Ninjas in New York

When my friends told me that we were going out for Japanese food in Manhattan, I was not expecting to be running down a dark, creepy tunnel as ninjas jumped out at me. If this is how NYC does Japanese, I am going to have to become a lot braver before I want sushi again.

Ninja New York, in Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood, is a one of a kind experience. While the menu contains the usual Japanese cuisine one expects, this restaurant is anything but ordinary. Waiters dressed as ninjas not only serve the food, but make sure to scare you from the moment you step out of the elevator. Jumping out from dark corners, yelling at you through windows, and pretending to throw fake water balloons at their costumers is all in the ninja job description.

I took five of my friends with me to Ninja and together we braved the "dark and scary" section of the restaurant. This meant that from the moment we were greeted by the hostess to finally setting down our chopsticks, ninjas made sure to keep us on the edge of our seats. While at first we were all screaming anytime one of the ninjas jumped out, by the end we were laughing and practicing our ninja moves with help from our waiter.

Ninja New York was a Friday night completely out of the ordinary. As we laughed about our experience on the 1 train back to Lincoln Center, we all agreed that only in a place like New York City would sushi and ninjas make a successful restaurant combination.