Water Moon

I love Water Moon. The service is always good and delivery is always pretty fast. I think that their entrees definitely outshine the sushi, but I’ve always enjoyed everything I’ve gotten there. The crispy calamari salad is AWESOME, I am trully addicted. Their cocktails are great, too.
None of their dishes is literal or «authentic,» so if you’re looking for that, you’ll be disappointed. It’s Asian fusion, so all the dishes are interpretations of traditional dishes.
Not the cheapest of places, but that’s true of most of the Columbus Ave. restaurants. Definitely recommended, though.

We’ve dined at «Water Moon» on several occasions, and each time could be described with some confusion — while the restaurant is rarely crowded, the food and service are consistent — and quite good.
History —- As a kid, I grew up around the corner from «Fujiyama Mama», the Japanese karaōke /​sushi-​bar which used to occupy the same location. «Fujiyama» was arguably the first mid-​price semi-​glitzy Japanese restaurant on the Upper West Side, and I looked at it from a distance, hoping one day to visit when I was of drinking age and had my own money — but it closed before I could get a chance.
Thankfully, «Fujiyama» reopened as «Water Moon», with (allegedly) the same owners and sushi chef, but this time dropping its karaōke roots and sporting a fusion menu.
By no means am I a sushi connoisseur, but I think the special rolls are creative and fresh, not to mention reasonably priced. When one of our guests asked for Mackerel or Kanpachi on a Sunday night, the waiter responded that the fish market was closed and that Mackerel and Kanpachi were not available — I was impressed with that, because in another restaurant they’d gladly serve yesterday’s mackerel.
My wife is a fan of their Thai curries. Sure, the sauce may be from a can, but it’s prepared well and served generously.
The service is attentive and low key. In fact, the whole experience is incredibly low-​stress and low-​key, unlike some of the more high-​traffic places like Gari (where they’ll stare you down if you don’t pay immediately and leave) or Haru, and the food is much better than at some of the other Asian-​fusion places like Amber, Fusha and their ilk.
It’s no Nobu — but it’s casual, neighborhood, and good. And it’s especially good for families, strollers, and wheelchairs.

Their delivery service is outstanding — our order usually arrives thirty minutes after we placed it. I’m partial to the spicy curried Thai casserole with chicken and shrimp, while my husband likes the shrimp grilled with garlic and jalapeños. $ 37 with tax and tip might sound pricey for just two dishes, but the portions are large and the food is delicious.

I may or may not be slightly tipsy as I write this. Shhhhhhhh don’t tell. ok yes I am.
I met my friend Kate the Great here for dins. She suggested Water Moon (in her ‘hood…I rarely venture to the UWS) and lured me with tales of fabulous 2 for 1 drink specials and sushi to make my mouth melt. mmmm.
Drinks: oh boy. 2 for 1 specials, yes. Everything from beer to wine to specialty drinks. I opted for the specialty drinks. First, the 100 Acre Bear (think: alcoholic gummy bear — pink and very very sweet, I think with rum and vodka and who knows what else but it was delish). My second drink: I wanted something different but was apprehensive about all the sake fusion drinks (I think because of one too many sake bombs from the past). The bartender/​waitress told me I could make any kind of substitution I wanted — so I had the Mango Saketini, sans the sake, but with a LOT of vodka. Pretty much, it was a whole martini of vodka and a splash of mango flavored liquor. A little strong for my taste, but…
For dinner, we had the following:
Shrimp Tempura Roll
Teka Maki roll
California rolls
Spring roll appetizers
Steamed edemame
What I loved about the shrimp tempura was the unique touches it had compared to every other place I’ve had it (which is quite a few other places)…lettuce and avocado in shrimp tempura! Ingenious! The other rolls were pretty normal fare, no less delicious but nothing out of this world. The edemame was perfectly steamed and salted, not overdone and plentiful!!!
We sat at the bar (I think you can only get the 2 for 1 specials at the bar, but not quite sure), but plenty of other people were seated at tables. Not overly full for a mid-​week dinner — the only annoying thing was CNN playing a bit too loudly on the TV’s over us at the bar. Otherwise, fantastic place for dinner with a friend or for a date.
$ 60 for all this, including the take-​away dinner of noodles my friend got for her hubby. Great deal, all in all.

