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Astor Place (6)
8th St-Broadway (R, W)
3rd Ave-14th St (L)
"Words cannot express how much I love this place. Go to sushi samba if you're looking for gimmicky fusiony "inventive" sushi. This is back…" read more »
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i love izakayas. i love yakitori. i love booze. i love nondescript bars/restaurants. i love Village Yokocho.
this place has your standard and no-so standard yakitori/japanese fare. i simply go here for their ORGASMIC seaweed salad with carrot ginger dressing. i crave for it like crack. which brings me to the acknowledgement that i, Joolie, have not been here in a YEAR! WTF. i avoided this place for personal reasons (*ahem stalker*), but i still have my love for this place.
from kimchi with pork stir fry, delicious ramen (yup!!! ramen is GOOD here), amazing tsukune (chicken meatballs) and even familiar Korean dishes as well. Bibimbap, Soon Duboo and lots of kimchi dishes are on their menu. i love it.
the cleanliness and service a bust here. although i love Village Yokocho with all my heart.... this place seriously needs to re-hire their staff and clean the place up a bit. i'm actually embarrassed to bring people here to try it out.
It is definitely not the most fanciest, glamorous place to go, or even the most clean place to go, but if you are looking for relatively cheap Japanese bar food and sake, this is the place you want to be spending your weekend nights, especially if you want to get a good buzz.
St. Marks area is know for its concentration of establishments serving all types of Japanese cuisine. Village Yokocho is a block away from St.marks.
I love the fact that they have a full menu, from rice to noodles, to the tofu and sashimi, all types of skewers, even meat and seafood you can cook at your table. They even have some pseudo-Korean food on the menu... certainly not the best but will work in a pinch. This is not gourmet food by any stretch of the imagination but nothing that I tried was really bad and most are surprisingly above average. Their okonomiyaki was a bit disappointing to tell you the truth. But otherwise for the price you are paying, you will be satisfied.
They offer a good selection of sake and sochu. They also offer Japanese beer by the pitcher. You can do sake bombs if you like, although that is not my thing..:P. I would actually recommend that you order sake by the bottle. Much cheaper that way.
Service is sometimes lacking, some of them don't really speak English that well, but I never had any real bad experience with the staff there.
I would say it is a place for groups (maybe 4-6 because if the group is too big, it might be difficult to get a table). Probably not for a first or second date.
Is this place still opened? I heard a rumor they closed down for a while because of health inspection issues...
Anywho, I used to come here in college ALL the time (this is before I moved out of my 'comfort' zone). I'm going to say, the food isn't actually THAT great but it's just such a fun atmosphere to be in. You can go with a HUGE group of people (I usually always come here with at least 8), and just start pointing at anything on the menu.
You definitely have to go with the HUGE bottle of nigori (i think 1.5L). They do over charge you like crazy though.. i think $60. I once went to mitsuwa and saw the same bottle of nigori for $9.99. But what do you expect from a crazy busy japanese restaurant in EV?
Okay, but you must order the Spicy tuna in a bowl, the Kimchi fried rice, and wasabi squid.
Oh, and one other thing.. if you're one of those crazy clean freaks that is always concerned with how hygienic a restaurant is, this is not the place. Once, I saw a little mousy run out of the kitchen. And the kitchen staff chasing after little runt. Me and my friend just laughed.
In truth, the food is far from being the best of the genre, but there's something about Village Yokocho that's incredibly endearing nonetheless. It's inexpensive, friendly, a bit grungy, and the food is solid and good enough especially when washed down with a cheap Sapporo. There are some interesting / fun options like chicken cartilage yakitori; lotus root, mountain burdock and shiitake stew; chuhai; passable Korean barbecue; okonomiyaki; etc...
I would not personally order the sashimi / sushi, here. Go early in the evening (7 p.m. or earlier), since wait times can be pretty bad, later.
Very good Izayaki
What a well flavored pumpkin dish!
Grilled well.
Pitcher of sapporo.
Meat skewers.
Rice.
Cheap.
Flavourful.
Hole in the wall and then some.
Love it!
Came here on a Friday night with a friend and waited for 20 minutes- so not too bad of a wait seeing how popping the place was.
We ordered the agedashi tofu, combo sashimi, fried squid legs, take (the combination meaty yakitori), enoki mushroom dish and an assortment of other yakitori: gizzards, cartilage, cow tongue....Everything was delicious. The mushroom wasn't too special, but the yakitori was really good. We had bar seats too so we watched them grill other people's food.
Everything went well especially with the beer that we had.
