Sushi by Sea: A Secret Worth Sharing, a Seat Worth Getting

Sushi by Sea Review: Sushi by Sea in Ridgefield, New Jersey, gave me the kind of dinner where I kept thinking the next bite could not possibly be better. Then it was. The fish was high quality throughout, and the eel belongs among the best I have ever eaten. By the end of the evening, my wife also had an invitation to feijoada.

That is a pretty good Saturday night.

We visited on October 17, 2026. Dinner was $225 per person, and we brought Dassai sake. We are already planning to go back with my sister. There is plenty to explain between those facts, including a connection to Maido in Lima and a conversation in Portuguese that continued throughout the night.

A Private Omakase Counter in Ridgefield

Sushi by Sea is a speakeasy-style omakase experience in Ridgefield, New Jersey, built around a 12-seat chef’s counter. Reservations are invitation- or referral-based, and I had to reach out to arrange ours. The address and a secret password are shared before your visit, which adds to the feeling that you’re being let in on something. Dinner lasts roughly two hours, with the chef working directly across from you. You can find more about the experience on the official Sushi by Sea website.

The format gives the people across the counter an important part in the evening. You are spending time with the chef while the meal unfolds. In our case, that brought together excellent fish and a conversation that connected New Jersey to São Paulo and Lima.

The restaurant grew out of pandemic-era pop-ups. Boozy Burbs reported its permanent opening in October 2022, describing an approach built around the chef’s Korean, Brazilian and Japanese experiences and the owner’s South African hospitality. That background makes the mix of influences easier to understand. The personal connection we found at the counter gave it meaning beyond a description on a website.

High Quality Fish From One Bite to the Next

Every bite seemed better than the one before it. That was my reaction throughout dinner. The fish was excellent, but so much of what made the meal memorable came down to how Chef C handled it. Dry-aging is part of his approach, along with curing, smoking, searing and carefully chosen accompaniments. The preparations gave each course its own character while keeping the fish at the center of the experience.

The cuts were generous, too, noticeably larger than the fish on an average piece of nigiri. I appreciated that. You had enough of each fish to really enjoy its texture and flavor, with the rice and accompaniments bringing it all together.

We began with an oyster with chive parsley oil and yuzu soy. It was a great opening bite. My only complaint? There was only one. I could happily have eaten a few more before moving on to the fluke with shiso and Himalayan salt.

The akami came with salted, cured orange peel washed in vodka. Madai followed with garlic-scallion soy, then hamachi with yuzu marmalade. The accompaniments changed from one fish to the next, giving me something different to pay attention to with every course.

Then came the seared miso salmon smoked in Japanese applewood. I don’t even like salmon, and this was the best salmon sushi I’ve ever had. That deserves some emphasis. A fish I generally wouldn’t choose became one of the highlights of the evening. It’s the kind of course that makes you reconsider what you think you don’t like.

Japanese mackerel with savory kimchi chili sauce followed, then Hokkaido scallop with lava salt and lime. The mini ikura bento box came next, followed by chutoro with caviar and black miso cod with foam. By this point, I kept wondering what would arrive next and whether it could live up to the last bite.

The uni milk bread with truffle gave my wife her own surprise. She doesn’t normally like uni, so after taking a bite, she went to hand it over to me. I asked, “Are you sure?” She quickly took it back. “No, I like this one,” she said, and ate it herself. So much for my extra bite. Between her keeping the uni and me loving the salmon, Chef C had won us both over with ingredients we usually wouldn’t choose.

Otoro is my favorite sushi, so I was especially looking forward to that course. Chef C finished it with charcoal, and watching him work added to the anticipation. This is part of why I love sitting at a counter: you get to see the attention behind the bite you’re about to eat.

Then came the slow-baked eel with cacao and matcha lime. It was amazing. There was none of the fishy taste I sometimes associate with eel. The flavor was clean, and the preparation let me enjoy everything I love about it. I can’t isolate which technique made the difference, but I could absolutely taste the result.

It belongs among the best eel I’ve ever had. The other meal that comes to mind is Maido in Lima, where I had eel with tuna belly. That’s the company this course is keeping in my memory.

What stayed with me was how much thought went into each preparation. The generous cuts, the different techniques and the accompaniments all contributed to the meal. I wasn’t just enjoying my favorite fish. I was enjoying fish I usually wouldn’t order, and my wife was doing the same. That says more about the dinner than a list of expensive ingredients ever could.

The Work Behind the Counter

There is useful context behind that impression of quality. In a May 2025 interview with New Jersey Digest, co-owner Jay Powles discussed sourcing fish directly from Japan and dry-aging fish in-house. That interview offers background on the kitchen’s approach.

Sushi by Sea also gives rice a central place in its own explanation of the food. On its website, the restaurant identifies rice as fundamental to what it does. It is an important reminder when so much attention naturally goes to the fish.

Eel That Brought Maido to Mind

The slow-baked eel with cacao and matcha lime deserves its own section. It was among the best I have ever had, with the other immediate comparison being the eel I ate with tuna belly at Maido in Lima.

I could go back and forth over which one takes first place. Putting Sushi by Sea in that company is already a serious compliment. The Maido dish remains one of those bites I can use as a point of comparison long after the trip is over.

