Ninja New York

We took our 7 year old here for his birthday. It turned out to be the biggest disappointment of his life, which considering his biological father has been arrested and is in jail goes to say a lot about how bad this place is. The food is nothing special, but you will be charged a high-end restaurant's price for it. Even the kid's meals are $28! If you make the mistake of going to Ninja, don't expect a manager to come listen to your complaint. They won't!

Timeliness - Took my 6 year old son. Had 6:30 reservations on a Friday. Arrived at 6:15 and was seated immediately. Kid friendly - my 6 yr old LOVED it! Some startling moments but I briefed my son before (ie when elevators doors open, ninja jumps at you yelling hi ja!). But mostly it was adults being startled and screaming. Accomodations for Food Allergies - they did a super job. My son has peanut, nut, shellfish and uncooked dairy. Substituted for the shrimp and the offer non-dairy sorbet. Chicken tempura has some cooked Parmesan but that was clearly noted and fine for us. Service - fantastic. Friendly and prompt. Magic show great! Food - quality and quantity. Had the ninja star salmon. Lots of pieces and very good. Not the best that I have had but pretty close. All in all we would love to go again!

If you are in a certain type of mood the ninja comedy could be entertaining. I do not fault the servers -- but the pyrotechnics almost ruined the food. The sashimi with sizzling sesame oil, for example, had pretty good fish. Then it was doused with flaming sesame oil While this had a rather neutral effect on the fish, the lettuce and daikon salad on which it was served tasted like lighter fluid. When the sashi was served, it had bubbles, and tasted like soap. We sent it back. The next batch also had soap in it. They didn't charge us for the saki, but it essentially ruined the evening. The servers were so earnest that I really do hope that the managers can turn this around. They really need to stop setting food on fire. The fuel is seeps into the food and saki in a really bad way.

I decided to take him to Ninja. Had 8:30pm reservation. I got a call from the hostess around 1:00pm confirming the reservations, I was very excited, until we arrived to the Restaurant. As I squeezed through the massive crowd , I addressed the hostess to let her know my party of two had arrived. She said, OK. I waited 20 minutes and then asked what time would be seated? The hostess mentioned in the next 15 minutes. Several groups kept coming in and out asking if any tables had open, and repeating their reservation time. Some customers got angry and upset at the wait; I don’t blame them I was getting upset myself! Who wants to wait an hour to be seated to eat when you have reservations? By this time, I was getting a little anxious, after 15 minutes I asked again, and she told me that the tables are filled and we still had to wait. After one hour of standing and waiting, they finally called my name. My fiancé and I were so disappointment of the poor service restaurant had, but we decided to make the best of it. As we took the elevator, hungry and ready to be shown to our table, we were greeted by a waitress who showed us and two other parties to a waiting area!!! By then I was boiling. I waited an hour upstairs (No bar at the restaurant) and I had to wait another 20 minutes to be seated! Not to mention order the food and waiting for them to make it! I was going to be eating at 10:30p.m. I spoke to the Manager of the restaurant who quickly apologized, BUT told me I still had to wait. I asked to be shown to the exit immediately, and he quickly decided to offer me a “gift certificate”. I did not acknowledge it! I explained to him it was a Birthday Celebration and we did not want to eat at 10:30pm, reason for making 8:30pm reservations, we also had other plans. The manager then told me I can sit at a small corner and have dinner in the waiting area!! By then the expectations of the restaurants just went down the drain. If I wanted to celebrate my fiancé birthday in a corner of a waiting area, I could have gone to a fast food chain and gotten a better service. To wait two hours to eat it’s not something anyone wants to do. Especially in NYC, this is a town full of restaurants with better service.

I set up a birthday dinner for my son and a few friends he has known since he was a little child. I was so excited that I was able to save money and send him some where different for his birthday since he will be leaving for college soon. My sons birthday was never acknowledged, his main dish was bones and hardly any meat. The ninjas were very unfriendly and they never saw the supposed magic show they have. Last but not least my sons blueberries were moldy. When I called the restaurant and s/w the manager and told him the scenario he stated did a Ninja serve you and did your son show anyone the blueberries? I said yes they served my son and his friend well thats what we do we are a place that serves food we are not there to entertain you he never said sorry for the terrible service he basically told me that thats the way the restaurant is . Well NInja New York Chain restaurants are also places that serve food but guess what? They actuallyl acknowledge the people that come to their restaurant to eat the food and leave them a tip and they actually celebrate peoples birthdays and I dont have to pay $280. for it!

I cannot believe how popular this awful restaurant is. We went on Saturday night and were forced to stand in a crowded dark waiting area for 30 minutes (at 6:30) despite having had a confirmed reservation. Then, we went the "NINJA way" down the stairs which only meant it was dark, and we put in a holding pen for another twenty minutes where we never received any drinks or menus or anything. Once we finally did get seated, the menu and food were very disappointing. There was no flexibility on the dishes and virtually nothing for children. And all of this for the pleasure of paying exorbitant prices. Never again!

Decided while on vacation in NYC to try Ninja New York, and it was the best choice I've ever made. Our server was great and very personable. Food was speedy and tasted amazing. I would recommend Ninja New York to anyone visiting NYC.