It’s been a while since we went to Fushimi, my first visit being not in Times Square but Brooklyn. So, when they invited us for their first year anniversary, I was quite excited. Located few steps from Port Authority, this place is gorgeous: as you enter, you are right away amazed by their rendition of the Fushimi Inari Taisha, a Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto that is famous for its thousands of red torii gates that create a trail we visited few years back during a memorable trip to Japan. The rest of the restaurant is stunning with a sophisticated urban vibe, blending Japanese minimalism with sleek, contemporary aesthetics, starting with the bar area with its paper cranes or orizuru, that is a powerful symbol in Japan. According to legend, folding 1,000 paper cranes grants you a wish or brings you good luck and long life. This tradition has become a symbol of peace, especially after the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who developed leukemia due to the Hiroshima bombing and sought to fold 1,000 cranes to heal. She didn’t finish before she passed away, but her story inspired many to continue folding cranes as a wish for peace and health.

Talking about the bar, they have a great selection of cocktails. I tried: the lychee martini that was not too sweet, a whisky sour made with Suntori whisky, Masamune (made with Iwai Japanese whisky, Campari, St Germain and orange bitter, The Q (unfiltered sake, St Germain, grenadine and lemon juice).

During their first year celebration, we got to try some bites:

Veggie gyoza:

Pork gyoza:

Then, we went back for dinner a couple of times. For appetizers, I tried their roasted duck, made with mango, cucumber, lime, mint and an hoisin reduction. This was definitely to share and I simply loved it because the skin on the duck was delightfully crispy and fatty, with the mango and hoisin sauce giving a nice sweetness to it.

Jodi got each time we went their avocado truffle crispy sushi that is a pan seared crispy rice cake, topped with avocado, truffle puree and sweet miso sauce. I admit that this is probably one of the best I ever had! Crunchy as promised and decadent with some truffle that filled my nose as they brought the plate. She also got their avocado roll that is quite basic and we also shared the bang bang broccoli with sweet chili sauce and peanut, but I thought it was just ok. It was crispy, but I did not like the sauce that could have been uniformly spread, by tossing it with the fried broccoli in a bowl. What was amazing though is their charred seasonal mushrooms that is proposed as a side, but could easily be an appetizer (note that they were not that charred, but still good).

On my side, I tried the roasted Scottish salmon that was good, but not the best I ever had, being slightly overcooked, and the miso chilean seabass roll that was made with crispy sea bass with green apple for freshness and crunch, topped with crunchy sea scallops, sweet aioli and saikyo miso. This was a delicious roll, with an explosion of flavor in each bite.

Of course, we had to try their desserts. Their best is the molten cake that was gooey inside and accompanied with an amazing red velvet ice cream. I also liked their mochi ice cream that was a trio composed of vanilla, strawberry and espresso.

I had no idea that Fushimi was in Times Square and was glad that I have been invited so it put it on my map whenever I want to have an elevated Japanese meal. They have great cocktails and interesting dishes that I will continue to discover.

Enjoy (I really did)!

If you like this post, the photos or the blog, please feel free to share it or post a comment. Merci!

Fushimi Times Square - 311 West 43rd St, New York, NY 10036

I Just Want To Eat!