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Raw-fish aficionados use a variety of litmus tests to judge the quality of a sushi restaurant. How many types of toro are offered? Will the chef inform you if the sea urchin is not up to par? Is the wasabi fresh or from a tube? Add to that questionnaire a new query: What can they do with a pile of mushrooms? At Sushi Zen, a two-decade-plus veteran of Manhattan's sushi scene, the answer is "magic." The platter of maitake, enoki, and other, rarer fungi sit there right on the sushi bar, almost lost in the hushed, bamboo-arched room. Just indicate your interest, and an attentive fish carver—an expert, it should be noted, in the artful arrangement of salmon slabs, jack mackerel, sweet uni, and marinated oysters—will slice off some 'shrooms, wrap them in foil with slivers of dried chili, and toss 'em in the oven. They emerge woody, buttery, with an edge of heat—proof that there's more to a top-notch sushi joint—a category in which Sushi Zen uncategorically belongs—than just real crabmeat in the California rolls. — Matt Gross

Available only at dinner, and only at the sushi bar, the multi-course,  full chef's-choice omakase starts at around $80

Omakase suchi/sashimi assortment, $70; tasting menu, $150