Visited this sake bar to grab a drink and catch up with friends on a Saturday night and boy was it busy. We had to wait to be seated but once we were brought to the back we were impressed by the atmosphere (and the volume). It was dimly lit, intimate, a little grungy, and VERY loud. The waitress was attentive given the amount of people in the place. The drinks were affordable, and I'd definitely return, just beware if you want to have a conversation you may leave hoarse. read more

Super dope interior vibe and ambiance. The sake bottle I got with my friend was pretty good. Would definitely come back here when I'm on the east side. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

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I loved the noisy, bustling atmosphere paired with the busy decor. I got the lychee martini which tasted mostly just like sake. I would recommend this place for an affordable drink and fun atmosphere. Just know they don't play much music! read more

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This sake speakeasy bar is a nice casual spot for some good sake near St. Marks. The interior is dimly lit, casual, and reminiscent of izakayas in Japan. I got a bottle of sake, some takowasa, and their sake (red bean) manju. The sake was pretty solid, and I think that overall they have a good variety and selection of sake. And, both the takowasa and sake manju was alright and good to enjoy as we drank the sake. Vibes in here were good and relaxed. read more

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Chaotic and cramped. The sake wasn't too bad though and the drinks are pretty cheap. It's a loud fun environment. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

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Cute vibes, cheap prices, on service, eh drinks. Shochu wasn't cold and was eh. Highball wasn't good. Takoyaki was ok. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Vibes - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

Hidden away downstairs is a grungy looking bar when you first enter, it's like a messy hard rock looking interior. Then you're led further into the actual bar space which is a dark but pleasant dimly lit space. There are specific Japanese touches like the woodwork around us that made the ambiance very delightful to be in. Drinks menu was fairly good and tasted very nice. Great to be with some friends to laugh, chatter, and play games. Restrooms are located near the outer space and a bit small so be mindful when using them. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Decor - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

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Great sake selection and super fun vibe (if you're like me and enjoy the hole in the wall places). However, food is horrendous. The food. Portions are tiny and ingredients at best are low grade. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the food was previously frozen then cooked! The okonomiyaki was almost all batter and karaage chicken might as well be made with fake chicken grounded or blended and shaped into fake chicken nugget looking balls. Dont come here hungry. Come for the ambiance and sake or cocktails! read more

Divey bar. Sake was good. Takoyaki was terrible, very mushy in texture. It seems most of the food comes from frozen prepackaged containers and they just microwave or air fried it. read more

Decibel is a speakeasy-styled Sake bar with wide sake range, great vibes, and tasty small bites. We ordered the sake flight (blue bottle, yoshinosugi, and red maple). I'm no sake connoisseur but the blue bottle was just a tasteless clear spirit. The third was fine but the yoshinosugi was delicious, offering an intense, broad spike at the end of the sake tasting spectrum. We also ordered the umeshu soda which was great -- strongly recommend. I wish I also tried the sake tini! We eventually got hungry and the okonomiyaki slapped soooo hard (a savory pancake of fried cabbage; "pancake" does not do the medium service, and the consumption experience is great). read more

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If you didn't know about this place, you'd easily pass by it without noticing. As you walk downstairs into the doors, it feels like an underground, hidden bar that you find in the alleys of Japan. The space is dark and dingy, but a fun spot for a small group of friends on a night out drinking. As a sake bar, they have a huge list of sake to choose from. We opted for a sweeter sake and got the Moromi sake in a 16oz mini pitcher ($42) to share amongst 5 of us. The little metal pitcher was a bit difficult to pour out of though, but this was good for just some light drinking. I'd recommend just getting an entire bottle for a fun time. Also got an order of the Fried Purple Potato ($9), which was such a tiny dish. The fries were limpy, so not the best drinking snack. Overall, chill spot to hang out with a group when in the neighborhood. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Moromi 16oz. - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

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A perfect place. We sat at the bar and got a lychee martini and something sake cocktail. The lychee was between and savory and sweet but very light. It's indescribable. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Luc - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

Very cool underground sushi bar. Tables are close together and it's super loud but worth the wait to get in.

