Our latest trip was to Bamboo 52, right in the heart of Hell's Kitchen in NYC. This place is definitely city chic, and is a sushi lounge. They have a live DJ spinning trendy pop music, televisions and blinking art pieces adorn the walls, lounge styled booths fill the place and over the sushi bar proudly hangs a disco ball. There is a large room in the back with booths (they are a little on the low side) but the outdoor patio is where it was it. It was a lovely evening so that is where we parked it and then we were in the hands of Jim, the very pleasant and super nice manager.

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  Frozen Bamboo 52 Swirl
  
  We started by letting Jim pick two drinks for us. I had the Frozen Bamboo 52 Swirl. It was a combination of a lychee cosmopolitan and a frozen margarita. Lychee is a tropical fruit, native to China and has a similar consistency to a grape but is sweeter in taste. The sweet lychee and tart, salty margarita make for a good blend. Warning though, their drinks are strong and definitely made with a heavy hand.
  
  Bamboo 52 Swirl on left. Ginger Mojito on right.

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  B52 Ginger Mojito Michael had the B52 Ginger Mojito. It was equally as strong as the Frozen Bamboo 52 Swirl and very tasty. It was the perfect blend of mint and sweetness and the ginger gave it a slight fizz.
  
  Bamboo 52 Swirl on left. Ginger Mojito on right.

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  Tuna Sashimi and Mango After a few sips it was time to dig in, as our appetizers were brought over. These dishes are not found on their menu and were created by our talented chef James. They definitely worth inquiring about though, as all were delicious.
  
  The first was a dish of Tuna Sashimi and Mango. It was a mix of green seaweed with chopped jalapeno and mango inside. The mixture was then wrapped by thin slices of tuna sashimi. The plate had a light cream sauce all around, as well. The dish was served to us with a lit flame in the middle, very cool. The tuna was fresh and the seaweed was light and crunchy. You could taste little bursts of sweet mango and spicy jalapeno with each bite. Very enjoyable. (4)

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  Up close and personal.

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  And one more.

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  Spicy Yuzu Tuna Next we had a dish of Spicy Yuzu Tuna. In a large spoon were slices of tuna tartar, served on top of sliced mango and cucumber and garnished with tobiko. The dish was filled with a light and sweet yuzu sauce. Yuzu is a citrus fruit with a slightly tart flavor. Yuzu sauces are typically made by sweetening the Asian fruit with honey. The flavors worked well together and it was a light, tasty, slightly sweet dish. (3.5)

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  Creamy Scallops Lastly was our favorite appetizer, Creamy Scallops. The dish was baked thickly cut scallops in a light cream sauce on top of large pieces of kani and a bed of cucumber sticks. The entire dish had a light drizzling of eel sauce. It was warm and luscious. The warm scallop and crabs played very well with each other and the scallops were perfectly cooked. The dish was a little hard to pick up all together but we somehow found a way and it was quickly finished. (4.5)

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  Another angle.

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  The Boat Then it was time for our great sushi and sashimi boat. This is how Bamboo 52 serves their dishes and every table had their own boat full of yummy fish. The boats are large, with leafs sails topped with cherries and blinking shot glasses.

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  Tuna Sashimi Salmon Sashimi Yellowtail Sashimi White Tuna Sashimi First there was the sashimi - tuna, salmon, yellowtail and white tuna. The tuna was little fishy but soft. The salmon fared better than the tuna. The yellowtail was soft with a strong flavor. The white tuna was the best, with its soft, butter like texture and rich taste.

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  Lovely Roll The first roll we tried was the Lovely Roll. It had tempura Chilean Sea Bass inside and was topped with slices of avocado and a garlic sauce. In general, Chilean Sea Bass has a very soft texture and light flavor that lets it take on whatever ingredients it is cooked in. In this case, it was the garlic. At first bite, the garlic and crunch of the roll bursts in your mouth. We love garlic, so this roll was a major hit for us.

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  Lobster Tango Roll We also had the Lobster Tango Roll. This roll is lobster tempura and mango inside with eel and avocado slices on the top. The roll is a little on the chewy side and could use some more mango to give it a little more flavor. The eel was good and well cooked. Overall it is tasty though

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  Fantasy Roll
  
  The Fantasy Roll was first. It has shrimp tempura and banana inside with spicy tuna on top. The roll was a little bland and not as flavorful as we hoped. The banana was good, but got overpowered by the shrimp tempura.
  
  At this point, we moved inside since the patio area closes at a certain hour, Bamboo52 is a good neighbor. We don't mind the move and we have been there a while. However, if you want to avoid this check the hours of the patio before you settle in. Inside has filled up and is buzzing. We order round two of sushi and a second sushi boat docks on our table.

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  Sushi Sandwich Next was the Spicy Sushi Sandwich. We have never had this before and we're excited once we heard what it was. The roll has spicy tuna, avocado, spicy mayo, eel and American cheese inside. The roll, if you can call it that, is served as four sandwich wedges with the rice on the outside acting like the bread. The rice is spread on nori, ingredients are added on top and then another rice spread nori sheet is layered on. There is no actual rolling involved.
  
  The sandwich is thick and full of ingredients. It was spicy from the tuna, yet sweet from the eel. It had a soft texture with the avocado and cheese. I've never had sliced cheese in sushi and you can definitely taste it. You get the perfect mix of all the ingredients with each bite. This is a very creative dish and stands out above anything, a must order. (5)

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  Cajun Tuna The Cajun Tuna was next. It had spicy tuna and avocado inside, with Cajun seared peppered tuna on top. The roll was light and spicy, but not overwhelming. The Cajun seared tuna is incredibly tasty.

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  American Roll Finishing off the boat was the American Roll. It was spicy lobster, yellowtail and jalapeno inside. Outside were seared scallops, tobiko and a honey wasabi sauce. The spice of this roll stands out, even more so than the Cajun Tuna, with the jalapeno. The jalapeno masks some of the individual ingredients, but the roll is still good. If you like spicy, you'll enjoy this.

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  Custom Roll - Lobster Salad Inside with Eel, Mango and Sriracha We have them make a roll with lobster salad inside and mango and eel outside, with sriracha sauce. The roll had what appeared to be more of a lobster tempura inside, as it was very crunchy. It was similar to the Lobster Tango Roll, which tasted better.

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  Toro Sashimi We capped off the night with Toro Sashimi. It was thin, fatty, oily and had thick muscles. It tasted good, but seemed like chutoro.