Sushi Yasaka : Omakase done right!

My fiancé and I saw pictures of our friend's dinner on Facebook from Sushi Yasaka (251 W 72nd St, New York, NY)  and knew it was a must try! From just the pictures we could see how fresh the fish was. We went on a Tuesday night and the place was packed! Even at 8:30, we had to wait for our table, which weekend had to be for a good reason.
We sat close to the sushi bar area, but still had a table. Normally I would insist on having counter seats for an Omakase experience, but that's ok, it was just too crowded to be picky.
Our waitress was extremely cheerful while taking our orders and did not let the crowded atmosphere stress her out.

Seaweed Salad

The seaweed salad was different than most, where it also had arugula mixed in, instead of it being all seaweed. This added extra flavor and crunch to the salad and made it more unique than seaweed salad elsewhere. The arugula also made it seem healthier and fresher. There was also a dressing that had a creamy texture that was lightly sprinkled on and gave this salad that extra added flavor!

Miso Soup

The miso soup was extremely flavorful and had a lot of scallions in it, which is one of my favorite parts of miso soup. It wasn't overly salty, which a lot of miso soups tend to be. Also, there were a good amount of mushrooms in the broth, which I enjoyed thoroughly :)

Omakase Menu

We didn't bother looking at the regular menu, and were told by our friend to only order the Omakase because of the selection and variation of what you are given. Also, based on our previous Omakase experience at Sushi Seki, this was quite the bargain at $45 for 12 pieces and a maki role, versus at Sushi Seki it was $125 for 10 pieces, with an additional $25 for 4 sashimi pieces. Quite the difference in value! It wasn't even a question in our mind to get the Omakase experience here!

Chef's Regular Omakase

Because we were not seated at the sushi bar, they brought all the pieces out at once, which was fine. I still prefer the pieces being given one at a time when you are sitting at the sushi bar, since each piece is explained as you get it, but it would have been too complicated since we were seated at a regular table. Although, the waitress did ask us if we were ok with them being brought out all at once, so we were given the option to have it brought out piece by piece if we had wanted.
We were given quite the array of fish, and definitely got to sample probably every kind of fish they had in the restaurant, which was nice.
My favorite two pieces were the salmon, which had pesto on top of it and the sea urchin. The pesto that was on top of the salmon had mint mixed into it, which added a lot of flavor and was a nice contrast in flavor to the salmon. Since salmon is more of a salty fish, the minty pesto added that fresh flavor. I also am very partial to mint, and love it as a seasoning in most foods!
The sea urchin was so buttery in flavor and texture in a good way! It was extremely creamy and melted in your mouth and left us all wanting more.
As we expected based on reviews from our friend, the fish was extremely fresh! Also, the light seasonings the chef added to each piece made them more unique than normal sushi and added an array of flavors to the fish. I would definitely order the Omakase again at Sushi Yasaka!

Green Tea Mille Crepes - Cake layered with extra-thin crepes and green tea custard with one scoop of ice cream

We also were told that dessert was a must order, which generally I never have at sushi restaurants! The green tea mille crepes, was a cake made of layers of green tea crepes and green tea custard and served with green tea ice cream. The dessert was extra creamy and so so divine. It was definitely green tea done right! We all enjoyed this so much that we licked the plate clean.

I will definitely return here again! I suggest reservations because it does get very crowded and you want to make sure you don't have to wait.