Come for the vibes & drinks skip the food. We loved this spot! You are absolutely transported to an underground Japanese bar somewhere in a back alley of Tokyo. The only miss was their food, it is simply not good. Would recommend, but yea microwaves and toaster ovens (saw them in the open kitchen) making frozen Japanese delights. Nope read more

4.5 stars, rounding to 5. Absolutely love the vibes here! I recently visited Japan and Sake Bar Decibel truly reminds me of the back alley izakayas there. The interior is charmingly cluttered with Japanese lanterns and lots of scribblings on the wall. Since it's a small space, you might need to wait a while if you have a large party. Groups of 2-4 are the sweet spot. It's also super loud and dark (adds to the dive-y izakaya vibe). They offer a variety of delicious sakes. There's something for everyone, from sweet to dry. If you're not looking for traditional sake, they also offer pitchers of lychee martinis (super easy to drink). read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

Dark, dingy, and a bit grimy - perfect izakaya vibe. Food was definitely fresh, and service speedy. Go-to spot for a chill night. read more

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Super cool place with crazy cool dingy basement vibe. The place has a bit of mystery to it and it got me instantly excited. The seating is a bit cramped specially if you go in a smaller group. They have a great options for sake, needless to say. We tried nigori. The carafe is actually a small bucket which made it pretty unique though I did miss my ceramic ware. To be honest we just did drinks there so my review is limited to the vibe of the place and the drinks. Reason for 3 stars is coz I had concerns with the hygiene levels. The restroom was gross, it was an excruciating experience to use it. Since the place is so dark I got concerned with the general cleanliness. I know most people prefer overlooking this but since I am a germaphobe this really matters. However won't take away from it the spunk and wackiness it offers. Do visit it for a unique experience. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

Lychee Martini was much weaker than I thought. No effects at all and we all ended up ordering another drink. The Yuzu Soda was actually pretty good and I'm glad that the waiter recommended that to us. Takowasa is another favorite. My friends put me on it tonight and I have to say it has an interesting but addicting taste to it. Should def try if it's your first time. read more

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Very authentically Japanese. It's a small, dark and crowded little basement bar in the East Village, there is often a line but if you've been to Japan this whole vibe will feel incredibly familiar! It is very much on the louder side, so you'll have to shout to hear one another, but the atmosphere is great and they have a very extensive sake collection. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

This sake bar is a hidden gem and is located underground. You might miss it walking down the street. I went with a group of 4 on a Friday night around 9 pm and we were seated within 10 minutes. They have a huge selection of sake and the waitress was very informative. We went with a bottle of the Tengumai and it was smooth, earthy and had a pleasant nutty flavor. It was super easy to drink. The ambience is gritty and edgy with years of stickers and writing all over the walls. read more

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AMBIENCE | We loved this spot! It's a smaller bar in the basement of a building in East Village and has a grunge-y, dark, speakeasy vibe. The graffiti and stickers on the wall all seemed to be personalized, which added to the atmosphere of the spot. The music is pretty loud, so be warned if you aren't into that type of vibe for a bar! DRINKS | We just came for drinks, so I don't have much to say about the food. For the price, the drinks are really worth! Most of the drinks are really strong... My favourite was the plum wine. The drinks averaged around $10 each. SERVICE | There are a lot of servers and there doesn't seem to be a designated server for your party. We were served by a variety of different servers, but they were all nice and provided good service. VERDICT | Great place to pre or come to with a group of friends. read more

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Great place to take friends! It has a fantastic divey/speakeasy vibe and is always very busy and lively. It's a small basement space and can get pretty loud and warm, so it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. The sake selection is great and the staff is very friendly and helpful in finding you the perfect sake. You can usually expect to wait a while to get seated since groups tend to stay for a long time. read more

True Japanese Izakaya vibes! Dark, loud cavernous, with low hanging ceilings - this bar has an extensive sake menu with a few other cocktails, whiskey highball, and some apps and entrees (gyudon, udon, yakisoba, takoyaki, kaarage, and other small plates.) The tables are very close to each other so you will be hearing other people's conversations right on top of yours. The service is speedy and very nice - not sure if I'd come again because I'm not a big sake girl nor do I enjoy basically having a yelling conversation for a few hours. :) Would come again if there was a quieter time of the day! read more

Such a great spot in the east village! it's so easy to miss if you don't know it's there, but definitely a place you return to once you've been once. Came by for a quick happy hour after work, and the place was pretty empty when we got there around 6:30. Ordered a lychee martini ($8) and a glass of sake ($10) off the happy hour menu as well as some purple sweet potato fries and salmon sashimi. The drinks were amazing and the food, especially the purple sweet potatoes, were so delicious! As the night got later, the bar got packed and became much louder, although it still had a sort of intimate vibe. Definitely seems like a great spot to share some drinks with friends or to have a date at. read more

