Nori

I’ve been to Nori a few times now and it’s always a no fail way to get your sushi craving in. Even though it’s a small nook, I’ve never felt uncomfortable or squished inside.
The service is consistently good, the menu is simple and straighforward and I’ve sampled the rolls here for the most part. Really liked the Red Indian Roll!
Everything about this place is no-​nonsense and pleasant. The staff is attentive, the sushi chef’s are busy at work, and the ambiance is relaxed and a great place to come with friends. I’m glad that I stumbled upon this place and I would recommend it to anyone.

I was going to rate this place 5 stars but I don’t want to be that «5-​star-​whore.»
4 stars screams gentleman.
Came across here after a friend’s FIRM recommendation. I «will be pleasantly surprised.»
Basically, it’s a sushi bar that serves «japanese tapas.» Menu was straightforward but what really had me going was the $ 1 sushi ($ 8 minimum). We ended up ordering like 8 tapas, 2 bottles of sake and like 20 pieces of sushi. Pretty fantastic. I’ll spare you the suggestions of what you should or shouldn’t get. I’ve only been here once and enjoyed 95% of the dishes. The sushi is good but not great. If you want great, go to the $$$$ sushi venues. Otherwise, it’s like waking up from a bad dream, go to St. Mark’s for sushi?
And I didn’t even wet my bed.

I’d like to start with my complete disagreement with the reviews that label Nori a hole in the wall/​divey. Sure it’s small, and yeah, it’s pretty casual, but divey? No. It’s refreshingly air conditioned (which you know is sometimes hard to come by), the décor is in good condition, as are the chairs and tables, and the bathroom was clean. It’s good enough for me, anyway.
I walked in after a long hot day and was greeted warmly, seated and given water immediately, and received excellent and prompt service throughout the meal. I ordered the sashimi trio, seaweed salad, and the K roll. To be honest I really only looooved the sashimi, and seaweed; the K roll had too much sauce and not enough fish, plus it was covered in masago that was not advertised on the menu, so they lose a star for that.
Definitely not the best sushi I’ve had in my life, but if you’re in the neighborhood and looking for a decently priced sushi bar, Nori for sure fits the bill.

In the mood for a light sushi dinner, my girlfriend and I wandered into East Village and decided to come here for dinner in the early evening. The restaurant was almost empty, so we took a quick seat and got down to figuring out what we wanted to eat. The service was good, and the waiter was very gracious in bringing the food out quickly as prepared.
The sushi itself was decent, but it’s not the best I had, and the one flaw that stood out was that anything with sauce was doused with too much of it. The Dynamite roll was eel and avocado — a tasty combo as always — but it was absolutely drenched in honey wasabi sauce and eel sauce, making it virtually impossible to tell what was inside. While the dressing on the tuna carpaccio was more measured, it was still too much for a dish where the fish is supposed to stand out. The other distinction is that aside from the basic sushi/​sashimi and rolls (which are very reasonably priced), the more exotic/​specialized dishes are a little more expensive than they should be. The Dynamite roll was $ 10 for a special roll that had 5 pieces smaller than a standard futomake. The kunamoto oysters were delicious — you can really get the rich seafood taste from them, moreso than mussels or clams — but they weren’t worth $ 11 for 3(!) small oysters. That aside, the rest of the meal was delicious. The highlight was the seared red snapper sashimi, which had a very unique texture and was lightly marinated to perfection. The yellowtail toro was deliciously rich, while the salmon was above average (I’ve had more buttery cuts with the same firmness elsewhere). And the yellowtail roll was the best for the standard hand roll I’ve had to date — definitely better than Umi, which is my benchmark for these kinds of places.
Nori is a nice little shop, and the décor — lots of Japanese accents abound — makes it feel like a comfortable place to stop and eat. I’ve had better sushi elsewhere, but I wouldn’t mind coming back if I was in East Village and wanted a reasonably cheap, standard sushi meal.

i’m a firm believer tht thr is no such thing as «cheap sushi» but must admit: this hole-​in-​the-​wall is okay for a quick sushi/​sashimi fix whn you’re on a budget because the dollar sushi menu is decent and includes white tuna.
one minor annoyance, whn we asked for takowasa, the manager gave us cooked octopus. i told him tht i expected it raw, but he said takowasa is vague, and only means octopus with wasabi. tht’s fine, but i felt he could have taken it back.

I have to down grade it. Though the prices are still great and I recently had chocolate cake here that was pretty good and service is always warm and friendly I am not feeling well and my husband brought me take out. The fish was not fresh. That is not okay with sushi. I like these people and want to give them another chance. But come on now, the fish is the one thing you can’t sacrifice the freshness of. It has been pretty good up until now. I will give them one more chance.

