groupon sent me an email with a restaurant that sold oysters, I suddenly wanted to eat some. My craving for oysters is really sporadic, but I usually end up going to Mermaid Inn for their Happy Hour. Unfortunately, their happy hour would be over by 7:00pm and I was all the way in Brooklyn… struggling to get out of a very comfy, warm bed. It was roughly 5:00 pm and I knew that there were no way my friend and I would make it in time. After doing a quick search for oysters in the Kings Highway area, I came across this restaurant. To be honest, I kept my expectations low. When I entered, I was hit with a sensory overload. Numerous photos of their sushi rolls and multicolored things just overcame me. There wasn’t any people dining inside so I felt a bit weary. Fortunately, I decided that I was hungry enough to enter the restaurant. Started off with their fresh oysters. WOW. They are huge! The oysters at Mermaid Inn look puny compared to them. The amount of meat is a little more than double of what I’m used to. I was so pleasantly surprised to find fresh oysters at a Japanese restaurant. I loved it so much, I ended up getting another plate of them after finishing up sashimi. Haha. I also ordered miso soup, small sashimi and my friend got spicy salmon roll. The freshness and tastiness of everything was wonderful. The price was right and they gave you good, sizable portions of everything. They were very quick to refill their delicious roasted green tea as well. I usually don’t come across hojicha at Japanese restaurants, so you bet your butt I drank as much as humanly possible!!! Despite how I felt before entering the restaurant, I was happy that I decided to give this restaurant a shot. Later on, more people came to eat so it didn’t feel as awkward and empty like before. This is pretty much an example of how you shouldn’t judge a «book by it’s cover!»(Although it’s definitely a hard habit to break…)
Na N A.
Place rating: 5 Brooklyn, NY
Even though this place is small, but great service and i can ensure you that their food is banging fresh fresh FRESH!!! OYSTERS&CLAMS is a MUST. Expect a little bit wait time but defintely worth the time. Highly recommended. And oh, Fyi, BYOB
Karen C.
Place rating: 4 Brooklyn, NY
This is my first time to dining at this place. The food is fresh and yummy. The service is very good. The price is reasonable, too. The only bad thing is the environment, it looks old and very small. If you have more then three people want to dine in, I high recommended that call to make a reservation.
Wendy C.
Place rating: 4 Brooklyn, NY
Really nice sushi place that serves fresh oysters and fish. They have certain items that other sushi restaurants don’t serve such as raw bar items and appetizer specials. They also have an extensive party platter menu, I would order take out from them next time for sure. The wasabi is strong just the way I like it and green tea is also very good!
Jean Claire G.
Place rating: 4 Queens, NY
This place is small. Not good for big groups. Came here with my boyfriend & his sister. We ordered lots of different rolls. For me quality & taste is really good. The location is really close to my place. Good thing is they deliver too!
Jeremy W.
Place rating: 2 Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY
Came here a couple of days ago with my girlfriend to try it out because a lot of people recommended it for its oysters. I was expecting the shop to be a well-constructed Japanese restaurant. It’s an extremely tiny shack on the inner corner of the street. Seatings are limited and you have one waitress serving 4 tables. We ordered 2 orders of oysters and the B meal that consisted of 3 «special rolls» and 2 regulars. The oysters were very fresh and tasty. They were well worth the price. The sushi was horrible for the price they sell it for. We waited almost 25 minutes for the sushi to come after the oysters came. Service was terrible. They only gave some people mochi after their meals, and I was actually expecting one. Would not recommend coming here for sushi, only for the oysters.
Maxim I.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
Everybody is crazy about their oysters, so I Ordered them too. Well first of all, I have actually ordered a take out and then ending up waiting for my foot for an hour, and I live 5 blocks away. Taking a star off for that. Second, the oysters themselves were in fact very fresh and flavory. But I had to scrub off the sauce because to me, it just ruined the flavor of the oyster. I have also ordered their fancy rice– a combination of rice with nice sauses, salmon and eel. That was truly delicious! I also ordered their bagel roll and green dragon. Those two were just okay, nothing extraordinary. Osaka has them better. Overall, I was very glad with the freshness of the food. But no more take ours from here.
Katherine C.