Very loud, but has a lot of sake options! I had the lychee martini which was very good. Would not recommend if you want to talk, but the vibe is fun. Not a lot of space to sit, and they have an interesting waiting area. read more

I actually enjoyed the sake here and I'm not usually a sake person! Walked in here around 11pm on a Saturday night and only waited about 10 min for our party of 6. It's very cramped so don't expect to have a lot of room and it was really crowded but at the same time cozy. If you have ever been to bars in Japan, this bar will give you a familiar vibe. Good service, no frill kinda dive bar. No complaints - would love to return soon! read more

Most other spots along St Mark's were already closed. I stumbled upon Decibel by surprise. Upon entering i was greeted by the aroma of Kewpie. And Suddenly found myself in an alternate dining room... This is definitely the place you come to for Drinks. The food menu was definitely built around that. I ordered the Kara Age which reminded me more of a Chicharron de Pollo sin Hueso. Which in hindsight would have kicked ass with a side of Plain Curry. My budget was two beers. But the Sake list, extensive. Enticing. I never been to Japan. But couldn't help but to admire the decoration of Japanese things and stickers all over the place. At the very least, it was a nice place to just finally sit down for a few and rest my feet after a long day. Especially considering the hour (already past midnight). Upon exiting, the sign behind the metal staircase brought me back into reality. It was as if i had teleported into another dimension for a moment. And it was awesome. read more

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Fun place. Glad we waked in. Super friendly bartenders and the atmosphere is really interesting.

We were always curious about what is the queue for whenever we passed this place. So we decided to get closer to the door to find out that it was a Sake bar. Since we hate queuing, we made a reservation one Saturday night for dinner. The guy at the entrance will only let you in at your alotted time. We were also told that the maximum stay is an hour and a half. After we checked in we followed the guy to the narrow staircase leading to the basement. It was very dark and the tables are so close to each other, devoid of any private conversations whatsoever. All the dishes and drinks came in disposable containers. We started with Sake Tini and Lychee Martini, we prefer the lychee flavor but we decided to stick with a noncocktail Sake to accompany the food. We then ordered the following dishes to share: 1. Takowasa; raw octopus with wasabi sauce 2. Kurobuta sausage 3. Wasabi Shumai; we found it a bit spicy for our liking 4. Takoyaki; octopus balls 5. Karaage; fried chicken with spicy mayo 6. Meguro no tataki; seared bluefin tuna loin All the dishes came in a timely fashion, we just had to wave to our server to order something. few dishes stood out like the Karaage and seared tuna. I did however have some concerns over the safety here and the place is way too dark to enjoy a meal. read more

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My favorite sake bar in the city for all over a decade! The small bites are appreciated. The vibe has always been the #1 thing for me. Like you've stumbled into a secret cave. read more

Loved the ambiance! The staff was welcoming and proactive in attending us. The lychee martini pitcher was very yummy

New to New York, but Decibel is a cozy bar that makes you feel right at home! Ambiance: Cozy underground bar with dim lights. Very Japanese hole-in-the-wall vibes. The bar was pretty crowded, but we could hear each other fine enough to have conversation over some great food and drinks. Drinks: We had a the Lychee cocktail pitcher and the Kiminoi Brewery - 'Emperor's Well' Yamahai Junmai Sake (720ml). Both were great. The Lychee cocktail comes with a cup full of fresh lychee as well! Food: Too many small dishes to name, but the wasabi shumai was memorable. Tasty and the wasabi HITS. Our friend who never had wasabi said it was just at the top of his tolerance. Any more and he said it would have been way too overpowering. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Lychee Cocktail poured into a cup. The cocktail comes in a 750ml bottle. Fresh lychees included - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

Maybe I'd appreciate this place more if I were a sake buff, but I'm more of a cocktail person, so to me, this place is just another underground dive bar, though a tad more interesting as it's a Japanese dive bar. The place isn't too big, with a couple of tables and 5-6 bar seats. Look for the "ON AIR" red neon sign and go downstairs. Also the actual bar is behind the bar you see right as you enter, which is super small and got us confused for a sec, but someone will check if there's space and lead you inside. The graffiti all over the walls were interesting though! Good place to exchange stories and mellow out. read more

Nice speakeasy for sake, they have a very extensive sake menu to choose from (hot and cold). I like the speakeasy vibe. The bar can get very crowded during busy hours, so I recommend making a reservation, otherwise if you do get in they will cap you with a 1 hour time limit. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Entrance - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

Rude and pushy waiters, not just one waiter but multiple. The first time I came here I loved the vibe and food, but the second time I did not appreciate the service. This place is a highly popular place but no matter what your service should not be compromised because of popularity. read more

Great food and awesome sake. Great hidden spot in the East Village. Great place to chill with friends.

