Probably, the name above isn’t familiar with most of you if you aren’t Indonesian, because this restaurant is originally Indonesian or Singapore or both, I have no clear idea but I am sure there isn’t any Sushi Tei in New York. Well, just like the name this restaurant main specialty is sushi, those tiny little pieces of rice and raw meat or vegetable as topping then you have to eat them with either chopsticks or hands.I, personally, choose chopsticks. In Japan, Sushi is not only a luxurious dishes for lunch and dinner but also marks your level of attitude, the way you use your chopsticks and how you chew the sushi. But, I am very sure, there isn’t nothing to worry about because Japanese are very kind with foreigners when it comes to their traditions.
Back to the point : Sushi Tei is quite pricey for my level but it is worth every cent that I spent on this restaurant. The services are great and if you;re lucky you can get free promo, but one point that makes this sushi restaurant more advance than others with the same title for me is the way they adopt Japanese attitude level and table manner in their restaurant. When you get in to the restaurant, you’ll find yourself surrounded with Japanese old house decoration with wooden materials and bamboo wood chairs, the restaurant has it’s own noisiness level so, probably, you will get used to whisper instead of speaking loudly, which makes the restaurant feels a little bit formal -in a good way. Then, you’ll find yourself stumbling through the big but elegantly designed menu books. The foods are being served in tiny plates which is enough for one person, you can try the whole sushis if you sit on the standing sushi bar which is the ‘it’ seat in the resto. You can eat them with either chopsticks or hands because the fishes are very fresh and well-cooked you don’t have to worry about stomachache or something like that.
My favorite menu is Jo Unagi which is a supreme eels on the top of sushi rice. Very sexy and delicious, the eels are freshly grilled and marinated with Japanese classic soyu sauce and there is enough balance with the rice. The second one is volcano roll which is a tuna meat topped with mayonaise sauce and then grilled in a professional way, the taste is heavenly but I feel a little bit sick when I eat it too much, probably because of the mayo.
The rest of the menus are fine but totally the two I’ve mentioned above beat them to sushi hell. Well, the one that makes me really eager to try more is the services and the coziness level of the restaurant. I am addicted to it’s calm and silent atmosphere and the way they combined the japanese sushi tradition with westren’s. There are mistakes here and there and some of them are quite annoying but you will find yourself go home and tolerating those mistakes. For me, Sushi Tei delivers a pleasant dining experience and definitely, one of my most favorite restaurant.