One of the tricks to being a broke college student in Manhattan is finding BYOB restaurants. If you’re in the mood for sushi and drinks with friends, Akina Sushi on 14 Street is an option.
There isn’t a corkage fee, but each person does have to spend $18. You also cannot bring liquor – they only allow wine and beer.
In order to meet the $18 minimum requirement, I ordered an appetizer for my sushi. I chose yasai gyoza., which are the steamed vegetable dumplings. These dumplings had a green exterior and came with edamame on the inside, two things I am not used to. They were interesting but definitely good, especially when you dipped them in the sauce the came with.
I ordered the volcano roll – crab, smoked salmon and avocado topped with spicy mayo, octopus and masago – as my sushi roll. This roll had quite a lot going on with it. I was worried it but be too many flavors but they all meshed well. The spicy mayo was very prevalent and it left my mouth feeling pretty hot, and I can handle a lot of spice. Although my meal from Akina Sushi isn’t what I considered high quality sushi, I enjoyed it as a cheap BYOB dinner option.
Address: 424 E 14th St #2, New York, NY 10009
Phone number: 212-388-1127
Price: $$ Fairly Cheap.
Hours: Mon-Thur 11:30 AM-11 PM; Fri-Sat 11:30 AM-11:30 PM; Sun 12 PM-11 PM
Service: Decent
Atmosphere: Small, clean, modern and sleek.