Love this spot.. moody and grunge vibe. All the snacks we got were super tasty and came out piping hot. Veggie dumplings were my favorite. I would order sake bottles over mixed drinks... but everything is so reasonably priced you can try it all! Staff can be a little hard to wave down but very efficient and helpful once you finally get their attention. read more

Sake Bar Decibel - Yuzu Soda - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

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Imagine yourself in a dark and dim bar low beneath the streets. The symbols and joys of Japanese drinking culture are all around you right in the middle of the East Village. A hip bartender strolls up in streetwear seemingly aloof, maybe even a little rude. He answers your questions almost as if he's talking to a 16-year-old with a fake ID. You're not stupid, you're just a little more clueless than he is. But this is actually appealing. He takes your order, and keeps taking it until you're done, choosing not to interrupt or bother with you until you need him because he's more interested in his bro's story about the model last night and wondering if he has enough tattoos (honestly I'm not really sure what our hype beast hipster help got up to, but it's really not important). You see, some people would hate this, but the anonymity and indifference of this bar is a little bit liberating. Hold your conversation as you see fit, and don't worry about anybody overhearing you (the music itself is loud enough alone, if not the conversations around you as well) because nobody cares enough anyways. Hot or cold, come get your sake and condescension, enjoy the freedom of a place where nobody really cares about you, and disappear into the background. Disclaimer: they will do this weird thing where they tell you to leave because they've got a reservation and need your table even though there's other tables available; but what else did you expect from a place where you don't really matter? Enjoy the sake! read more

I feel like knowing Decibel exists makes you like a pro bar hopper in NYC. This non-descript hole in the wall, grungy sake joint is located nearby Cha-an and Sakagura, and the only sign that tells you that there's a sake bar is a dimly lit "on air" light since this is a basement joint. The actual store front is quite small, with a small bar with four seats, but behind the faux-velvet rope tucked away is a much bigger bar with far more tables and seats. It's a bit hard to find Decibel, but its sure is fun to be able to introduce your friends or a date to such a hidden gem. Think hidden bar, dive bar, and speakeasy vibes meshed into one joint. The vibe here is infectious - its an underground, hole-in-the-wall gem with lots of Japanese memorabilia, old sake bottles, a cat-good-fortune-statue, and of course graffiti plastered all over the walls. This place is packed though so be prepared to be rubbing shoulders to your stranger neighbor who's sitting at the bar next to you. There's a massive selection of sakes, going from your basic 8 dollar a glass to upwards of a couple hundred for a whole bottle. I think there might be at least 100 different types of sakes served here, all divided in their menu based upon their different filter level and styles. For most sakes, you can choose either going for a glass, costing about $8-15 each, or go for a bottle which can go as low as $30 to as high as $100 depending on the specific bottle and volume. Server was more than happy to walk us through the various options, because looking at their sake menu it was incredibly overwhelming. I'm not the biggest sake aficionado, but we ordered the Dewazakura at 300mL, which was about ~$30 a bottle and was fantastic for my table. Great bottle of sake, with hints of lush, cherry flavor and was really aromatic and smooth. It came chilled so that really made it much smoother. Service was a tad bit slower here, but you never want to rush a sake bar experience, especially something as secretive, intriguing, and sexy like that of Decibel. Fantastic spot to bring a few friends, or impress someone on your knowledge of the bar scene in NYC. Great drinks and vibes, and highly recommend everyone to come check it out. read more

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Oh gosh, I was so drunk by the time I walked out of Sake Bar Decibel. My friend recommended this place, and we tried getting a table on a whim, knowing how busy it usually is. It worked! Typically you need a reservation to get in. Miraculously they had a spot for three people exactly, downstairs in the dark and dingy basement. It was hard to see what was going on. We could only see anything by the light of our phones. Thankfully the menu was all electronic. We got a pitcher of Lychee Martini ($30) to start, then a bottle of sake. SO GOOD. I should have just stayed on the Lychee Martini train to milk the fact that they were making it in-house. To balance out the alcohol, we ordered the takoyaki, karaage, and shumai. Yummy! The food and service weren't particularly memorable, but we had a good experience overall. Come here by yourself or with a small group of friends. Satisfy your sake (or lychee) craving. And for good Japanese food since NYC has a lot of it. read more