When I moved back from Japan in 1994, my Japanese friends recommended Yokocho as an izakaya-away-from-home, and it was great. Yokocho was supposed to represent a city street in Japan, with several different "restaurants," which is why the ceiling used to be painted as a blue sky with clouds and there are rooflines inside the restaurant. Back in the day, this was a really good izakaya.
But, over the years, Yokocho has really declined. They've kept their prices pretty much the same over the last fifteen years, but to keep their profit margins up, they now use far lower quality ingredients. (They also devoted more floor space to Angel's Share, so they can get more money from high-priced cocktails.)
About a year ago, my wife and I just stopped coming here altogether. The food has just deteriorated to the point of being pretty much inedible if you are accustomed to good Japanese food. I still like the relaxed izakaya atmosphere -- that and my nostalgia for the place are why I don't give it only one star -- but I just cannot stomach the food here anymore. I suppose it's not as bad as Kenka ("Yasui! Hayai! Mazui!), but I wouldn't know since I only went there once and thought the best food there was the free cotton candy.
All you college kids, when you graduate and get jobs, you'll be able to afford real yakitori at places like Totto and Toryshin. Then you'll realize how bad Yokocho really has become.
The only reason I'm not giving Village Yokocho a solid four stars is their cleanliness and sanitation. Let me stipulate first and foremost that I like this place and will most likely be going back. HOWEVER...basic sanitation is an issue here, and that is definitely worthy of a ding on their rating.
Me and my friend were downing Asahi's and Yakatori skewers at the bar, when the party seated next to us started throwing a fit. Turns out there were a couple flies on the bar, literally inches away from their food.
At first, I derided them for being such high-maintenance customers. Sometimes a fly gets in, and I was willing to forgive one errant fly in light of the amazing yakkatori that we were consuming with reckless abandon.
I soon had egg on my face, when I discovered a MASSIVE mosquito in my glass of ice water (where do mosquito's come from in October???). I pointed it out to our waitress and she was apologetic.
Then, as we were leaving, I was looking into the kitchen, and on the doorway I saw this HUGE insect. It could have been a fly, or a beetle, or cockroach. I have no idea. But that was the last red flag. If your restaurant has that many insects in it on a weeknight dinner service, you definitely have some sanitation issues.
I really hope that are more vigilant about this going forward, as I really do love this place.
We came here for dinner on a Saturday night and it was pretty busy. I had their peach flavored soju and it was very delicious; very subtle and I could barely taste the alcohol. I think this place had a combination of Japanese and Korean dishes on the menu because we also ordered this kimchi flavored soup dish with rice. And I ordered the fried rice. It was okay; nothing spectacular but I can see how this place can be perfect for drinking and socializing.
Some of the best memories I've had in the past few years can be attributed to Village Yokocho. Well, I guess you can't really call them memories if you only know what you did by looking at pictures. But still, for an awesome time, the following steps may be a good guidepost on what to do:
Step 1: Go with 4 or more people.
Step 2: First thing to order is a pitcher of beer and a LARGE bottle of Nigori (Unflitered) Sake.
Step 3: Look over the relatively expansive menu while you take shots.
Step 4: Spicy tuna appetizer, raw wasabi octopus, enoki mushroom in butter sauce, chicken skin yakitori, butan raw shrimp, kim chee fried rice, whatever else looks good to you...
Step 5: Finish LARGE sake bottle, and order another.
Step 6: Order more food and beer.
Step 7: Finish everything and go downstairs and around the corner to Continental Bar. 5 shots of anything for $10. It's the grimiest, sleaziest bar in NYC, but you'll be too drunk to notice the rank surroundings, so it's all good.
Step 8: Confiscate your friend's camera and delete all the pictures of yourself running down NYC sidewalks on a Friday night with no shirt on, flexing your puny arms and exposing your pot belly to strangers .
Last Friday I went to Yokocho with 3 other Japanese friends. We had a really good time until we left there.
As soon as we got out of Yokocho and went downstairs, one of the waiters came after us and said he needed to talk to one of us complaining that our friend peed on him. Our friend didn't even leave our table until we all left Yokocho together!! But the waiter kept saying that our friend did it. We were like "what the f**k?" He seemed to be on drug...
Too bad that I liked Yokocho because it's pretty decent among Japanese Izakaya in East Village but I will never go back there again just because of the CRAZY waiter. I don't want to be poisoned...
This was always one of my go to places when I lived in NYC. A quaint little izakaya (Japanese snack bars) that kind of reminded me of being back in Japan. I love their yaki-onigiri (grilled rice ball) which was always grilled to perfection with salmon on the inside (you have a choice). There are a lot of other little side dishes of flavorful Japanese veggies that I love! It can get crowded and sucks to wait outside when it was winter, but definitely worth the wait. I even picked up a shirt (the one all their staff wear) as memorabilia when I left NYC.
