Want to know a secret?  Before I moved to New York, I had no idea what Japanese cuisine and culture consisted of beyond sushi and hot sake.  After spending a few years here, all the great Japanese food is one of my favorite things about the city.  Granted, I still don’t really know which places are authentic and which aren’t (Emma’s our authority on that one), but what I do know is that there is some really terrific food available at Japanese places all over the city.  I have a favorite soba place, a favorite katsu place, a favorite ramen place…

Today I’d like to share with you one of my favorite blocks.  East 9th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, is a powerhouse of great Japanese places that are totally worth a visit.  There are terrific Japanese places all over the city, but it’s hard to beat this block for sheer density.

Starting from3rd Avenue, no collection of Japanese food would be complete without a sushi place.  On this bit of 9th Street, that role is ably filled by Hasaki:

I’ve admittedly only been to Hasaki once (like A Salt & Battery, it suffers from being too close to my other favorites!), but it gave me a great meal when I was down there.  (It’s also worth noting that just around the corner on 3rd Avenue is Angel’s Share, a great little bar with terrific bartenders tucked away inside a Japanese restaurant.  Since it’s not on 9th Street, however, we’ll save a full review for another day.)

Just down the street, you can get your hair done at Hoshi Coupe, a Japanese salon:

Across the street is Soba-ya, pictured at top.  Soba-ya’s one of my favorite places — it specializes as you’d expect in soba, thin buckwheat noodles that are served both hot and cold.  In addition to soba, it also serves udon (exclusively wheat noodles) and various other dishes, including a mean sake oyako don.  They also have a nice selection of sake to round out your dinner, and serve some very solid green tea ice cream.  Soba-ya is usually full of Japanese people, always a good sign.  You may have a wait if you go for a weekend dinner, but they’ll take your cell number, and it’s well worth the wait.  You can always stop by Decibel while you wait!

Just next door, the owners of Soba-ya appear to be readying a second restaurant to expand the block’s offerings further:

Frankly, I haven’t the faintest idea what robata is (a quick Google suggests it involves grilling?), but I’m still psyched to try it when it opens!  The Soba-ya folks do good work.  I already like the big metal studs in the front door:

Opposite Soba-ya is my favorite Japanese tea place, Cha-An.

I mentioned Cha-An in my Japanese tea post.  Cha-An has a lengthy and terrific menu of Asian teas of all kinds and a great ambiance with a touch of the Japanese garden and mellow jazz playing in the background.  This is one of my favorite places to meet my girlfriends and have a leisurely chat while we slowly caffeinate ourselves into a uniquely mellow tea buzz.  Cha-An does have food,but be warned, the food menu is limited and is very Japanese.  I like going there to eat, but you have to be prepared to eat whatever they happen to have that day or rely on their regular menu offerings.  I’m a big fan of their tea-smoked salmon appetizer (very lightly smoked sashimi-style slices of salmon with a zippy dressing), and they have a variety of desserts, including a great black sesame creme brulee and hot from the oven scones to go with your tea. The teas themselves are not cheap but they have a broad selection of interesting, high quality teas, so it’s a good place to go if you’re interested in exploring a little.  A small separate room is available for the Japanese tea ceremony, but appointments are required, so be sure to call ahead.  As a final note, the women’s bathroom has a very, um, Japanese toilet that’s amusing to play with.  Just be sure to brace yourself if you decide to push any of the buttons; people will look at you funny when you come out if they hear you squealing in there!

Down the street a little farther is Otafuku, a tiny snack stand that specializes in takoyaki, but also does yakisoba and okonomiyaki, a kind of unsweetened pancake.  Otafuku’s menu describes takoyaki as “hot savory wheat-flour balls with a chopped piece of boiled octopus inside,” served with a special sauce. I will say right now that takoyaki is not really my thing.  I like octopus but there is something about the combination of octopus and mayonnaise, which is one of the sauces that’s put on top, that I find somewhat unnerving. However, I do know Japanese people who go there and Americans who love it, so if you’ve never had it and have a little culinary adventure in you, it’s worth a try for the experience if nothing else.  I suspect that this is more authentic Japanese snack food than most of what Americans tend to come across.

Last stop on the block is Decibel, a sake bar owned by the same people as Sakagura located down in a cozy little basement space on the south side of the street.

Descend those stairs and you enter the Japanese equivalent of a speakeasy, full of interesting sakes. Decibel isn’t really a place you go to eat, but it’s the perfect place to meet friends before or after dinner or toss back a few masus while waiting to get into one of the nearby restaurants.  If you haven’t experienced the wonderful world of sakes — well, that’s a whole different post, but suffice it to say, try it cold and let the staff recommend something for you.

Come check out my favorite block sometime!  It’s easily accessible from the Astor Place subway stop, and since it’s right there there in the East Village?  It’s a perfect jumping off point for the rest of your night out!

Tags: Angel's Share, Cha-An, Decibel, dining, Hasaki, Japanese food, New York, Otafuku, sake, Soba-Ya

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