When you’re used to working at home, those days you have to commute four blocks to an office are tough ones. Getting used to new office chairs, banging your knee on someone else’s filing cabinet, and listening to incessant chatter behind you while you’re trying to check your facebook.
Yessir, tough days like these call for a long lunch, that’s cures all!
So off I walked down St Marks, and like any good Unilocaler seeing only places that I had been before — god forbid we go somewhere twice — I fired up my trusty Unilocal Iphone app and found a Japanese spot nearby.
Nori was the perfect spot for a rainy Tuesday afternoon, not too crowded and a very comfortable atmosphere. The waitress seemed like she could be the owner, very courteous, and attentive. I ordered a few rolls, Natto, Avocado, miso soup, and Goma Ae, one of my favorite japanese dishes. A lot of places don’t have it. It’s spinach marinated with sesame seeds and a sort of peanuty sauce. Yum. As if all that wasn’t enough I also ordered Age Dashi Tofu.
Satisfied. Cute enough for a potential date, and perfect for a long lunch during a day «at the office»!

Just around the corner of the busy St. Mark’s strip is Nori, a hole-​in-​the-​wall sushi joint serving up a decent offering of Japanese sushi bar standards. The restaurant is tiny and seats around 30 people max, including both the bar seating and table seating. Their waitstaff, though friendly, doesn’t seem particularly knowledgeable about their menu. If you’re a sushi snob you’re probably better off sitting at the bar where you can consult the sushi chefs.
Nori excels in simplicity and presentation but otherwise blends right into the EV J-​town scene. Their menu consists of everything you’d expect from a typical sushi bar with only their $ 1 special* to differentiate them from their competitors. They have a good-​sized selection of standard sushi rolls and popular specialty rolls, as well as a lengthy list of sushi/​sashimi a la carte. Also, Nori’s daily specials are a safe bet. Recently I had kumamoto oysters off of the daily specials menu and they were very fresh.
I usually order the sashimi entrées at a sushi place, which ranges from $ 20 for the deluxe to $ 40 for the omakase at Nori. For me this puts Nori in an awkward category because their price point is pricier than what I’d consider a bargain (e.g. Zen), but their ingredients aren’t high-​quality enough to be a place I’d splurge on for an omakase (e.g. Kanoyama). That said, I’ve been to Nori a couple times now and their sashimi has been consistently and dependably above average.
*nigiri a la carte for $ 1/​piece, 8 pieces minimum

I have finally found my ‘hole-​in-​the-​wall go-​to sushi joint’ and boy, am I proud to say it’s Nori.
The space is small and intimate so upon arrival we had to wait a brief minute but our server was extremely gracious in seating us promptly. We were starved so we went to town on the menu. Here’s what we ordered:
–Red Indian roll (such an un-​PC name but just get it. you’ll never look at curry sauce the same way.)
–Toro, Salmon and Yellowtail sashimi ordered individually. The Toro was phenomenally fresh as was the Yellowtail. Didn’t try the Salmon. I only mess with salmon when it’s with bagels and cream cheese.
–Edamame (can’t mess this one up)
–Hijiki (I’ve NEVER had hijiki so yummy before with bean curd and pickled carrots)
–Gyoza (perfectly grilled – GET them)
We topped it all off with two hot sakis each which left us dreamy and full by the end. We ordered a decent amount of food leaving our bill at $ 80 but one could easily fill up for under $ 20 here.

Fish was pretty good, rolls were well-​made, honestly great bang for the buck. On a recent Friday night, was here and had the 3-​roll happy hour special. The Salmon Skin hand roll was crisp and tasty, the salmon & tuna roll was fresh, and the spicy Yellowtail was yummy. She had the Chicken Katsu, which was really good too, great sauce and well-​make chicken.
Great deal across the board, plus a very good beer — Orion (Okinawan beer) — so fresh and light, flavorful, definitely recommend.
In general, great deal for the happy hour special for sushi, otherwise a pretty good place too.

I’m really surprised to see the strong reviews here. To the extent you can make it for the happy hour, I’m sure that’s an awesome deal — the fish isn’t awful by any means and at a $ 1 a piece, go for it. That being said… Wow, there were three of us who sat at the sushi bar and ordered a pretty good diversity of items and all of us left feeling unsatisfied (and one of my buddies was pretty tipsy, so that is saying something). Their food is neither particularly creative nor particularly fresh, so it’s hard for me to recommend.
If I could do 2.5 stars I would, because, again, I’m not saying it’s *bad*, only that there are a ton of better places

Pros: they take reservations and accommodate largeish parties, the food is really cheap (they have a $ 1 sushi menu!!), service is friendly.
Cons: the food is sub-​par (the sushi won’t make you SICK or anything, but it’s not the freshest), service is S-​L-​O-​W, and they tempt you with videos of delicious-​looking food while you wait painstakingly for your food.
I probably won’t be returning, but it’s not a bad place to go with a big group on a budget. There’s a minimum charge of $ 8 per person, which isn’t really that hard to hit.

