I’ve discovered my new favorite place to go to in NYC. I read about this place from another blogger I follow, Eataku. I’ve been dying for an izakaya to open up in Austin, Fukumoto ended up being a great restaurant but I left disappointed since it was more of a Japanese restaurant than an izakaya in terms of prices, types of food and atmosphere.
My first impression of hagi after seeing the menu was “this isn’t fukumoto, this is a real izakaya”. They have a vast selection of sake on the menu and also stuff on the shelf that isn’t on the menu. There is also a large amount of food to choose from, anything from small appetizers to snack on to a bowl of ramen or rice. Everything also has a picture for reference. The staff gave me great recommendations when I asked for it, and all of them were very warm and friendly. We happened to strike up a conversation with someone sitting next to us at the bar and he gave us some recommendations for places to visit for our trip to Osaka.
I had zero complaints about all the dishes, in fact they were all amazing. I was skeptical about the pizza tempura but it tasted out surprisingly well.
Age Dashi Tofu
Okonomiyaki
Croquette
Miso Glazed Grilled Mackerel
If you live in NYC and you haven’t tried this place yet then you should definitely pay them a visit. The price wasn’t too bad too. We were full from all the food we ordered and I lost track of how much alcohol I ordered. It came out to be 90 dollars for two people. Note that there is one location on 49th street and another on 46th.