Restaurant Review: Ninja, New York

As a kid I would always watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my 2 older brothers. After the show we would pretend to be Ninjas. We made throwing stars out of paper, dressed all in black with our faces covered, and ran around outside or in our basement pretending to fight each other. Being in New York City and going to the Ninja restaurant allowed me to experience the mysterious world of a Ninja as an adult.

Ninja is located at 25 Hudson Street in New York. It was an absolute crazy, unique and fun place for people of all ages to experience at least one time in their lives. It is a restaurant that was made to give you the impression that you are in an ancient Ninja castle. It has a complex maze layout of individual rooms that are full of clever contraptions as if to keep intruders out.

A lot of reviews that I have heard about Ninja said that they were disappointed in the food, service, prices, and so on. But I did not care. I always want to form my own opinion of places. I found things that I liked and only a few things that I didn’t.

Walking in to Ninja, I felt like I was a little kid in a toy store. I did not know where or what to look at first. It pulled me into a world beyond my imagination. The building was designed by Takaneuay Iba, who used the Ninja Bible as a reference to recreate how a ninja lived.

There were large stone rock walls with weapons hanging on them, torches, and other dim lights to help give you the impression that you were in an old castle. In the side rooms, you got the feeling as if it was dungeon like with the bamboo gated doors. In each of these smaller rooms were tables and chairs and this is where you sat and ate at. FYI as you walk to your table watch out for the “hidden ninjas” that sneak up on you or fall from the ceiling. Remember you are an intruder to them!

Ninja is complete with signature Japanese dishes that will make your taste buds scream for more. They offer appetizers like Aburi Shrimp Salad, Ninja Miso soup, Creamy Shrimp, and many other unique options. We order the “Katon” Bomb. This was Pate of duck with foie gras served with a spicy, but flavorful foamy Ponzu sauce. It was very good! For main entrees they offer different cooked versions of steaks, Sushi, lamb chops, black cod, pork belly, duck, chicken, monk fish, and salmon.

The ninja waiter talked us into their signature dish which I am so happy that we ordered. It was a main course for 2 that consisted of Angus steak with a teriyaki sauce, risotto with white sauce, and a few legs of Alaskan crab. On the side was a tomato mango sauce also. It was called the “Katana” and was excellent. I highly recommend this dish to anyone that goes here. You will not be disappointed. And the presentation is wow! It came out on a long oddly shaped wooden board all chopped up and lined up in an orderly fashion.

The salad that was brought out before our meals had the most unique presentation I have ever seen at a restaurant. It was a half bottom outer shell of a grapefruit with a sword through it. On top were large leaves with pieces of the grapefruit, crab and other ingredients mixed in it. When you pulled the sword out, there was dry ice in the grapefruit shell and smoke poured out everywhere. It was very impressive.

For the kids menu they are out of luck if they do not like Japanese food. The only item on the kids menu was Okosama. This was a plate with Teriyaki chicken, creamy shrimp, potatoes, and mixed greens. So if your child is not a fan of Japanese food, they will not find anything that they can eat on the menu.

Our waiter told us that they go to Ninja training school after they are hired at Ninja. He said they go here to learn how to move like a Ninja, do hand signals and pull out a sword like one. Not to learn how to fight though. I thought that was pretty neat.

As we ate, there was a Ninja that came around and did different magic tricks with decks of cards and coins. I have to admit he was not the best Magician, nor did he know any spectacular tricks. Maybe he should have just kept his job of being a Ninja. But overall it was very entertaining watching him try. But after awhile he started to be a “nuisance” and just needed to leave us alone so we could eat.

Overall, the atmosphere was the ultimate best, the food was really good, the service was ok, the magician was poor, and the prices were a little high but I am glad I at least tried it once just to see what it was all about. It is one experience that you can say you tried.