New to North Jersey and looking for great sushi

[MattK]

Hello all

I travel frequently with work and will be staffed in Mahwah NJ for 6 months or so. As an avid sushi fanatic, I am always searching for very good Japanese Restaurants. So far, I have found a few places I really like. Most of these were a pretty far trek from Mahwah. Does anyone have any other (preferably closer) recommendations for Northern Jersey/NY area. Thanks!

Some of my favs so far

Wild Ginger – I love this place. The restaurant itself is very small and inviting. The sushi is top notch quality with very creative specials. My favorite dishes here are the spicy toro tartare and the scallop sashimi with a citrus-miso glaze.

Ixora – Very romantic setting with great sushi specials and an extensive tea list. I have only been once but thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Auzora – Also only been once but really enjoyed the salmon sashimi with ponzu and the excellent nigiri specials.

Any recommendations closer to the Mahwah/Ramsey area would be much appreciated. Thanks!!!

Matt

[Curlz]

Here's the thread on Ginger and Spice, which is in Ramsey. Caveat: as you'll see from the last post on that thread, the place has just changed hands. Worth a shot, though, as one would expect the new owner/chef to want to maintain the clientele they had...

[richl2214]

Tawara is excellent especially for the salmon.

53 W Main St

Ramsey, NJ 07446

Phone: 201-825-8712

[Rosie]

We love Zen in Livingston and Kyoto in Florham Park. Recently had a wonderful Asian/fusion dinner at Rigoletto, Ridgewood. Info here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...79&hl=Rigoletto

[tommy]

kumo in ridgewood has consistently provided me with fresh fish. but, it's about 15 minutes south of mcarthur ave. which may or may not be an issue for your particular needs.

aside from that, in the mahwah area, and totally unrelated to sushi, do make a trek to Kinchley's for pizza. go for lunch, or late in the evening (after 8 as it's very crowded before then...family friendly). this was a standard stop for work lunches and after-work get-togethers when i worked in that area.

and do go to the mahwah bar and grill, sister of the allendale bar and grill, for one of the best hamburgers in bergen county. and the fried chicken basket is nothing to sneeze at. the mahwah outpost has outdoor seating, unlike the very close and similar allendale outpost, which might be a plus.

there's also a brew pub right up there across the NYS border, but i forget its name, and if i tried to start a thread about it it would probably be moved as it's more a "new york" type of thing. but you can PM me for details on anything just across that very close border. this was another one of our after-work/lunch stops when i worked in mahwah.

curlz, above, mentions ginger and spice, which is a lot of fun (BYOB), but they've apparently lost their chef. honestly that doesn't bother me, as i presume they can keep cooking at the level they were on my 2 visits. but perhaps i should revisit to see what's what. worth a shot though, and very close to mahwah.

there's also that japanese "steakhouse" up on the hill right when you get on the NY thru-way. mount fuji is it? i've never been, but it has been there for years and i'd like to hear about it. i'm thinking it's more of a japanese steakhouse sort of thing, bennihana style, but hey, with a group of people from work it could be a lot of fun.

[Rachel Perlow]

Just an fyi re Ginger & Spice. They aren't a sushi bar, but they do have a box sushi of the day and a raw fish or two on the app menu.

[MattK]

Thank you everyone! I plan to try them all :-) A teammate took us to Sakura-Bana in ridgewood which was pretty tasty. I have so many new places to check out now - gracias.

[Lima Bean]

I live in Ridgewood, just went to KUMO last night and they are excellent. The rolls are the best, dynamit tuna is the best anywhere. It's a quick 10 minute ride down rt 17 south to ridgewood ave and than one block to the right.

[Jason Perlow]

We've had some former threads on this subject:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=4544

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=32914

BTW Tamaya Restauant in Fort Lee is very hardcore, attracts almost entirely Japanese clientele.

Tamaya Restaurant

2347 Hudson Ter, Fort Lee, NJ 07024

Phone: (201) 585-7009

Also lately I happen to like Minado in Hackensack / Little Ferry by the Han Ah Reum. For buffet style-all you can eat I happen to think its pretty good. Certainly way better than East in Bergenfield, which I refuse to eat at anymore.

[Jason Perlow]

BTW in addition to Wild Ginger, Englewood also has Daruma which is a very good sushi restaurant that opened in the last year. My section-mate at the New York Times, David Corcoran, liked it a lot, and every time I have been it has been exceptional.

I'll also add support to Rosie's ZEN recommendation as well. Great place, wonderful appetizer selection as well.

[markymark]

Close to Mahwah in Allendale is both Flirt and Masa (my current local favorite)

[Double 0]

About 10 minutes down Lake St in Woodcliffe Lake is Gen (14 Chestnut Ridge Road). It's in a shopping center with two other very good restaurants. Gen not only excells in sushi, sashimi and inventive rolls, but also has "new style" sushi and sashimi ala Nobu. If you put yourself in the hands of the sushi chef you will not be dissapointed.

The othe two restaurants in the shopping center are a Kosher Deli, good not great.and a very good Chinese restaurant that has excellent Dim Sum on Sat. & Sun. starting at 11am.

[MattK]

wow. Thank you all for the outpour of recommendations. I tried Rigoletto Fusion in ridgewood and had a fantastic lunch. I got the sashimi lunch special and a ho-ho-kus roll. They both were fantastic. The lunch came with a great calas that had a miso-yuzu dressing that had a hint of sallion as well. The sashimi was laid on bananna leaves atop shaved ice in a very creative display and the roll had an excellent sauce similar to the teryaki often found on eel but slightly sweeter.

Great time. I plan to work my way through all of the suggestions. Thanks everybody!