I Do Love Myself a Cheap BYOB Sushi Restaurant

I was meeting up with a few friends on a Friday night, and instead of the typical bar scene, we wanted to do a simpler dinner and drinks. Always on the hunt for a good deal, we decided to try Cherin Sushi, a BYOB sushi place in the East Village.

Although the restaurant is really small, it actually takes reservations, even for parties of four – a true rarity in Manhattan. You could quickly tell that this was a hot spot for young (aka poor) ladies, such as ourselves. It was filled with groups of girls dressed up to essentially pregame while grabbing a cheap and hopefully not too filling meal before a good night out.

Photo from Yelp

Once seated, our waiter graciously opened up our bottles of wine without a corkage fee. As we looked at the menu, we each started commenting on the prices – this place was unreal. I don’t think there was a single roll (chef’s specialty included) on the menu that cost more than $8. And luckily the food wasn’t half bad either. It wasn’t memorable (like the arguably overpriced, but outstandingly delicious Sushi Sen-nin), but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the cafeteria-style sushi served at Haru Sushi. It was good, it was cheap and I was happy.

After appetizers, and about two rolls a piece, we walked out of there spending between $15-20 each, with tax and tip. And even if you didn’t bring your own wine/beer, you could have ordered drinks for a very low and reasonable price. This is definitely a place that I’ll revisit again, and hopefully sometime soon.