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i've been eating sushi for as long as i can remember. and i've eaten just about everywhere in the downtown area that i wouldn't have to sell my first born for...and this place is an exceptional new addition. if you are looking for an 'all you can eat' or 'deals' on day old sushi, this place is not for you. however, if you're anything like me and you can't get enough sushi, this should be a must stop on your list! first, it's a little tough to find, being that it is a 'speak easy' of sorts...but once you do, you'll find an exceptional and intimate experience without any of the pretentious attitudes that would normally be associated with a speak easy. i highly recommend sitting at the bar. the chef is actually really fun & very excited about his creations, which is wonderful if you're inexperienced and/or like to ask questions or try new things. also, the sake selection is a fantastic blend of moderately priced sakes...having a little choice for everyone who enjoys them. the menu is populated with some exceptional and original creations. everything is amazingly fresh and according to the chef, 'flown in daily'. he even brings in his sea salt from Okinawa...now that's some impressive dedication to detail. after a few selections from the menu [all unbelievably fresh and perfectly complemented with succulent flavors] we decided to defer to the chef and see what he threw at us. amazingly he had read our tastes and palates darn near perfectly. he quickly turned us on to some absolutely fantastic and fresh experiences that were unbelievably mouth-watering! i highly recommend the #2 UO Nigiri plate. the garnishing and presentation pale only next to the fresh, delicious taste of the fish! amazing! also, i've had soft shell crab rolls every time i've had sushi for the past 16 years...and NEVER have i had such a perfectly prepared soft shell as this! the three tartare tasting plate is also a huge hit. and the chef's sashimi plate did nothing but excel in both taste & presentation. overall, i will be back to this 'succulent little sushi speak' easy pretty much every time i get the urge for fish. while it doesn't appeal to those with a taste for 'college level' sushi...anyone from an intermediate to a seasoned pro will fall in love with it!

UO was a pleasant surprise and a great escape from the city below it. I was rather impressed by the interesting flavor combinations the sushi chef was able to come up with. Definitely tastes I had not experienced before, in a good way.

I love that it feels like you're going into someone's apartment, which I think it used to be. The food was pretty great for the most part. I really enjoyed the Hamachi Tartare with dill and the short ribs (which I wish were a bigger portion). The sushi was really fresh and they had a great selection. I was shocked at how edible the mackerel was...I usually stay away. The Salmon Skin Salad was ok, nothing too exciting. I ordered some Uni and the server offered me champagne to go with it, which was delicious. Apparently they are going to start offering that on the menu. The staff was really friendly and accommodating and the sushi chef definitely knows his fish. I will absolutely be back!

I've eaten here three times since it's opened, and I couldn't be happier it's here. I stick mostly to the sushi plates, having started with the classic eight piece, which for a basic sushi platter blew me away. There was fresh crabneat as one of the pieces, instaed of for me the throwaway salmon roe piece. I also had the nigiri platter, plus a few ala carte pieces that the server recommended. It was all fantastic. Very fresh tasting. The salmon with the black sesame was my fave, seconded only by an al a carte live scallop. I normally don't like mackeral, but the sushi chef told me to try it and if I didn't like it he would make me something else. I liked it.The kitchen dishes I've tried have been from fair to excellent. I love love love the short ribs, small portion but I don't think it's meant to be an entree. The crispy rice/spicy tuna thing is good, but the rice part could be crisper. My absolute favorite would be the mushrooms, which they gave my table free one night. The atmosphere would be good for dates, it's really nice inside, but I've only gone with friends and we had a good time. I think that they are still testing their wine and sake lists because it seems to have changed everytime I've been there. I tried a gruner veltliner and it went great with what I was eating, and was a nice change from sake. I'm really glad this place is here, and it one of my three favorite places in the neighborhood (with Alias and Antibes).The prices are the same or maybe a buck or two higher for the appetizers than a local place, but it is a very comfortable, almost loungey type space so I don't mind.

Good idea, good service, good atmosphere. But I agree with teh previous reviewer that it's a pretty low value, esp compared to others in the neighborhood. Spent $150 (not incl drinks) on four people and all left hungry. Thought about ordering more but no one cared enough about what they'd eaten already to want to. Wasn't bad, just wasn't very good @ the prices. Tartare trio was okay all agreed, but edamame tartare isn't even really a tartare, it's just bean salad! I think they think they're much fancier than they actually are.

I was extraordinarily disappointed in the value/price ratio at Sushi UO. The sushi is of an -acceptable- level, and per-piece isn't terribly expensive - about on average for the neighborhood. And while nothing was out-and-out bad, a great deal of it was out-and-out boring. The composed dishes, however, were where things really fell apart. Smoked Duck Takoyaki on paper sounded a bit more exciting than they were. But any smokiness the duck had was lost thanks to the sauces - a chipotle mayo, and a bbq sauce - drizzled over the top. More importantly, there was very little for the price - $15 got you five rather small little balls, about a bite apiece. Also on the skimpy end was an appetizer of beer-braised short ribs - and aside from there being barely enough in the bowl to even warrant calling it an appetizer, it was a bit too chewy - perhaps not braised long enough? The flavor was lacking as well. Supposedly there was fennel in there, but I didn't taste any. Nor did I taste beer. I tasted boiled meat, that was about it. Spicy tuna with "crunchy rice" fared little better - I've had this dish at a few Japanese places and Sushi UO's version was sadly lacking in crunch. Also a minus was the fish itself - curiously bland, and completely hidden, flavor-wise, under a chipotle mayo. Yes, the exact same chipotle mayo that topped the aforementioned takoyaki. I'm sorry, but with a rather small menu, you shouldn't be going back to the same well more than once. Come up with something different for one of them - wasabi mayo, tobiko mayo, frickin' peanut butter mayo, whatever. Rolls were unexciting. A "sashimi roll" - a few kinds of fish rolled in a thin layer of cucumber - had nice presentation, though it didn't hold together particularly well when it was time to eat it. And it really just tasted of cucumber. The ponzu that came with it was nice, though ponzu isn't exactly rocket science. I really wanted to like them - it's a nice space, the staff is friendly, and you can't have enough good sushi places in the 'hood. But after spending $100 my girlfriend and I were both still hungry. That would make sense if we were dining at Morimoto or Soto or something, where I could easily spend three times that - but it's not like UO is dropping foie gras and uni all over everything. They're not making "haute sushi" by any stretch. Sushi UO needs to raise its game - especially in terms of VPR - if they want to compete in the LES Sushi field.

Overpriced. Better in the neighborhood. Room is nice and staff are friendly but very small portions. Food itself is so-so. Not bad, but nothing great either. For the prices one expects more.