Shalom Japan
“For our entrees, we decided to share the Matzoh Ball Ramen Soup with Foie Grass Dumpling and the Tuna Belly Mazeman.”
“Surprises included how much we liked the chickpea tofu, loved the Jew Egg, and really loved the Lox Bowl.”
“I ordered the okonomiyaki which is a Japanese savoury pancake with pastrami, sauerkraut and a fried egg for $15.”
Shalom Japan
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Super subjective rating of 3.5 stars*
To be completely blunt and honest, this place fell below my expectations. Maybe it was because I had hyped it up for myself in my head too much before, but my experience just didn't really justify the price I paid for the meal.
I didn't really check the Yelp page before I started ordering because I knew exactly what I wanted: matzoh ball ramen with foie gras dumplings! Our table also ordered the challah bread without knowing that that was the best part of our meal!
When I pictured the matzoh ball soup with ramen, I pictured a somewhat clear chicken broth, with the matzoh ball and firm noodles. The soup I got was a little bit on the heavier side for my taste and the matzoh ball could have been fluffier, if that makes any sense. So if you are coming here expecting to get some clear, light chicken soup, lower your expectations! Additionally, the foie gras dumpling tasted like normal pork dumpling…I'm not sure if they switched up the menu or if it was supposed to be just a hint of foie gras but what I had was definitely not a foie gras dumpling.
The challah however, was a completely different story! We didn't noticed that the menu explicitly said RAISIN butter, and when the bread was first served, we suspected that it was horseradish. Turns out it was the best mix of salty and sweet ever! I loved every bite of that bread and although the size was on the smaller end for the price ($4), every bite was worth it!
Our waitress was super attentive and made sure we were taken care of.
So on the scale for service and atmosphere, it was a solid 4 – 5. I'm just taking it down a notch because I really just thought the matzoh ball ramen would blow my mind and it didnt…
I can't rave more about Shalom Japan. In addition to some really fantastic and creative food, the owners Aaron and Sawako are some of the kindest, most responsive people I've ever met.
We are looking for a place to host our rehearsal dinner and wanted a fun, quirky place with really excellent food. Given that my fiance and I are living every stereotype on the planet, we thought it'd be fun to pick a restaurant that was somewhat representative of his Jewish and my Asian backgrounds (shockingly, we do not live on the UWS so at least we have that going for us in terms of originality).
I initially reached out to Aaron about hosting our private event there and he was super on the ball — kind enough to email me to set up a time to speak and discuss our options. He was incredibly flexible on what they'd be able to provide in terms of timing, space, food and drink. When I mentioned we'd like to try the food before we committed, he managed to get us a reservation on 7:30 on the upcoming Saturday night at the bar.
When we showed up, things went without a hitch and we got to meet both Aaron and Sawako, who are maybe the loveliest people I have ever met. They gave us great suggestions and were kind enough to send out a plate of their tuna tataki, which is their most popular dish and a dessert, both of which were delicious. The black tahini sauce on the tuna tataki is great and I licked the plate when my fiance went to the bathroom.
We also got the tuna croquettes, the challah, the wagyu beef tongue and the okonomiyaki to start. Everything was excellent; the okonomiyaki particularly stood out as one of our favorite dishes of the night. Then we shared one of the hot pot specials — wagyu beef and oysters; I'm still dreaming about those meltingly tender fat streaked pieces of beef a week later.
The drinks were also great — the bartender made me an off the menu Manischewitz margarita, where he did the impossible and made Manischewitz fun to drink.
Can't say enough nice things about the restaurant – food, drink, service, hospitality, etc.
GO HERE!
The five star is for the jew egg, and their version of the Japanese pancake…
The jew egg for being unique and different, taste wise maybe not what I expected, but still not bad.
Their Japanese pancake "Okonomiyaki" was so inventive, and so full of flavors, it was hitting all the right spots… From the Bonita fish flakes on top to the pastrami… I would go back just for that.
Honorable mentions:
Matzoh Ball Ramen with Foie Gras Dumpling, and the seared tuna.
A few friends took me out this past weekend for a belated birthday dinner. Shalom Japan I had heard 'interesting' and some good things about before. So it came as a pleasant surprise that they picked this place. It's a mash-up of a happy couple's culinary vision of marrying together Japanese and Jewish cultures together in harmony with New American Cuisine. I must say this style of rich and decadent food harkens to me and they have done a great job with the restaurant. Though, there is a pretty decent wait time if you just arrive without a reservation (around 15-20 minutes for us).
After mulling over the menu, viewing peoples' delicious plates, and trying to figure out the cocktail menu we were finally seated at the bar area. There are a lot of interesting sounding drinks. One of which in particular is called "The Perfect Stranger". Sidenote: I LOVED the Balki show!!! We were all tempted and I almost regret it but I've had a pretty horrible experience with Aquavit. It's typically used as a Scandinavian digestive and I've never been able to find anything that mixes well with the potent and insanely intense caraway flavor. It's worse to me than Jaegger. There I said it. Instead, I went with The Sweet and Sawa: Mizunomai Shochu, Old Grand-Dad Bourbon, Yuzu, Honey, and Egg Whites. I saw Bourbon and egg whites, was intrigued and sold. It was sweet, tangy, and delicately creamy in a very complex and odd way. It also came with their logo stamped inside of the egg white froth: A Japanese flag flanked with the Star of David. Pretty! My friends had a trio flight of Shochu: one made with rice, sweet potato, and buckwheat. They were all decent tasting but not my favorite. My buddy Anton insists that he will stick to his vodka. His girlfriend had the Bae Arthur and I almost regret not ordering this because it has all of my favorite things: Mint Infused GIN, Basil Honey, and Lemon. But I wanted to branch out of my comfort zone. This tasted truly delicious and hello, its in homage to a Golden Girl.