There was another connection. While we were sitting at the counter, Chef C told us he had worked at Maido in Lima for about six months. Hearing that gave us something very specific to talk about beyond the food directly in front of us.

It also made the comparison more interesting. I am describing two eel dishes that impressed me enormously, with a chef connecting the restaurants through his own experience. I do not need to settle the ranking to know that Sushi by Sea’s eel is going to stay in my memory.

Chef C and a São Paulo Connection

Chef C is from São Paulo. The restaurant identifies Chef Cris as its head chef and co-owner. The 2022 opening report also lists experience at Masa, Neta, Shuko, Sushi Agari and Torien. Those names provide some context for the experience he brings to the counter. The Maido detail came directly from our conversation with him, which made it particularly interesting given my own meal there.

For us, his São Paulo connection became especially personal because he spoke Portuguese with my wife throughout the night. The conversation continued as we ate, and it became one of the things I remembered most clearly afterward.

São Paulo is a city I return to often. It is also home to Evvai, my favorite restaurant in the world. Finding that connection during an omakase dinner in New Jersey brought a familiar part of our lives into the evening.

Chef C even invited my wife to feijoada, a Brazilian stew, and we plan to go. That is a wonderful detail to come away with after dinner. We went to eat sushi and ended up talking about another meal altogether. Their motto is “Arrive as strangers, leave as friends.” After that invitation, it made perfect sense to me.

It is the kind of interaction that makes the chef’s counter feel like the right place for this meal. We had time to talk while enjoying the food. The Portuguese conversation and the feijoada invitation are details I will remember when thinking about the evening.

BYOB With Three Bottles of Dassai

Sushi by Sea is BYOB, and I brought three different bottles for our dinner: Dassai Blue Type 23, Dassai Blue Type 50 Nama and Dassai Blue Type 50 Nigori. One bottle of each.

That’s one of the things I appreciate about BYOB. You can bring the sake, wine or beer you want to drink instead of choosing only from a restaurant’s selection. You have more control over both the bottles and what you spend on them.

Living close to Dassai Blue has taught me a lot about sake, and I’ve become more confident choosing it to accompany sushi. I’m still learning, but that’s part of the enjoyment. Thinking about what to drink adds another layer to planning a meal like this.

Before you go, spend a little time researching wine or sake pairings for sushi. Think about the range of flavors you might encounter throughout an omakase, and ask questions when choosing your bottles. You don’t need to become an expert to put some thought into what you bring.

For our evening, the $225 per-person dinner price and the bottles were separate expenses. BYOB gave me the freedom to make those choices myself, and I liked being able to bring something I’d taken an interest in learning about.

Ice Cream Without the Photograph

I didn’t get a picture of the ice cream, but it was great too. After so much good fish, dessert gave us one more reason to leave happy.

I also like that Sushi by Sea works with local bakeries, bakers and pastry chefs to showcase their desserts. It gives other people’s work a place in the experience and gives me another reason to be curious about what might arrive on a future visit.

Chef C told us his wife is a retired pastry chef, which made me wonder whether she has a hand in the desserts. I didn’t ask, so that’s a question for next time. What I can say is that the sweet finish deserved its place in the meal, even if I missed the photograph.

The Price and Planning Your Visit

Our dinner was $225 per person, before any additional charges. For current pricing and booking terms, check directly with Sushi by Sea.

If you’re planning a weekend dinner, Friday and Saturday offer two seatings: 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM. Wednesday and Thursday have a 7:30 PM seating, while Sunday dinner starts at 6:00 PM. The restaurant is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Each experience lasts roughly two hours, so choose a time that lets you settle in and enjoy it.

Reservations open up to three weeks ahead. Let the restaurant know about dietary requests at least 72 hours before your seating, and read the cancellation terms carefully. Cancellations, changes or no-shows within 72 hours incur the full seating fee per guest plus processing fees. Check the official reservation information for the latest schedule and policies, and follow the arrival instructions in your confirmation.

At this price, returning is a considered choice. For me, the strongest answer is that we’re planning another dinner with my sister. I enjoyed the experience enough to want to share it with someone else.

My Take on Sushi by Sea

My only regret is that I didn’t make more of an effort to go two years ago, when I first heard about Sushi by Sea. After finally getting there, I know I waited too long.

I’ve been to about eight omakase experiences over the last three years, and this ranks at the top for me. It was worth every penny. The quality of the fish, the care behind each preparation and the people across the counter made it an evening I want to experience again.

Some of the connections made it even more memorable. An eel course in New Jersey brought back one of my favorite bites at Maido in Lima. A chef from São Paulo spent the evening speaking Portuguese with my wife. We left planning a return with my sister and looking forward to feijoada. That’s a lot to take home from one dinner.

Sushi by Sea is going into my regular restaurant rotation, and I’m going to make a point of returning when the menu changes. I want to see what Chef C does next and share the experience with my sister. I also missed the co-owner that evening, so there’s still a Formula 1 conversation to look forward to. Great sushi and some F1 talk would suit me very well.

For more meals from New Jersey and my travels, explore my Food & Drink reviews.

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