Place rating: 4 Brooklyn, NY
Probably my favorite sushi spot in the neighborhood. Their food is always well-prepared and fresh. I personally like to get their lunch special you get 3 rolls and a soup or salad or their small sushi sashimi combo. If we’re having a big party I like to get their party trays, you can either pick your rolls which I like to do but if you’re feeling lazy they’ll pick them for you. Their party sizes are huge so there’s plenty to go around and you won’t feel hungry. The staff here are nice and very accommodating. The reason I am holding back from giving this place 5 stars is because they’re small so it can get crowded really quickly so there might be a wait if you want to do dine in and they don’t accept credit cards so you have to go to the bank and grab cash.
Maggie L.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
Stopped by for a late lunch with my sister yesterday around 3:30pm. Thankfully, they serve lunch until 4pm, so we were able to order some items for a decent price. We’re both sashimi hogs, so we went with the Sashimi Combo C, which came with 4 pieces each of salmon, white tuna, tuna and yellowtail. I’ve had better sashimi but it was good enough for a small business like this one. We also tried the Naruto Mountain and Alaska Naruto makis, both wrapped with cucumber rather than the usual sushi rice. The rolls were pretty good with generous filling. The fact that it’s much healthier and less caloric than rice maki really draws me to them. The reason why I removed one star was due to the slow service. The restaurant only has a handful of tables and we were the only customers there, but our dishes still took a while to prepare. I think the sushi chef was putting some party platter together for a take-out order, but regardless, our small order shouldn’t have required such a long wait. All in all, a decent sushi joint. I’d return for the Naruto makis, but for the record I do not watch Naruto.
Lily C.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
BESTOYSTERS + SAUCECOMBO! This can’t compare to the happy hour oysters in Manhattan. I don’t know what sauce/ingredient they specifically put on their oysters but mMm it is delicious! I’ve tried the fancy rice — it’s good but gets overwhelming if you have this by yourself as there is a lot of mayo(ordered take out for lunch one time, bad idea). The sushi is good here but is a bit expensive. Place is also CASH only, which kind of sucks for those people who usually only carry their cards around. There is a Chase a block away so you can run to the bank and grab cash if anything.
Ivy C.
Place rating: 3 Brooklyn, NY
I always come by for lunch orders and this place is great. I’ve been a loyal customer for 3 years now. It’s efficient and the food is fresh. I’ve never had a disappointing meal. Today however, my space roll kept crumbling. And falling apart. I’m not sure if it’s a different rice or chef. Not too happy about this but will give this place another chance.
Lisa E.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
I love this place! it’s a hidden gem. I was kind of hesitant to review here cause I don’t want people to know about this place but it does deserves a bit credit. Theres are few sushi spots in the neighborhood but this is my favorite. PRO: Food so good here! Love their oysters, fancy rice and kani salad. Open Kitchen CON: This place is so small– do not recommend a large group of family. There are only like 3 – 4 tables. Slow service. Very limited Staff.
Elder M.
Place rating: 4 Brooklyn, NY
NOTE: they only have 3 tables available for sitting(4 people per table) The food was great but I felt that the Miso soup lacked flavor. We arrived at 10:30 pm and left almost at 12, didn’t feel rushed out even though they closed at 11pm. So that’s a plus.
Becky L.
Place rating: 1 Brooklyn, NY
Gag. Gross sushi. I ordered the a sushi combo with spicy tuna, spicy tuna, and California roll. It’s awfully disappointing if the California roll was the best thing in the meal. The miso soup was absurdly salty. I couldn’t tell the difference between the spicy tuna and the spicy salmon because they were both neon red. I don’t know wtf I was eating so I just didn’t after one piece of each. Worst sushi place in the neighborhood. I think the high ratings were because of the price but honestly you get what you pay for here.
Jin Y.
Place rating: 3 Brooklyn, NY
This place is very small and not meant for large groups. It’s more of a take out place. You can seat about 12 people in here. I came here twice. Once for lunch and another time for dinner. For lunch I had the 2 rolls for($ 6.50) and it comes with soup or salad. I had the eel avocado roll and California roll. They use a bit too much rice on the rolls. The rolls were standard. I only came here during lunch because I was in the area and I was craving sushi. Then I found out that they serve fresh oysters for a really good deal and decided to come back to try that. And boy the oysters were amazing. It comes with a cocktail sauce with fish roe and scallions on top, which is the perfect blend of ingredients. We only got one order, which is half a dozen for($ 7.95). Besides the oysters we also got a small house party platter that comes with 2 regular roll, 24 pcs sushi, and miso soup for($ 26.99). You get to choose the 2 regular rolls. They use a lot of rice on their sushi and I mean a lot of rice, which made me really full. The rice was a little hard and could be softer. The fish was okay. The small house party platter was enough for 2 people.
