📍Izakaya Noname, New York City

Karaage Donburi at Izakaya Noname

Still fondly remembering my late summer trip to Japan, I wanted to grab some Japanese food. Izakaya Noname opened recently. Surprisingly, there aren't that many Izakaya-type places in NYC. There are many Japanese takeout, ramen, and sushi places but Izakaya's with its signature atmosphere and menu are few.

I visited in the middle of a week recently with a buddy. About half the tables were empty and we were seated immediately. It's a rectangular dining room with 2 and 4-person tables evenly spaced out. In the back, there is a counter with a couple of seats.

We ordered a few snacks and a donburi each, in true Izakaya fashion. The first thing we got was the Akino Yuki Fries. They're crinkle-cut fries with cheese powder and aonori, a seaweed. They were hot and crispy with a steaming potato interior. They are also very addictive. I found it difficult to have just one or two but continued to reach back in. I came very close to ordering more.

Spicy Cabbage and Gyoza at Izakaya Noname

The spicy cabbage was a surprise for me. I had not had something like this before. It's a thin and crunchy cabbage salad with a chili oil dressing. It wasn't spicy. The cold cabbage and chili oil warmth played well together. It was a refreshing bite with acid for all the fatty things consumed with it.

The gyoza was in wonton sheets and shaped like wrapped candy. My chopsticks skills were not the best to handle these but I made do. It has a classic pork and chive filling and comes with a ponzu dipping sauce.

I love chicken karaage and it's a must-order for me just about anytime it's around. Despite all the other donburi options, this was an automatic order. The base of the bowl was short-grain rice. The chicken karaage was topped with a plethora of sauces and spices including spicy mayo, sesame seeds, scallions, ginger, and ito togarashi (the red silky strands).

I appreciated the amount of chicken. It was the star of the bowl. They were 2-3 bite chicken pieces each. The dark meat chicken was well fried with a thin, crispy crust. The spicy mayo and other sauces complemented the chicken. I augmented the spicy mayo with ichimi togarashi to get it closer to my personal preferences.

I should have ordered more fries to go with the donburi.