Sakagura (The Sake Club)

Ok this was very mixed experience... told when booked min $50 a head... not gonna be a problem, told as shown to table we need to be out in 2 hours. so before we even started didn't feel welcome. Food was superb but small for its money. sake list was amazing and they brought me bottles so i could take photos allowing me to id them later. which was really appreciated. theres no doubt this was the most expensive meal ive ever had, and ouch £30 for a glass of sake... but this was premium aged sake... just such a shame it tasted of mushrooms... think I'm glad i dont live local or id be backrupt... twas a wonderful experience when there. assuming you can afford it. bur such a shame i felt under time pressure. The service would have scored very low if not for getting the bottles brought for my photos

Visited with Linh and Zahra. The most thorough and straight up ridiculous selection of sake I’ve ever encountered. Intimidating really. Cool wooden booth and bar seating available in a basement spot that you reach through a back stairwell in a building. Looking forward to our next time back - we didn’t get much food the first time, and everything sounded amazing....

If you want sake and ACTUALLY GOOD Japanese food, this is the place to go. Sake selection unmatched in the States (it seems). Food is adventurous, which I love. Bathrooms are futuristic.

This was my third visit and it was another great night. Look for the huge parking garage sign sign on the north side of 43rd between 2nd and 3rd, just before that is a non descript entrace to an appartment building with a small portable Sakagura sign on the ground. I have sat at the bar all 3 times and the staff has been great. I am a rookie at Sake and have just asked them to make suggestions. Each time they have let me taste several before making a choice. Great food, enormous sake list and unbeleivable prices. It can get busy so I would book ahead. I had a 45 minute wait last night which seemed to be standard without a reservation. Well worth it!

Treated myself to a sake night out. I alreadybate but will definitely come back for food. Really weird location in basement but nice your there it feels super authentic. Staff was helpful and knowledgeable and food looked amazing. Tons of sakes really cool

Damn - this place is amazing. Went here for dinner with some fine NYC folks and had an amazing time. An amazing assortment of foods (at shockingly reasonable prices - particularly considering the neighborhood you’re in). An extensive sake selection (although they were out of quite a bit of them when we were in - there were certainly plenty of other things to take their place). Great ambiance - sort of laid back and casual but the food presentation is anything but. Our server was a little bit scattered, but again, the quality of the food and the drink more than made up for it. I can’t believe I never got to this place when I lived here.

This place is just too cool. *Enormous* list of sake, every one available by the glass, carafe, or bottle. Knowledgeable and helpful staff. Delicious Japanese food that is a far cry from the sushi & teriyaki chicken that 99% of J restaurants in this country have. Value is good, too: for 5 of us eating a full meal + desert + 5 carafes of sake came out to $50/person including tax and tip. This was pretty high quality stuff, too.

Visited for dinner on a Thursday evening with Puzzl, Maxxdaddy and their lovely wives. When we visited, there was a Sakagura sign outside the building, as well as instructions on how to locate the basement restaurant - so easier for us to find then previous raters. I really liked the ambiance of the place, seemed very private and meticulously decorated. I have not been to Japan, but the place struck me as authentic. We ordered about 20 items off of the food menu for sharing, and tried about 4 or 5 of the sakes. The food was excellent, and memorable. All of the flavors were very pure and well presented. The value of this place is excellent as well - considering this is New York and the level effort in the preparation I was surprised at the low prices. Sure, you can drop a bunch of coin on some of the Sakes, but the low and mid-end Sakes were well priced and the food was a value (small portions, but most dishes were between $6-10. Great spot, thanks for the great evening Andy and Max.

82 = ★★★½ (Solid place, near the top of the list for locals and visitors)

I only use the total score, not the component parts.

Finding this place is somewhat tricky. Not because one can’t find the address on the street or anything, but just because right next door is a Japanese restaurant, and then you sort of walk into an empty looking building and down some unmarked stairs into a somewhat shady looking basement. Then you hit Sakagura and all is well. A slight bit too dimly lit for my tastes, but I can see why, as on a weekday at about 7PM I felt lucky to get a bar seat as there were plenty of doe eyed couples waiting to get tables. I was initially overwhelmed as I had two menus to look at, was thirsty for some sake, and hungry for some bar food. Took a while to decide but I finally opted for a glass of sake (which I misread the price for, and was subsequently a little surprised at the bill) and a couple small appetizers. Everything came out remarkably fast, but I never felt like they were trying to turn the tables and rush people through (in fact there were still 3-4 empty bar seats throughout most of my hour or so there). Service was excellent, though I didn’t really talk to or with any of the servers, they were just quick and polite and then out of the way. I like that quite a bit. It’s a bit of a quandary that this place is so close to Grand Central since I’ll want to stop here more often on the way out of the city, but I’m frequently either good on alcohol (hence going home) or feeling like I’ve spent enough time or money in the city for one day. But I’ll certainly be back. Certainly worth stopping in.

A very good sake selection coupled with a very ’in the know’ atmosphere. Also maybe 3 or 4 japanese beers you would otherwise not have found. Most of the sake is in large bottles, so it’s best to go with 3+ people if planning the trip to really make it worth your while. The food is overpriced for what it is… tiny appetizers @ 10 dollars each approx. There is NO SUSHI served here.