Susan N.
Place rating: 4 Brooklyn, NY
This is our go-to place for really inexpensive sushi. It’s nothing fancy. In fact, you can probably almost touch both walls with arms extended. There are less than a dozen seats, including counter. So during prime time, expect to wait. We usually come here during off hours and almost never have to wait for a seat. As soon as you sit, you get a cup of green tea. Order up and someone will grab your sheet. Everything here is tasty. It’s not the best sushi you’ll ever have but considering that you can walk out stuffed for under $ 10, it’s not a bad deal. In fact, this is probably one of the best bargain sushi spots you’ll find. The only downside is that because it’s so tiny and because people do pickup/takeout orders, it could be a long wait between the time you order and get your sushi. So don’t come starved because you’ll turn into Hangrymonster.
Rita L.
Place rating: 5 Manhattan, NY
I came here on a Saturday night with a party of six. When I first walked in, I was surprised how small this restaurant was, but we really came here for one reason only– the raw oysters. Luckily, there was no wait and no one else seated inside. The menu consists of many appetizers and house party trays to choose from. It took us awhile to look at all the rolls they had(great variety). We chose a House Party(which consisted of 5 special rolls and a few regular rolls, which you also get to choose yourself) and two dozen raw oysters. When the raw oysters arrived, they looked huge! Practically can pass as two others in one shell! in one slurp, the flavor from the ponzu sauce, scallions, and some hot sauce captivated my taste buds. You honestly have to order this if you come. The flavor is indescribable. One of the best oysters I have tasted and for the price, it’s a steal! And these were blue point oysters – not fishy one bit! Then, an avocado kani salad was brought to the table and the waitress said it was on the house. This was a nice gesture from the restaurant. There were shredded cucumbers, avocados, topped with kani and what seemed to be spicy tuna or salmon. Very tasteful. Some of the sushi rolls we chose were eel avocado, phoneix roll, salmon skin, lobster roll, and I can’t remember the rest. Point is, all the rolls were fresh and not fishy. It was an enjoyable dinner and very satisfying. At the end, we were all given Mochi ice cream-mango and green tea were the best! The staff here is incredibly friendly and attentive whenever we wanted tea or anything else refilled. I will definitely make the trip out here even though it’s out of my way to order raw oysters! Prices are decent as well!
Kericee F.
Place rating: 4 Flatlands, NY
Love the fancy rice. The sushi here is fresh and delicious. The service is inviting they don’t seem weird like some Asians restaurants that stare at you and wonder why your here. [to eat and spend my money duhh]. but nice customer service here. My best friend introduced me to this place now I go all the time as a spot for me and bf. The fancy rice and titanic roll is a must try!
Jaclyn L.
Place rating: 4 Brooklyn, NY
Looks can be very deceiving, and Sushi Bistro is of no exception. I had to remove on star based off of two factors that could discourage you if you were not knowledgeable prior: 1) BYOB&2) Strictly CASHONLY! So, don’t do what we did — not eat this amazing sushi without a Sapporo. This place really is nothing to look at, and is the bare minimum take-out place to get your sushi fix. There’s only 4 tables! The staff is really friendly, and the walls are covered with really delicious looking special rolls and party trays. We started with a standard Kani salad($ 5), which was more cucumber than kani, which is not what I was expecting; pretty underwhelming, but fresh. For entrée, I ordered the Happy Roll, the Dancing Shrimp Roll, and an eel avocado roll($ 4.25; kinda more than what I usually pay for). My specialty rolls ranged from $ 8.00 — $ 9.50 each. The special rolls around really the way to go! They were super fresh, tasty, unique, and presented really nicely! They were served quick, and were totally filling. Next time I would only do the special rolls; this place isn’t worth it to get the regular staples that you can get anywhere. Come in, bring CASH, and your beer, and be happy!