Nori has some of the cheapest, freshest sushi I have had in a long time! The BF and I walked out of here full and paid a little less than $ 47 for our meal including tip and tax!
We were seated at the sushi bar and started out with some baby octopus. Our four rolls consisted of the soft shell crab, spicy tuna, eel and a chef specialty roll. I loved them all and felt the spice level was just right. Our service was prompt and friendly, our waitress was always there to pour more Kirin into my cup. The place is fairly small but that’s what I loved about it. There wasn’t any loud annoying music and the flat screen TVs showed videos of chefs preparing the special of the night.
Overall this place is a win for coziness, service, affordability and of course the food itself!

Came for lunch.
As always, in New York City, it’s best to go to places for lunch. I came here for lunch and was a bit skeptical because no one was inside. However, I saw several Asians inside and dismissed that immediately (they were speaking rapid Japanese).
The interior is a bit cramped and small, but they make up for it in quality.
The price honestly ranges from cheap to moderate. Although other sushi places in St. Mark’s could be cheaper, the quality here is unsurpassable. I raved about it even after I left the place.
Their miso soup didn’t taste like the MSG filled soup I normally get in restaurants. It didn’t taste like a powder mix with a lot of after taste. Instead, it was clear and didn’t make me thirsty afterwards.
The lunch special allowed me to have two rolls for only $ 7.50. I was surprised it was so cheap, I thought it would be bad, but the presentation is amazing, along with the food.
Service is great. I love how the manager asked if we wanted to take a group photo while we took pictures of the food. He was all smiles and very patient with us. This place is a don’t miss! I can’t wait to go back again when I go to New York and take every there.

My sister was visiting from Chicago and I had originally planned to take her and her friend to one of the yakitori shops to eat. But I forgot, until my sister reminded me, that I took her to one of them already last time she visited. So her friend suggested Nori, which is just a couple of blocks away.
They were not too busy on this Friday night and we were seated at the sushi bar right away. I am pretty neutral about sushi, and I usually can’t taste the difference unless the quality really is superb. Nori was no exception. I quickly decided on the chirashi dish. It’s offered at every sushi restaurant and usually gives you the most sashimi for your dollar.
I did love the layout they did for their chirashi though, whiich was unusual but looked really nice.

Saturday night I had the sashimi platter and tried a new roll that I am now addicted to… the fried oyster roll with cucumber and avocado. OMG heaven in my mouth.
Dinner was inexpensive. Thank you!

— really wanted to love this place but ended up leaving disappointed
— the sushi was mediocre at best, and at a dollar a piece I guess I can’t complain, but considering all of the rave reviews I was expecting a bit more across the board (freshness, flavor, cut, quantity)
— mentionable décor
— thought the televisions playing recordings of other people eating sushi at the restaurant was a bit strange but clever as well because it made me hungrier and got me thinking that I should’ve ordered more (before I received/​ate my disappointing meal)
— the teriyaki eel sauce on my dragonroll was a bit too sweet for my tastes
— DO NOT GET THE GREEN TEA ICE CREAM, blech

Visiting in NY with my husband. I asked my family from NY where is a nice small sushi place we can go without breaking the bank.
Well. they didn’t know. lol. and we did some research and found Nori.
Well. I had no expectations before going. and after I left I was so impressed!
For an appetizer we ordered the Spicy Chicken– Deep Fried Spicy BBQ Chicken with Spicy Mayo. It was fried chicken heaven. So good!
For entrée I ordered the Dragon Maki and Philadelphia Roll. Well not just any Philadelphia roll. I asked them to fry my Philadelphia roll in tempura batter. First they looked at me like. huh… and they said sure. we’ll do whatever you want. That put a smile on my face! I was so excited… and when my food came out. it looked so good! Sometimes looks can lie. but the food was so fresh and delicious. I was very pleased!
The rest of the clan ordered a variety of things such as the Chicken Katsu and Salmon Terriyaki. Everyone had great things to say.
All in all. great little hole in the wall Japanese restaurant you must try!
Btw…I think it is still BYOB. I saw a few people bring in their own bottles of wine. Definitely ask before you go though!

I love this place. They have $ 1 Sushi special daily and the sashimi they have is super fresh and sushi rice is cooked to perfection. It is supreme sushi at affordable price :)

My favorite Sushi place in the city. Eons above its competitors around St. Marks — this is quality sushi and service at a reasonable price! Added to the greatness of this restaurant, they now serve wine and beer! Hallelujah!
The Tuna Tatar here is absolutely to die for. The quality of their toro, the sauce, the way they chop up the japanese radishes and sprinkle it throughout the dish and mix up the consistency… marvelous! I like to order the Sashimi Regular as an entrée… the perfect portion.
Nori is the best sushi you can get around this area. It may be a little pricier than the competition but its totally worth the extra few bucks!