Aburiya Kinnosuke
“We really liked Kurobuta (Berkshire pork), Tsukune, gobo tempura, Mackerel (yaki zakana ) and ochazuke here.”
“grilled whole red snapper
grilled porgy head
asparagus with wood ear and spicy code roe – definitely my favorite dish.”
“I love Sakagura, and thought it would be difficult to equal or even trump, but then I found Aburiya Kinnosuke.”
Aburiya Kinnosuke
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
There are probably not a lot of Japanese places where you order something other than sushi/sashimi and still left more than satisfied. Robata is actually one of my favorite types of Japanese cuisine, where food was cooked on a counter grill and served fresh.
Portion size was relative small here, so we shared a bunch of plates, following their recommendations. Of all dishes, my favorite was the chicken meatball with asparagus inside and poached egg as the dipping sauce. Though no idea how they stuffed the veggie inside, the chicken meatball was juicy and flavorful. Their miso cod was slightly below my expectation, as the cod was not able to deliver the miso taste.
Also be mindful that there is a two-hour seating limit, so make sure ordering and finishing everything in time!
Japanese tapas is the way to explain this.
We ordered so many plates I don't even remember what I ate.
From what I remember:
– tofu was fun, but not enough seasoning given to us on the side
– the chicken thigh was soooo juicy
– we got a fish but it was average
– the veggie place was laughable at how small the portion to price is – don't do it
– sakeeeee all day: we asked for recommendation and got something good
I'd trust the waitresses here, they're really nice.
The space feels cramped, but it feels authentic.
We ordered other things and it came out to about $70 pp
Like it! Close to Grand Central – convenient location but I just found it from my friend's recommendation!
The menu here is all hand written, in both Japanse and English. It offers a variety of food as well as drinks here. My friend and I did order any drink that day since we want to finish not to late. We just ordered food.
First impression – the food portion is small. We ordered miso cod fish, pork belly, uni, and a small plate of signature salad. And I felt like I did not eat anything yet… They look not super tiny though.. Don't know why.. Maybe order some first, feel it by yourself and if you feel the food is not enough, add more to your orders. In the end, I ordered the pot of vegetables, meat, and noodles, which finally made me stuffed. LOL. But food tasted good in general.
The thing I think they can improve is the service. Our waiter seemed to be a bit pushy on us and rushing from course to course. I feel Japanese bar should be a place where friends hanging out, drinking, eating small dish, and talking a lot. But with a waiter keeps asking if your table needs more food, even before you have the last course you ordered might be too hurry as I felt. But waiter asked this out politely anyhow.
We went to this place to celebrate my husband's birthday. It was small but an authenticate place. Overall, the food was okay, while nothing really wowed us and expensive. The seating area was pretty tight unless you are sitting in one of the private rooms. You could definitely hear from your neighbors.
We had to check this place out since it's only minutes away from Grand Central. Our party was the first to arrive for the 6:30 Friday dinner service and hence was given one of the private tables with wooden dividers and bamboo curtain separating us from the restaurant walkway. We really liked this type of seating arrangement – cozy, quiet, and none of the distractions that take your experience away from dining. Though, a minor trade-off on having more privacy: depending on how busy the service is, it might be a tad difficult to grab the staff's attention. Ours was super attentive.
Aburiya is known for its robatayaki grilling and sake drinking. On the former, we had several picks from the fireside: duck breast in miso paste, pork belly with Japanese BBQ sauce, grilled chicken wings with a side of hot green pepper puree, beef tongue, and grilled chicken meatball. We also tried the handmade tofu and seasonal bamboo shoots. Portion-wise, they are small, but what you would expect from this style of cooking. As to our favorites, the party consensus was the creamy, miso-infused tofu, sliced duck breast that was cooked in front of us, and the grilled beef tongue that was extra chewy and moist on the inside. For the sake, we went with a single bottle of seasonal dry sake, but the list of sake choices was pretty extensive.
This place is a must try, if you dig traditional robata grilling or just want to take a break from sushi. I've tried a few other robatayaki in the city, this is the only one that I find to have a perfect balance of flavor, never too overwhelming.
Authentic Japanese – everything fresh and they even serve ORGANIC chicken!
Sashimi are very fresh. Traditional Japanese throughout including areas that can be closed for private little groups. Their toilet even has those push buttons you find in Japan.
Best of all, the counter area where you can watch them prepare and grill is partially glassed in with a powerful exhaust inside their space so you don't get the smoke grilled
The tempura though is a little soggy. The batter is a little on the thick side. I hope they make the batter thinner so it is crispier.
I have had very good food experience in the past of things grilled or sashimi. This is my first time to try their tempura.
Loved this place! Some Japanese friends took me to this popular spot. I really enjoyed the experience & the food (though I liked some dishes better than others). Ambiance is cute and trendy at the same time which made me feel like I was actually in Japan.
I went with a group of 8. I recommend you go with 6 people or less. It still worked out but tables are set up in small nooks more conducive for 3-6 people comfortably.
Note that all the dishes are very small portions. My table ended up getting 15 different kinds of dishes but a total of 24 plate orders. This was a good amount and everyone was full afterwards.
Must gets: Ankake Yakisoba (fried noodle w/ gravy), black cod w/ miso, handmade soft tofu, chicken tsikune, scallops, & warm mochi w/ red bean. All of these dishes are really flavorful w/ the exception of the soft tofu that had subtle flavors but really fresh.
Skip: Pork belly, eggplant & okra tempura.
The service was great. The Asahi beer was a great pairing with the chicken dishes but be warned that each glass is $8.50. The price was about $45 per person which is pretty reasonable for authentic Japanese food. So happy that a local took me here. It's really too bad that we have nothing like this in Minnesota 🙁 I will definitely have to go back to Aburiya Kinnosuke next time I'm in NY!
One of my favorite date spots. So cozy and authentic. Great dishes that change daily. I usually have to ask the waiter a lot of questions about the menu since it is written in Japanese calligraphy. I like how people don't really speak English there.