If you’ve read my blogs enough, you will know my love for Speakeasies, like the The Little Shop and The Honey Well in NYC. There are other Speakeasy type of spots, which are more of a restaurants rather than bars. Sushi Lab Rooftop is kind of a Speakeasy restaurant, as it is a bit hidden away, giving you that “place with the secret access” feeling. You must first find the Sanctuary Hotel, and enter from the main entrance through the grand wooden door. There is a check in counter to the right of the entrance for Sushi Lab. It is a bit tricky to get to the rooftop. Once you are checked in, go all the way to the back.

When you get to the back, turn left, and the find the elevator for Sushi Lab. At this point, you will know you are in the correct elevator, with signage for Sushi Lab everywhere, including the Sushi Lab elevator mat. Take the elevator to the sixth floor, which is not the rooftop, not just yet. Once you are at the 6th floor, follow the signs to find the red door.

Through the red door, you have to go up two flights of stairs. I believe this is the only way to get to the Sushi Lab Rooftop, so not handicap accessible. The walls on the staircase is vivid and colorful, and then you finally arrive at the restaurant!

As I am still catching up on all the places I’ve been this year, this one is actually from early spring of 2022… The rooftop is a covered space, so it was nice and warm, and very pretty. Definitely picturesque.

We requested counter seats at the time of reservation, so we got to have a nice view of the sushi chefs making all the tasty creations. The sushi chefs were not Japanese, but I guessed that much before we went there… I was there for more of the experience than a real deal, authentic sushi made by sushi chefs with years and years of training.

We started with some cocktails. I ordered Lychee Martini ($16) as I love lychee. My hubby went with Strawberry Geisha ($16). The Lychee Martini is made with Vodka, Saint Germain, Lychee Juice, and Lychee Garnish. It was tasty, very lychee, and very sweet. Much sweeter than expected but also quite strong. Strawberry Geisha is made with Sake, Shochu, Yuzu, Muddled Strawberries, and Lychee. It was sweet but very flavorful. Fruity and pretty!

For the food, we wanted to do Omakase, and we chose The Lab Experiment ($100). It is a 15 signature course with some of the finest ingredients like truffle, wagyu, and caviar. It is stated “The Lab Experience is a journey for the senses” – which sounds very exciting! The first course was a Sashimi Platter, which included shima-aji shrimp and beluga caviar. Everything was very fresh, and melt in your mouth good! I loved how it had shiso flowers, and real deal grated wasabi that has a slight sweetness to it. Each sashimi piece was plump and meaty, fresh and delicious. Great start!

Then we started on the nigiri sushi pieces. Red snapper was like butter! Marinated perfectly, and very flavorful. King salmon was just beyond amazing. Nice cut, not thinly sliced, but just right. Delicious! Sumi-ika (ink squid) was super plump yet almost creamy. It had notes of smoke from being lightly torched on the top, which was awesome. They were all elegantly rich, and somehow velvety.

Kanpachi (amberjack) was so refreshing! Reminded me of the cool, refreshing feeling you get from a nice cold cucumber somehow. Toro with caviar already sounded great, but it tasted even better. Heavenly.

Then, we get the Otoro with black truffle shavings! And they did not skimp on the truffles, it had loads of them on the top. It was so decadent, so good! The tuna was nice and fatty, with beautiful marbling, you don’t even need to chew the tuna because it just melt in your mouth.

As we enjoyed all the tasty pieces of sushi, we also enjoyed watching the sushi chefs making these delicate masterpieces. They worked on several pieces of different types of sushi at a time, a good way to save time and be efficient.

Sweet shrimp with ikura (salmon roe) was nice and plump. Love the pop from the ikura. Hirame (Japanese flounder) was touched on top, which made it flakey and extra tasty! Gindara (sablefish) was also slightly torched, and had ikura on top. For someone who loves ikura, I was happy to see another sushi with ikura topping. The gindara was meaty and really great!

The next three pieces were quite interesting. It was a Hokkaido uni (sea urchin) over tempura oyster. What a creative dish! The uni was fresh and not fishy. Tempura had crispy exterior without being oily. So good! The next one was a hand roll with scallops with truffle shaving. It was more like scallop sushi was placed on the crispy dried seaweed. Plump and tasty. Anago (salt-water eel) was very fluffy! Nice salty flavor without being too much. It is nice to get a cooked fish, change in the texture, flavor, and freshen up the taste buds.

After watching some of the sushi creation, I noticed they were searing some meat, and I mean, beef. I was hoping it will make it to my plate, and guess what, it did!

It was Wagyu beef with Uni and Foie Gras. It was nice to have something different from fish. Meaty and lots of marbling. Uni and Foie Gras made this piece to be even more rich and luxurious. The last sushi of the 15 course was Toro maki with California Uni on top. We received two pieces each. I am usually not a big fan of uni, but because their uni was very fresh and not fishy, I enjoyed them!

The bathroom is located near the entrance by the staircase. I believe there is only one gender-neutral bathroom, so there might be a line there. The bathroom was nice and clean, roomy, and well managed.

We had a nice, tasty lunch that felt luxurious. The service was really great, friendly and polite. I told them that we were celebrating my hubby’s birthday at the time of reservation, and they gave him a glass of Prosecco on the house! How wonderful is that??? Sushi chef was very nice and polite also. Spoke clearly with each piece, explaining what they were. It was such a fun, relaxing experience. If you want to get some fancy sushi at a warm, relaxing, and beautiful spot, Sushi Lab Rooftop might be a place for you!

Sushi Lab Rooftop – 132 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036