What a pleasant surprise! We were wondering «whatever happened to Fujiyama Mama?» and decided to stop in. It’s now Water Moon and we quite liked it. The special rolls were delicious and the prices were on the low side for sushi on the UWS. Also, the drinks were awesome, highly recommend the lychee martini.

Food-​wise it merits 3 stars, but because of the inflated prices I round down to two.
Water Moon is a «nice» Asian fusion restaurant. First impression — the décor is nice, but yuck that subtle fishy smell (I’ve experienced this at other sushi places). Menu items are appetizing and cover the gamut from Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.
Summer rolls — filling could’ve been crunchier/​zestier. The rice paper was not soaked long enough; it was kind of like eating undercooked pasta. :(
Coconut shrimp — Huge shrimp. Tasted pretty good. I thought the mango salsa was going to be like chopped up fruit pieces but it was more of a sauce. Quite delicious, but wish there was more sauce!
Singapore noodles — Good, not too oily. No complaints there.
But I felt like I could’ve gotten it for half the price at a regular Asian restaurant.
Bottom line: food is pretty good, portions are big enough, and ambiance/​décor is fancier, but not a bargain.

We went here on a Saturday night because we got one of those
coupons…
The place was pretty empty at 9pm on a Saturday night, which we were surprised about. We were more surprised by how long it took to get our meals, being that it was empty! To be fair, they did volunteer to provide us with some free edamame while we waited, but still! We ordered the crunchy roll special and the sashimi dinner… both were average (I’ve had better sushi than this for sure).
The décor is modern, and the layout is ok, with subtle background music… but you could just tell by all I said above that this place is not going to be around long… don’t bother…

I love sushi. Love it, could eat it everyday. In fact, just wave some yellowfin Tuna in front of a flame, then slap it on a plate and I will gobble it up.
This is not the case with Water Moon. We ordered 5 rolls: Christmas, Sakura, sweet potato tempura roll, rock and roll, and the Mars roll. The sweet potato roll was the only thing worth finishing. The fish in the other rolls was not fresh, it had a terrible fishy taste and smell and the lobster and crab were very rubbery. Yuck. I was very disappointed my money that was wasted on crap sushi. But as we were leaving, we looked around and noticed that no one was eating the sushi, everyone had an entrée. I doubt I will return to Water Moon, but I recommend not getting the sushi.
The atmosphere was ok. The restaurant is a lot bigger than expected. Walking down to the bathroom, which is in the basement, I noticed that there was a kitty litter smell. EW.
And another thing that pisses me off about restaurants and restaurant bars is if they have a stupid TV at the bar. And this one does. I HATE that! HATE. So much that I won’t return to the place. If I wanted to watch a sports game, I would go to a sports bar or I would stay at home and order in. But when I am dining out, I should not expect to have to stare into a 60″ flat screen. Whatever happened to a conversation? Or even reading?

delicious food, horrible service. our orders came out all mixed up, they forgot several items, and added some we didn’t order, but boy did it all taste very good (i ordered the miso-​glazed scallops).

Great waiter service, tasty udon (not as brothy as we expected), and good (not great) pad thai. Nice décor. Not a bad place for dinner right around the corner from the Museum of Natural History. Didn’t have the sushi so can’t comment on the quality of the fish.

Had the happy hour there and the sushi’s decent but nothing jumped out at me. Bartender was very nice and the highlight of our happy hour was watching Ninja Warrior show on G4 on their big screen TV.

Everyone in New York has that one place – or perhaps that one place in every neighborhood. The spot where you’re on a first name basis with the bartenders and wait staff and can recite the menu in your sleep… the old standby when you’re looking for a dependable meal. For me, that place is Water Moon – or as my boyfriend and I like to call it, «The Moon.» He stumbled upon this UWS restaurant while out for a walk. He needed to use the restroom, but was lured in by the bar specials, and called me to meet him there. We’ve been returning religiously ever since, taking advantage of early evening discounts like two sushi rolls for $ 8 and $ 3 beer and wine (both specials run until 8 p.m., and are only honored if you are seated at the bar.) The food is reliable, the crowd is usually a friendly one, and if you’re nice to Roger, the bartender, he’ll put on the Versus network so you can catch the end of the Flyers game. But honestly? They had me at discount sushi.

