8 Must-Eat Uni Dishes in NYC
Brat summer has taught us embracing your wild side is in- and no food embodies luxury outside of the conventional comfort zone like uni. The gonads of sea urchin probably wasn’t an ingredient in your rotation of family dinners growing up, but its attractive orange hue, subtly sweet and salty taste, buttery texture and aphrodisiac qualities have made it an irresistible delicacy that’s showing up on more and more menus citywide. From oysters to omakase, here are 8 uni dishes you must eat in New York City.
This article is just a small taste of the 8it-Worthy uni dishes. Hit the green button at the bottom of this article to explore more uni on the 8it app.
Oyster and Uni
53 // Midtown
📸: @53nyc
This dish packs a coral reef of flavor into the half-shell. But not only is it a harmonious marriage of seafood flavor tied together by yuzu-ponzu gel; it’s a compound of aphrodisiacs. We’re all familiar with the potency of oysters, but trout roe and uni bring this to a gastronomical viagra-level of intensity. Certainly a steamy conversation starter on your next date.
This dish is recommended by: Reece 8it
Egg & Uni
Atoboy // Kip’s Bay
📸: @atoboynyc
A natural combination of reproductive properties and offspring, the egg and uni at Atoboy kicks off their pre-fixe menu with a bang. It’s custardy and creamy with some of the bigger lumps of uni you can find in the city, and the flavor is as generous as the portion. Gim, a Korean dried seaweed, brings a formidable umami to this dish that complements the uni perfectly.
This dish is recommended by: LA LA
“If Pasta Fredda was Eaten in Amalfi”
Massara // Greenwich Village
📸: @nycfoodfomo
Tell your friends uni has infiltrated the pasta game, and it’s here to stay. This souped up pasta salad is a cold noodle remix on spaghetti pomodoro. Laced with pungent dried basil and oregano, and dotted with uni and raw shrimp, this dish is a summer palette’s dream. Uni seamlessly penetrates the tart, bright, cold pomodoro sauce with funk and umami that jolts the senses with intrigue in every bite.
This dish is recommended by: Eater
Uni Scrambled Eggs
Casa Mono // Gramercy
📸: @casamonobarjamon
Another combination of uni and a soft scramble, this dish embodies an entirely different flavor profile than the egg & uni at Atoboy. First, this is as pillowy and light as a scramble can get, practically a delicacy on its own. However, that fluffy texture and buttery taste that’s further magnified by uni, tessellates beautifully with the nuttiness of walnuts. Anchovy oil gives it funk, which amplifies the sweet taste of the sea that’s present in the uni.
This dish is recommended by: Reece 8it
A5 Wagyu Uni
Sushi Kai // East Village
📸: @steve8it
When top-quality ingredients form a flavorful alliance, we can’t help but salivate in awe. Like a Philly cheesesteak, reinvented by genius billionaires, the A5 Wagyu Uni sushi at Sushi Kai replaces shaved steak and cheese whiz with some of the marbliest, melt-on-the-tongue beef that money can buy. Plus smooth, creamy uni that will make you wonder why any steak was ever paired with a dairy product.
This dish is recommended by: 8it NY
Bone Marrow Bread Pudding
Noreetuh // East Village
📸: @woofwineandtravel
Cool, buttery lumps of uni somehow stand up to the deep, unctuous, meaty flavor of bone marrow on this intriguing dish. The atypical combination of ingredients only enhances feelings of luxury and adventurousness. The toast, fully saturated with bone marrow spread feels rich and heavy at first then subsides into a light, delicate, whimsical, sweet and salty aftertaste of uni.
This dish is recommended by: Reece 8it
Dolsot Al-Bap
AriAri // East Village
📸: @nat.eats.nyc
Probably the most bad-ass rice bowl that has ever existed, the Dolsot Al-Bap at Ariari arrives to you in a hot stone with a beautiful crown of sea urchin cream. After you take pictures, the cream sinks into the rice mixture with shellfish paste and flying fish roe like molten lava. Empowered by the rich flavors of the sea, capsules of roe pop pleasantly with each decadent bite.
This dish is recommended by: The Infatuation
Sea Urchin Bibimbap
Jungsik // Tribeca
📸: @jungsik_nyc
While uni is a complimentary component in many of the dishes previously mentioned, it’s the main event in Jungsik’s bibimbap, a supplement to their tasting menu. The two-star Michelin boasts a whopping portion of top quality vibrant orange lumps that roll off the tongue and melt faster than tempered butter with every bite of this Maybach of rice bowls. If you want to feast on the glories of uni more than anything, this is the place to do it.
This dish is recommended by: Eater
This is just a taste of 8 must-eat uni dishes around NYC, but there’s a lot more to dig into in the UNI category on the 8it app. Hit the green button below to explore all the closest top recommended uni dishes near you.
