13 courses, 60 minutes, $75

RESTAURANTS • FOUND Restaurant

In a city filled with omakase meals that set one back the equivalent of a monthly car payment, operator Linda Wang of Ume Hospitality Group has gone in a different direction with a series of casual sushi counters, the crown jewel of which is two-year-old, 16-seat Thirteen Water on East 7th St., half a block from Tompkins Square Park. There, a 13-course meal — including ossetra caviar, Hokkaido uni, and A5 wagyu — runs $75 a head. The catch? Seatings last only 60 minutes. 

Head chef Aaron Liu (formerly of Water Mill’s Sushi Zuki) is known for creative nigiri like hamachi with citrusy julienned shishito peppers and lean tuna crowned with shiitake and black truffles. There’s also more than enough Instagram fodder, like milk bread layered with minced toro and a mountain of uni (above), plus wagyu nigiri capped with foie gras, blowtorched until the two rich proteins become one. When in season, Hokkaido hairy crab nigiri makes an appearance too. Each meal concludes with a toro and daikon hand roll. 

With five 60-minute seatings per night starting at 5 p.m., there’s an energy here that’s not usually found at more traditional omakase restaurants. But it’s the unbeatable price-to-quality ratio that has inspired a fleet of regulars. Join them. –Kat Odell

→ Thirteen Water (East Village), 208 E. 7th St., Resy