Ninja New York

Ninja, the restaurant deserves its' very own blog post. It's not so much about the food but rather the whole experience - the ambiance, the ninja-clad waitstaff, the magicians and of course the food theater!

Once you're greeted by the host, you descend via elevator and walk through a tunnel until you are seated at your table. Then you get to do all of these things:

Be entertained by a magician who comes to your table to perform a few interactive tricks just for you! This was surprisingly entertaining and funny. Our performer was great and revealed how the tricks were performed before expecting a tip (of course).

Witness your rib eye steak ($38) being set alight by a bespectacled ninja:

I'm told the rib eye was done as requested (medium) and very tasty. It was served with side pots of roasted garlic cloves, herb and sea urchin butter for your own smothering and something called 'ninja special bbq sauce'.

Eat in a cave like setting with partitioned tables mostly all around. Practice your chopstick ninja skills:

Order a dragon roll and have it literally look like one:

The dragon roll was the largest entree and came with 2 types of rolls which made up the dragon's body and tail being a shrimp tempura roll and a spicy tuna roll, both topped with avocado slices. The dish also came with small rice balls topped with thinly-sliced salmon and on a separate plate, the mother of all rice balls with tuna tartare in the center. All of that was $28 and was enough to feed 2 hungry people, maybe even 3!

Watch as white smoke puffs out of your Ninja Special Roll for at least 5 minutes:

The Ninja Special Roll consisted of 5 types of fish, avocado, cucumber and scallions wrapped with rice and rice paper. You get 8 huge pieces which again could feed 2 people. The fish was fresh so this was my favorite dish of the night for taste even if it wasn't as fun as the other two in presentation.

Watch as a ninja-star is transformed into your Chocolate Mousse Cake! I don't have a photo of this since it was devoured as quickly as it was transformed. It was $10 and rather sensational - a thin base of chocolate cake is topped with a light chocolate mousse and the whole thing was enrobed in a thin layer of chocolate ganache. Forget about the chocolate sorbet - 3 tiny scoops of runny sorbet melt before you for $9.

Overall it was a fun experience and a good place to go if you've never been before, enjoy novelty places and/or have visitors in town. The more you drink, the more you will enjoy this place. The sake flights $30 for 5 or $15 for 3 are good value but once is enough...really.