Dojo Izakaya
“Just a simple rice ball, but the seaweed and the quality rice were just really delicious.”
“Such a cute place in the heart of alphabet city!”
Dojo Izakaya
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
5 reviews
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There are literally 3 tables and 6 seats lined up against the wall. This is a tiny place, that is set up more for take-out, than dining-in.
The host/server/bus boy (he played all 3 roles) seated us. The table was still dirty, so I asked him to clean it. A bit later, I noticed that there was something (probably a food particle) stuck on the inside of my glass, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to seem too demanding. The food was decent. Nothing spectacular. But I did take note that the man was definitely not a server. I asked for water and he came to refill mine, but left my friend's empty. We had to call him over again.
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 Montreal. 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.
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 Creme 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 creme 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.
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.