Is it Japanese or is it Chinese?
I don’t know… sure did smell like a Chinese restaurant; but, most of the menu looked Japanese and came out pan-​Asian.
Expensive too for what you get.
With everything else on that block in the 80s I wouldn’t go here agian.

My favorite place for sushi in all of Manhattan! I discovered «The Moon» (as I like to call it) by accident late one afternoon and ended up staying for Happy Hour and then staying even longer to devour the most delicious rolls I have had in a long while. I personally recommend the Spicy Tuna and Eel Avocado (for you hardcore Sushi fanatics). The owner/​manager is really nice and the bartender will give you the same good «chat» you would expect at your local watering hole. The Moon has a 42″ flat-​screen HDTV at the bar and you can usually get them to put on any sports event you wish. The sushi menu is partially discounted til 8pm (bar only), so go early. After all, where else in the city can you get 6 rolls and 3 ice-​cold draft beers for $ 30?

This place has great lunch specials during the weekdays. For $ 7.05 I get General Tso’s chicken (all white meat), brown rice and miso soup… quite a bargain and the quality is good. Staff is nice and usually asks me if I want a glass of water while I wait for my order.

i’d go here again not only because it’s near my friends’ apt but also because the sushi was good, fresh and affordable (by nyc standards). i was very happy not to be wallet-​accosted after my good dinner.

After a long flight from Phoenix to Newark, we were starving (three hour time difference) but we did not want to gorge ourselves since the local dinner time was only a couple hours away.
We were only here for drinks and apps, but we had a good time. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple of tuna and yellowtail rolls and the Vietnamese Summer Rolls. The rolls were good and fresh. The summer rolls were outstanding! My husband is not a fan of rice paper, but he loved these. It was the combination of vermicelli noodles, avocado and mango dipped in the chili sauce. Very tasty, indeed.

I called in an order to pick up. I was starving. I ran back to my boyfriend’s apt to devour what one would expect to be a fabulous new sushi place. I took out the seaweed salad. It was HUGE. Not only was it huge, but it was YUMM. I am a big fan of seaweed salad. I would make a great fishy living off that stuff! Anyway, I was quite pleased with that. This is the reason for 3 stars. The sushi on the other hand. Was B to the A to the D. It was not good. It was bland, and actually, it looked like they used the poor grade of sushi. This is not especially cheap sushi, so I was expecting better quality. I’m also not convinced that it was fresh, as I was kind of nauseous during and after my meal. So, I am gonna have to say, for a great sushi restaurant, there are better fish in the sea.

Ordered delivery on a Sat. night. Arrived at my door in under 30 minutes. Got the Golden Dream Roll and the Big Bowl Veg/​Tofu Curry Soup with the Coconut Curry and Udon Noodles. The Roll was amazing… Soup was also good — although I was expecting more udon noodles. Came with a bag of crispy noodles which always makes me happy. The ingredients appear to be of a much higher quality than what you usually get — baby bok choy, asparagus, lovely snap peas, etc.
I ordered from Seamless Web which makes it so easy when the delivery person is at your door.
A great new addition to the UWS.

Oh my gawd – DELICIOUS! By far the best pan asian and sushi i have had thus far – the sushi was akin to what I had in the fish markets in Tokyo (i’m not exaggerating). And this place is on the UWS? Sure, why not? I’m telling you – we’re coming up in the world! First Dovetail, now Water Moon? Why would I ever venture across the park?! It was truly a pleasure to dine here. I want to go back right now.
Highly recommend the szechuan chicken and shrimp – the scampi was market fresh and it was perfectly cooked and SO FRESH. Tons of fresh veggies and not oily at all.
The sushi was delciious – try the Christmas roll – salmon, tuna and avocado with light tempura flakes – HEAVEN!
The ambiance is relaxing, yet upbeat and this place started to fill up around 8 – I really hope this place makes it. The manager came over and introduced himself to us at the end of the meal to ensure everything was great and it gave us a chance to rave about our incredible meal.
So yummy and my new favorite on the UWS.