Dojo Izakaya

It’s really not that great. The service and the food. Waiter and the chef didn’t look friendly. Waiter was inexperienced. Food was nothing special and quality was … Not good. I actually wanted to come here for the Uni cream croquette but they don’t have it anymore. I ordered few things. Tako wasabi-​I mean who could go wrong with this dish? Short rib skewer– overpriced! Small portion and very dry! Salmon potato salad-​not impressed. The pork katsu sandwich was the only thing I liked. :/​I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

Not a place that does big potions nor more four to five tables.
That said all of the small plates are done extremely well. The service is also outstanding, very personable waitress.

So so yummy + amazing service = 5 stars. The octopus fritters were perfection and the hot pot was perfect for the cold weather – all must haves. Great dinner!

Nice and cozy place! We ordered pickles, pork belly, hot pot, take wasabi, sashimi and and etc. The price is good and food is decent.

Yellowtail collar was really good, huge in portion, usually I get half of it from other Japanese restaurants for $ 20+, here I only pay $ 15. It’s grilled perfect.
I was interested in the croquet creamy uni, however, it’s no longer in the menu, so I went for the yellowtail collar been recommended by others.
I told the owner that I really enjoyed the dish, and why the creamy uni is no longer served? He said because it was high in cost, most importantly, he doesn’t like it too much personally, that’s why he created the croquet crab meat, which he thinks is much better, I will definitely try next time.
This small restaurants has very relaxing atmosphere, great to hang out with your significant other and 1 – 3 good friends.

the three star for this review goes strictly to the service, it was my first time here and i came here for a late lunch and got seated right away. This is a very small spot with limited seating so i recommend making reservations if you really do decide to come here, no they do not have the uni croquet everyone is talking about anymore. they removed that from their menu so if that was the reason you are coming, just skip this place. (i am mentioning this because a group of 7 people walked in and sat down and left after they found out it was off the menu) Since i never been here we asked the waitress for recommendation, she recommended most of the menu and we decided to order the something root fries, the takoyaki, the salmon and mash potato, the hamburg, the kani croquette and the soup dumplings.
I am not a fan of the food i’ve definitely had better food everywhere else, the soup dumplings was below average, the texture of the soup dumpling was good but that was about it. the sth root fries were different the texture and the taste is something i’ve never had before, so if you had to come here i guess this is doable. very salty and comes with japanese mayo which was also super salty as well. the takoyaki was heavily fried with a thick outer coat and had what i believed to be mashed potatoes inside and a tiny peice of octopus (would not recommend this) the hamburg steak was very below average in my opinion, i’ve had better at mitsuwa for alot less, the kani croquet was probably one of the better dishes we ordered, it is a tiny portion that comes with 2 bite sized croquettes it was really creamy and I thought out of all the dishes this is something i could probably order again. the salmon and mash potato is nicely presented but i would not recommend it, the mash potato is bland and maybe the chef should consider raw salmon instead of cooked salmon in the middle.(honestly believe this would make the dish taste better)
our waitress was adorable, it was a little awkward at first because it is a tiny restaurant and shes standing by the counter which places her right next to us the whole time inches from our face, but we got over the awkwardness quickly she is really friendly and even threw in a panda sake for us to try and i got to keep the cup after! A plus for the service but i would not come back for the food.

