The New York Times Names Sushi Nakazawa Best NYC Restaurant Of 2013

Sushi NakazawaGiven his rare four-star review of West Village sushi den Sushi Nakazawa earlier this month, it comes as no surprise that New York Times food critic Pete Wells declared it the best restaurant of 2013 in his year-end roundup for the newspaper.

Daisuke Nakazawa, the protégé of Jiro Ono (the subject of the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi") opened the tiny restaurant earlier this year.

"A meal at Mr. Nakazawa's counter is a guided tour of the potential of simple seafood on rice to amaze," Wells wrote. "With subtle fine-tunings of temperature and seasoning, he can make a piece of sushi into the kind of sense-filling experience you wish could last and last."

Other restaurants on Wells' year-end list included Greenwich Village red sauce joint Carbone; Betony, a spin-off from several alumni of Eleven Madison Park; and Uncle Boon's, a Thai restaurant in NoLiTa. You can find his full list here.

Since reservations at Sushi Nakazawa are next-to-impossible to secure, we rounded up some mouthwatering Instagram pictures from the lucky few who have tried the omakase meal ($150 at the sushi bar, $120 in the dining room).

Welcome to Sushi Nakazawa, the newest four-star restaurant in New York City.

Let's take a look at the four-star sushi, shall we?

Sea urchins!

And here's that same sea urchin (uni) out of its spiky shell:

His signature tamago, or Japanese omelette.

One last glimpse of the assortment at Sushi Nakazawa:

And dessert - a yuzu sorbet with pomegranate.