The serving of the meals was presented in a staggered format, which we all really appreciated and made for a more enjoyable dining experience. Every dish was beautiful and prepared with such finesse and detail. We started off with the Sake Kasu Challah Bread with Raisin Butter. This is a must. It's only $3 and the cheapest thing on the menu but one of the tastiest. The warm challah bread is so delicate and flavorful and the sweet butter is heaven.
Teriyaki Duck Wings ($15) – Its three pieces of duck and may seem like a tiny amount but boy was it delicious. The sesame teriyaki sauce was tangy and the rich fatty meat had a crispy exterior. They also provide wet naps for this one.
Okonomiyaki with Pastrami, Sauerkraut, and Bonito Flakes ($14) – I've had Okonomiyaki before. Otafuku on St. Marks was like my go to for after drinks noms at one point in life. The pancake was better here. It was crispier and tended to with more care. Liberal amounts of bonito and mayonnaise (which my friend hated) were drizzled on top. The thing this dish lacks in unfortunately and that ultimately makes it fail is that there was hardly any Pastrami on top! That was the star of the show! It was delicious but no pastrami makes a sad pancake.
Lox Bowl ($23): The price is steep because let's face it, fresh lox is expensive. It comes with sticky rice, cucumber, Japanese pickle, avocado, and Ikura. There were also dapples of mayo on this as well with what I want to say was bits of seaweed. It was all good though! I really liked the bite of the Japanese cucumbers paired with the salmon and the creamy avocado and rice with mayo. It all blended well together. My friend that hates mayonnaise though again was not partial to this dish so I continued to eat his share.
Matzoh Ball Ramen ($18) – This sucker comes with a singular large Matzoh Ball and a singular large Foie Gras Dumpling! That I only had a third of because three people splitting a ramen dish is tough luck. I don't think my section of dumpling got any filling. Frowny face. But the broth was one of the best ramens I've ever tasted in my life. The noodles were amazing and everything had a creamy like texture and then all of sudden WHAM you taste little crunchy delicious things in your soup and WHAM there's that MATZOH ball again! YEAH! I would come back to eat this ramen in a heart beat. This was the definite star of the show for me and I don't even like ramen that much!
Finally, rounded out the night with a piece of their chocolate banana challah bread pudding. I only had one or two bites. The sauce it was swimming in was so freaking GOOD. It was like chocolate and butterscotch and caramel and I would drink a bowl of it. But the bottom of the challah was a little bit burnt and had a funky after-taste.
Don't forget to check out the bathrooms before you leave. The toilets are special. The entire dining experience was pleasant. Two thumbs up!
Ordered: Bread, Duck wings, Lox bowl, Duck, and Pastrami potato pancake
Pros- The teriyaki glaze on the wings was full of flavor and had a slight kick. The bread was clearly made from scratch and melted in your mouth. Everything used very fresh ingredients.
Cons- While the dishes were unusual, I didn't feel like some of the portions merited their prices. The small challah was $3. For my main dish I ordered the potato pancake pastrami dish which was overwhelmed by the excess of ingredient components. The Russian dressing and fish flake strips were unnecessary.
Sometimes in life, when you're a Jew who's dating an Asian and you somehow find a restaurant designed specifically for you, you go. This is one of those times.
Marveling at our good fortune, we started off with the Sake Challah, and I love me some challah. This didn't disappoint at all, with the delicious bread and some tasty raisin butter leading us into the meal. Then, the eggplant came – the waiter basically made us order it because he was "concerned" we didn't order enough food, but it was not necessary, not worth it ($14 for a tiny plate), and I have no regrets. It was really good.
Then the dinner came, and we hit two home runs. The matzah ball soup is just like grandma made (bought, whatever) at our family holiday gatherings, and the fact that it was somehow also combined with ramen was a unique experience that I don't think grandma would approve of but come on grandma, live in the moment, appreciate new foods, pee into the wind, etc. Really good soup, even had a foie gras dumpling in it, would recommend.
Then the schnitzel came, and boy oh boy it was good. Perfectly fried, perfectly sauced, deliciously reminiscent of my time in Eastern Europe, and a good amount of food. Everything about this dish is easy to love, and I would say this is the most "must-have" dish on the menu.
Also, worth making reservations, because we got there and the place was almost empty but they insisted they had no tables. By the time we left, two of the tables hadn't been filled.
Overall a little pricey for the amount of food you get, but really good stuff.
This place is worth checking out for the unique concept alone of blending Jewish and Japanese cuisines. I tried the matzoh ball ramen and the lox rice bowl and both were exactly on point. I'm giving it 4 stars only because in reality, ramen and a salmon rice bowl from a Japanese place would probably be better. However, where else can you possibly get dishes like these? We were there for brunch but they seem to have a greater selection for dinner so I'd recommend going here for dinner instead. We also had the banana bread pudding which was incredibly good. Don't leave without getting one of these for sure. The service here was great and even though it was cold outside and the place hadn't opened yet, they let us wait inside for a few minutes. The decor is also very interesting and they have one of those fancy Japanese toilets that I was too freaked out to try but would recommend for the adventurous. Overall, definitely worth checking out for the unique and great food!
It was okay. Nice atmosphere and staff but the food doesn't warrant the price. Four pieces of eggplant should never be $17 dollars, especially when everything on the menu is a "small plate" so need to order a lot.
On the flipside I went with a pregnant friend who couldn't eat raw fish and I hear that is what they do best…