Took a quick day trip to NYC and was in the mood for izakaya and I had this place previously bookmarked. We were the first group of ppl to arrive on a rainy Saturday night. The restaurant is TINY with about 6 – 7 tables plus a few seats at the counter. Hubby mentioned that the restroom was TINY. Makes sense since the whole restaurant is tiny. The server was VERY FRIENDLY and accommodating since we had a baby with us. She dimmed the lights and lowered the music so I could rock my baby to sleep. She was too kind!
For dinner we ordered:
Tako mizuna– the yuzu dressing was refreshing and the octopus was tender. Nothing overly spectacular.
Tako wasabi– I didnt taste this dish, but heard it was a little fishy. Hubby also mentioned it being a slightly large portion to be eating it without anything to help tame the fishiness of it.
Beef tongue skewer– tender and tasty!
Squid skewer– tender and tasty!
Grilled salmon rice ball — eh salmon was bland
Salted plum rice ball– very salty!
Salmon & potato salad — potato salad was creamy and well seasoned. I don’t care too much for ikura which to me overpowered this dish.
Kaarage — perfectly seasoned fried chicken
Udon– didn’t taste it, but hubby liked it.
Seasonal hotpot– it was served with chicken, shiitake mushrooms, Napa cabbage and tofu. Broth is very light. It was suppose to come with sweet potato noodles but they ran out. We asked for udon instead and they charged us an extra dollar which I didn’t think we should have been charged for.
Donburi– sukiyaki beef with onions. The flavors were good but the rice was extra mushy.
Hamachi Kama — best deal I’ve seen for $ 15! You get TWO collars. Delicious and my all time favorite item to order at any Japanese restaurant.
Overall, I probably wouldn’t return only bc NYC is huge and has a ton of restaurants to try. It didn’t wow us like the izakaya restaurant we ate at in Montréal. The food was average and there wasn’t anything overly interesting or exciting. The service was great and the food came out fast. You should try it if you’re in the neighborhood.

The food is neither here nor there. Some is good — crab croquetas, rice balls. Some is just ok — skewers (octopus was tough and very chewy), potato salad with salmon (rather bland). Overall there is not a lot of flavor to any of it and it definitely doesn’t taste Japanese. The sake list are only small bottles, which is cute but not very satisfying and becomes quite expensive if you want to spend some time there.
Service needs a lot of work, the waitress didn’t seem to know what she was doing and brought a check while we were still drinking and talking. The bathroom in the place is so small that it’s uncomfortable to even wash your hands. I don’t see what this place has to offer considering the service, space and, most importantly, food are underwhelming. All of this quite surprising considering that it’s the owner of the fantastic Sushi Dojo just a few blocks away

Went here for dinner tonight and wow. This reminds me of a better more chill great vibe version of a izakaya by katsuya in Los Angeles. First of let me start by saying the owner adds so much to the restaurant. The young PHENOMENAL chef has created more than a restaurant, a ‘living room’. I recommend going here all nights of the week to not only have a great meal but also a great time.

First off! I love this place :) It’s a cute small intimate place. Perfect for dates! The staff and waitresses were great, super attentive. They found out it was my birthday from a friend of mine that was dining with me and surprised me with a happy birthday song, and not just the staff, everyone in the Restraunt! The food was also yummy! Anyone who wants to go to a place with nice staff, and yummy food, go here! You won’t regret it :)

Friendly staff, REALLY tasty food, and a great, well-​priced sake selection. So good, we ate there 2 nights in a row!

Such a cute place in the heart of alphabet city! The waitress is an absolute doll and the service is always impeccable. The food is so delicious and yet casual and reasonably priced. The onigiri, gyoza, gobo chips, and shishito peppers are my favorite!

Excellent bar food! I love the mentaiko mayo that they serve the karaage and burdock chips with. The interior is not fancy and better suited for small groups, but definitely worth going to for beer and delicious food! This place also serves some of the best yakitori I’ve had in Manhattan.

With all of the Asian fusion restaurants taking over I’ve found myself lost when trying to find authentic Japanese cuisine that isn’t just sushi.
The sheer complexity of taste that has been perfected out of the simplest ingredients makes the city slow down around you.
I recommend the Oden Soup, the prices here are amazing. I only give four stars due to very little seating.

Awesome new spot. Great quality food. The beef tongue and pork neck are amazing. Definitely try the bruschetta and salmon/​Tuna over rice. Awesome selection of sake too!

Amazing Sake Selection, Great Food!
I’ve been psyched to try this place ever since I heard DoJo was opening a new spot and sure wasn’t disappointed.
I’ve already been a couple of times. They’ve made some changes since the first time, I believe they replaced soba with better hot dishes and larger sizes, make drinking sake much better, bc hey! Who goes to Izakaya just to eat? They have 20+ of awesome can sake!
Dojo Izakaya will definitely be in my heavy rotation!

