Put down that sashimi for a moment and explore the exciting diversity of Japanese cuisine with this list of the best Japanese restaurants in NYC that aren’t ramen or sushi spots.
There is more to Japanese cuisine than ramen and sushi. Yet when you survey the Japanese dining landscape in New York City, noodle soups and raw fish are nearly ubiquitous. Especially now, given the omakase sushi trend that is reaching new heights in popularity.
But Japanese cuisine is really diverse. You can find stand-out yakitori restaurants that feel like you’re in a temple dedicated to the holy chicken. There are izakayas – tavern-like eateries serving up Japanese drinking snacks to go along with sake, beer, and cocktails. There are Japanese steakhouses offering lusciously tender Wagyu. Some restaurants serve yoshoku cuisine, a type of western cuisine filtered through Japanese culture that evolved from the 19th century. And some of our favorites are tempura places, expertly frying meat and vegetables like it’s nobody’s business.
Bar Goto
People come here for the incredibly crafted cocktails but the food is the secret weapon that will draw you back to Bar Goto. Bartender Kenta Goto came into cocktail prominence at the erstwhile Pegu Club. But he shines at his Lower East Side lodestar. Some musts on the menu of Japanese comfort food include the miso-slathered chicken wings, the savory cabbage pancakes, and the unctuous pork belly. If you’re in Brooklyn, point yourself to Goto sister restaurant/bar Niban, which has a slightly different (and just as good) menu.
Izakaya Mew
For the uninitiated, an izakaya is something like a gastropub—a casual tavern-like spot that serves Japanese drinking food to go along with beer, sake, and cocktails. And Izakaya Mew (West 35th Street) is a fine place to while away an evening snacking on bonito-flake-topped deep-fried tofu, wasabi-spiked raw octopus, creamy crab croquettes, deep-fried octopus balls, and grilled beef tongue while sipping pints of Japanese lager on draft or inventive cocktails.
Bohemian
Hiding behind a Japanese butcher shop in NoHo, Bohemian (57 Great Jones St) is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside the former home of Jean-Michel Basquiat. And it makes the top of our list of best Japanese restaurants in NYC. There is no phone and no signage. The only way to get in is to have someone who has already been approved to eat here recommend you. The good news is that sending the restaurant an email and introducing yourself often works. And it’s worth the intro. Bohemian is a fabulous Japanese steakhouse, serving up ultra-tender cuts of Wagyu steak. Also worth the price of admission are the uni croquettes, the melt-in-your-mouth Wagyu tartare, and the short-rib sashimi.
Japan Village
Located in Industry City in Brooklyn, Japan Village is a Japanese supermarket and a food court made up of a handful of Japanese eateries. There’s a little something for everyone who is in the mood for Japanese food: bento boxes, huge bowls of steaming udon soups, chicken katsu sandwiches, okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancakes), yakitori, and, of course, heaps of ramen and sushi.
Related Reading: Looking for something more, er,noodle-y? Check out our guide to the best ramen in NYC!
En Japanese Brasserie
Tucked into the southwest corner of the West Village, En Japanese Brasserie has been quietly serving elegant, excellent Japanese fare since 2004. Everything here is memorable on the palate—from the garlic shiso rice to the super-crispy fried chicken to the sweet potato croquette and the splurge-worthy wagyu steak. The dimly lit front-room bar is a fine place to enjoy a Manhattan or a martini.
Kono
Hidden in a passageway in Chinatown and behind a dark curtain is one of New York’s great Japanese dining experiences. Welcome to Kono, where chef Atsushi Kono cooks meat on sticks over open burning coals. The u-shaped counter surrounds the chef like he’s a high priest of the church of chicken byproducts.
It’s omakase only here, but for this kind of dining experience, it’s worth the splurge. The procession of deliciousness includes crispy fried chicken skin, chicken-liver paté mochi, chicken feet, and even a chicken fallopian tube. By the end of the meal, the diner has likely eaten nearly every part of the bird. And it’s delicious.
Hakata Tonton
Since 2007, Hakata Tonton has had an endearing regular fanbase who would cozy up to a table and tuck into dishes that were centered around offal sushi (raw veal liver, anyone?) and pigs’ feet in the West Village. It shut down during the pandemic but was miraculously resurrected in the Summer of 2022 near Koreatown.
The greatest hits are still here, but the menu has been expanded. Some new additions include more izakaya-like dishes—food that goes well with drinking booze. A tofu-and-minced-pork stew, gnocchi with cod roe sauce, ultra-tender pork buns, and variations of excellent Japanese hot pot are the standouts on the new menu.
Hi-Collar
Housed in a narrow space in the East Village that is mostly counter seating, Hi-Collar has a diverse menu of various styles of Japanese cuisine. You can get the thick, fluffy, Japanese-style pancakes. There’s also omurice, an egg-and-rice dish that represents yoshoku cuisine, a Japanese-style western food that evolved from the Meiji Restoration in the second half of the 19th century. And then there are inventive dishes like the udon carbonara.
Tempura Matsui
For five decades in Tokyo, Matsui had been creating divine tempura before opening up this East 39th Street outpost in New York. Matsui has managed to elevate tempura to the level of sushi. The 19-seat venue is a quiet and intimate space in which to enjoy the tempura omakase. It’s more affordable and smaller at lunch if you’re not looking to blow a wad of last month’s paycheck on excellent fried-and-battered Japanese vegetables and meat.
Torien
This Nolita yakitori restaurant has become legendary among the city’s Japanophiles. With just 13 seats, you’re guaranteed an intimate experience at Torien. And expect to eat all parts of the chicken, as a procession of chicken parts on sticks is laid out in front of you during the 13-course skewered meal.
David Farley is a West Village-based food and travel writer whose work appears regularly in the New York Times, National Geographic, BBC, and Food & Wine, among other publications. He’s the author of three books, including “An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town,” which was made into a documentary by the National Geographic Channel. You can find Farley’s online homes here and here.