THE GALLERY by odo - New York, New York

TomFun

It is a lovely restaurant, but maybe I'd put my hope too high for this place. The ambiance is super nice. Well-thought seating space, very comfortable to enjoy a meal while chatting with your company. Very relaxing. The food didn't disappoint me nor impress me.

We ordered NYC restaurant week menu, $60 three-course. The Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) tasted good, but was not quite smooth as you wish. The corn topping texture interfered. Skewered fries were interesting and I liked it. The main dish, Chirashizushi Sushi was good, although the fish were fresh. Quality-wise, somewhat similar to what you get at a good poke bowl chain restaurants fish. Decent Sushi rice the Gallery used elevated this dish. I liked the soft serve with fresh fruit puree dessert.

It is a good place to go for a fancy/casual Japanese. I'm sure you can enjoy your meal.

One thing I didn't like at all was the chopsticks. They look rustic and nice, but very hard to use with one stick was curved and the length of the two chopsticks were not even. I'm a Japanese and always use chopsticks, and this is the least one I'd choose. The choice of the wooden tray for Chirashizushi was questionable too. I'd prefer a bowl or plate that you can hold in your hand for such dish. Wooden spoon came with the soft serve was very short, I had to hold the glass in my hand, and it was very cold. I feel like they value aesthetic above customer's' ease of use with their choice of serving dishes and utensils.

Japanese cuisine is the whole experience of the five senses. I hope they put more thoughts in every aspect of the meals they serve.

KK

Came here twice, one was for tasting menu, and one for restaurant week.

Good atmosphere! Nice to have a talk surrounded by gallery settings.

Foods were quite delicate. And the ingredients were fresh! Specially like the tempura and the nigiri.

NX

Edamame is a must order! They season and grill the edamame differently. Portion is very generous. The udon comes in candle burning individual hot pots and you get to cook the ingredients yourself. Sushi MUSE for 2 was mediocre. The rice was a bit too cold and fish was a bit thin.

Josephine Lee

I'm embarrassed.

I came here last year, when The Gallery was just a tiny slip of a restaurant with one long communal table in the center. Now it's all grown up, gotten married and had kids--the previously limited menu is now two-sided and features several new dishes, the artwork has multiplied and the furniture has increased to accommodate many more diners. How could I have forgotten to review this spot and missed a whole year of changes? I'm such a bad auntie.

Anywho, the food is just as delectable as it was last time.

- Mentaiko Fries: Because seafood and potatoes always belong together

- Chicken Nanban: Super juicy with a fun...egg salad?...sort of topping

Kushi-age a la carte: In total, I think we've gotten the scallop, king crab, tiger shrimp, Japanese whiting, miso-marinated camembert. If you're stumped on what to pick, just get some combination of these, esp. the camembert. Mmmm, fried cheese

- Makimono Sushi Roll Set: The only disappointment for me. Too much wasabi in all of the rolls, and the fatty tuna roll was bizarrely paired with diced onions-- a bad combo.

- MUSE Chirashi: Probably the best chirashi bowl in the city, and certainly the most beautiful. What makes this chirashi different is not only that the fish is cut into bite-sized cubes (instead of those annoying long pieces that are impossible to eat with rice), but also the rice is seasoned in layers with seaweed and sesame, so you get a flavorfully complex experience in each bite. All the fish favorites are provided and in generous amounts. At $32, this is the best chirashi deal in town.

- Kinoko Udon: Don't leave without having one udon dish, given the noodz are made in-house and just the chewiest things ever. We opted for the Kinoko because, hello, mushrooms?

- Housemade Soft Serve: Seems like a cop-out for dessert but is actually a winner with perfectly textured soft serve drizzled with sauce made from real fruits. All three flavors are spectacular.

Throw in the Japanese hospitality, romantic lighting, industrial chic decor, and artwork, and you pretty much have the perfect dinner spot. As a bonus, The Gallery is still pretty under the radar, so come before some influencer "discovers" it and destroys it with a post narrated in their signature nasal, bored monotone.

ESB NYC

We came for the $60, 3 course restaurant week menu, first time dining here. I’ve been to the sister restaurant, Odo which was a very high-quality. This is a more casual spot with an interesting Japanese menu. I would agree with other comments I’ve seen criticizing the weird natural chopsticks that don’t really work very well, that seems like a pretty basic requirement for a restaurant. We both tried the gallery, spritz cocktail, refreshing, and well-made, but probably somewhat overpriced.

The first course was the Chawanmushi, which was well prepared, but I did think the corn was an odd choice. Didn’t seem to work very well here. My second course was the chicken nanban and it was juicy, very well cooked and delicious. There was a scoop of luxurious caviar placed on top that was almost wasted because it was difficult to pick up the chicken without spilling the caviar. My husband had the kushiage which was also very well prepared and delicious.

For the main course, I chose the Chirashi and hubs had the wagyu udon. The ingredients were of high-quality and the broth was flavorful, only criticism here was that the portions were quite small.

The soft serve milk, ice cream for dessert was fantastic with mango purée and some mango chunks underneath, loved it.

I would like to go back to give the regular menu a try.

Julia Hsia

Overall food was outstanding and impressive. But my reason put 4⭐️ is about dining time. My friend and I were asked to leave in 5 mins without any early notice. (I had my reservation, we didn’t walk in that night.) This was not professional.
Still, we had a great night. Came for restaurant week menu to give it a try.

Regarding food, starting from steamed egg. It was smooth with corn and roe as toppings. I think it’s a small appetizer made for restaurant week menu. The corn taste was too strong, kinda covered everything. Otherwise it would be a beautiful one.

I got ❤️‍?✨Nanban fried chicken, a special dish from a certain area in Japan, which was marinated fried chicken with egg salad topping. Chicken was really juicy and crispy, highly recommend. Egg salad was delicious, but the combination was a hit or miss. I personally liked it.

For main dish, both chirashi and udon with wagyu beef were tasty.
Chirashi was a classic, and the portion was good enough.

However, the ❤️‍?❤️‍?❤️‍?wagyu was a fire in the udon dish, it came on side, so you put slices into hot soup for seconds. It melted in month. Also, udon was doughy, and soft, like it!

Last, the dessert. Soft serve was the only option but offered 3 sauce, housemade jam with real fruit. My melon one was soooo good almost like candy on the top.

shen yiyuan

I came here for dinner with my friend this week. We ordered the omakase and Uni steak, but they mistakenly served me a chirashi bowl. I reminded the server, but another server still tried to serve me the chirashi bowl again. The omakase wasn’t great either—the fish had too much fascia, making it unpleasant to eat. Also, I don’t understand why the nanban chicken tastes like Korean fried chicken. Everything was overly sweet, even for someone like me who loves sweet.

Angelica ASMR

NY restaurant week review - tried the chicken namban, skewers, and wagyu burger. I gotta say this is one of the best burgers I’ve ever tasted. If anything, it could just be prettier. Better fries, better lettuce; and it becomes an AMAZING burger.