A cold December night. Was looking forward to some yummy ramen only to find that they’ve take the ramen off the menu. Was almost ready to leave but decided to give the place a shot. Well, I’m so glad we stayed. Very cramped but cozy and the small plates were all excellent. The uni croquettes were a stand out as was the pork cutlet sandwich. Great saki choices that have led me to a new obsession.

Finally make it here tonite! And it is great.
First off, our waitress tonight, Lindsay, is amazing. Very friendly and tentative. We came in around 9-​ish on Tue night, after cocktails in the neighborhood. We were the only customer in this tiny place most part of the night, which is great. Like the dim lit, simple décor here.
Onto the food. It is small plates so we got to try many different dishes. My favorite is the uni cream coquette, uni miso shrimp, toko wasab and the hamachi collar (this is must have! giant fish collar! Perfectly charred). Veggie options, we had the shishito peppers, spicy cucumber. All good and reasonably priced.
The vibe is low key, awesome background music– Phoenix and Daft Punk.
Come here before it gets crowded,

This brand new outpost of Sushi Dojo is a great little gastropub serving up a beautiful array of eclectic Japanese specialties. I attended the soft opening and thought the pork sausage, Uni croquette, gobo chips, yellowtail collar and pork sandwich were all incredible. The menu is continuing to evolve, so I’m looking forward to going back soon to see what else they offer. They also have a nice selection of Sake, all for reasonable prices. It looks like chef David Bouhadana has another hit on his hands!

Everybody loves Sushi Dojo, so I figured I should come try the new Izakaya version to see what all the hype will be about.
Much like the small, very popular Sushi Dojo, this even smaller restaurant a few avenues east also has some really delicious food. This one is incredibly tiny, and if not for the 20 degree weather and the remote Alphabet City location that kept it empty a few days after opening, I feel like everybody eating here will be on top of each other.
Nevertheless, we had a very pleasant experience, with a very polite waitress and plenty of delicious, hot food arriving to the table quickly one after the other. The only problem is that we left ready for a real meal after dropping quite a bit of money:
— «Noto» Rice Ball ($ 5)
Seemingly very plain, this was actually one of the best things we had. Just a simple rice ball, but the seaweed and the quality rice were just really delicious.
— Fried Chicken ($ 9 for 6 pieces)
These were bite size pieces of dark meat chicken. Pretty tasty, and good if you are lazy like me and prefer your chicken boneless.
— Uni Cream Croquette ($ 12 for 1)
As expected, this was incredibly good. Super expensive though at $ 12 for a single croquette.
— Washugyu Beef Cigar ($ 10 for 1)
Also on the very pricey end, this was also really delicious. It’s just one pretty small hand roll with some of that excellent rice wrapped around some beef. It’s tough to share with just one person, but you will probably not want to order more at that price.
— Domyoji Fluke ($ 13)
This had the most flavor of anything we tried, and was the most interesting and unique item. This one had two pieces of a little ball of sticky rice wrapped in steamed fluke.
— Pork Sandwich ($ 11)
Another unique item, this sandwich consisted of a pork cutlet and mozzarella cheese on white bread. The mozzarella was nice and stringy and melty and went surprisingly well with the soft bread and the crispy, juicy pork. The only problem was how tiny it was, maybe slightly bigger than 2 finger sandwiches.
— Kizami Soba ($ 13)
Soba makes up the largest portion of the menu, with separate sections for hot and cold. We obviously went with a hot option given the freezing temperatures, and it was some of the best soba I had. Topped with fried strips of tofu, the broth was much more flavorful than typical blander bowls I’ve had. This was also definitely the most substantial dish, so go for this if you are shooting for a more filling meal.
— Soba Tea Crème Brulee ($ 8)
This was a decent dessert, but probably passable given plenty of other dessert options in the East Village and Alphabet City (e.g. every single great ice cream shop, etc.). It was tasty, but it didn’t taste much different from most crème brulees, even though the soba tea part of the name made it sound like it might be much more interesting.
The food here is definitely worth trying, and it’s a nice place for a really intimate, cozy meal. Make sure you have another little meal lined up for afterwards though, unless you are ready to drop more money than usual to get a decent amount of food.