I was amazed at how descent this place was. Located in the east village amongst at least three other izakaya places around the corner, this place seemed to be both in demand and delicious. My two friends and I waited no longer than 30 minutes on a Friday night around 730PM. The wait staff are efficient, polite and very quick, which makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable.
On to the food.
We had a couple different skewers: bacon with asparagus, bacon with mushrooms, bacon with scallops, yakitori and meat balls. The bacon with mushrooms on skewers were probably our favorite; fresh ingredients, well seasoned and hot from the grill.
We also had the nikujaga. Although my mother and I make a mean nikujaga, this was not bad. It could have been simmered a little longer, but if you need your nikujaga fix, this is the place. I would have to say the same about the chawan-mushi. (Shimo in SF is by far the best place to go for chawan-mushi).
The okonomiyaki was so delicious. I would actually come back to this place for their delicately crafted okonomiyaki. mmm.. makes me want one just thinking about it, even after days.
Also, if you go here, dont forget to order the nigori-sake. Good stuff. It was so good that each of us finished an entire serving bottle to ourselves.
Id like to try the other izakaya places in the east village when we return to nyc, but this place is, as of now, on the top of my list of places to go back.
It's such a fun place with so much done well that it's impossible to dislike it.
Get the fried squid legs, the udon soup and a few pieces of whatever yakitori you like and you won't be sorry.
Good solid izakaya in the east village. They seemed to have a very big menu. We went on a fri night (around 11) and didnt have to wait for a table....bonus :)
Good food, no wait, nice on your wallet...what more can you ask for.
This might sound like an odd criticism, but they brought the food out as it was done (not all at the same time), which in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing... but they just randomly put the plate anywhere on the table, so some dishes sat unclaimed for a little while because we (1) didn't know what the dish was, and (2) we were at such a long table, not everyone realized food had been brought. This could have easily been remedied if they simply gave the person who ordered the food, their dish... instead of making everyone at the table guess what food went to which person. In terms of the quality of the food, some people at the table really liked their food and others thought it was just "ok"... I was in the second boat.
Great place to hang out and grab a drink. The food was avg and so was the food. Price was great and so was the service. However, the Japanese pizza was a miss for me. But, I do love the fact that last call is at 2:30!
There's basically two types of east village Izakaya people: The Taisho crowd, and the Yokocho crowd. I was one of the Taisho crowd.
Taisho was dirty and real and Punk... Yokocho had better food, cleaner atmosphere, and better dressed employees/clientele.
I honestly think YokoCho's food is of higher quality, but there was always something about it that seemed contrived and phony. Taisho seemed real and in your face... that's why I would ALWAYS go to Taisho.
If I wanted to get a tasty bite to eat with a proper girl, I'd take her to Yokocho. If I wanted to get Piss drunk with my mates, maybe get into a fight or two, and take home the cute girl on the barstool next to me, I'd go to Taisho. Some of the good cooks at YokoCho would even come over to taisho after hours to get piss drunk!!
So for the food, lots of stars; for the feel-good-ness, minimal stars: 3 stars.
This place is so cute, the interior is setup like a Japanese Country hut, and it's all wood interior, with the paper lanterns, very cute.
Japanese yakatori style tapas. It's a bunch of fried goodness!
We ordered a number of things from noodle soup, to friend croquets (AWESOME!) and the octopus balls with those flakes that seem to move because of the heat, kind of freaks you out cause you imagine that the food you're about to consume is still alive (which many asian cultures do have delicacies for)...
Washing it down with a nice cold Kirin Light beer amongst the company of friends, it was awesome!
Enjoy!
This place has very good, legit, authentic Japanese izakaya/tapas food. I highly recommend this place for people that's missing Japan.
They have Kirin on tap and also many sours (mix drink) that people in Japan are into because they get asian glow fast.
If you're looking for a place to enjoy affordable, authentic Japanese cuisine, this is the place. Their food is simply amazing -- yakitoris to takoyakis, okonomiyakis.
The waitstaff was EXTREMELY courteous and knowledged of the menu. About 90% of the staff in Village Yokocho are Japanese.
The interior of Village Yokocho makes you feel as if you were in a yakitori joint in Tokyo, Japan. Simply amazing.
I definitely recommend this place and I look forward to my next visit. Thumbs up.
I have been eating at this tapas joint since 1999 and it's still great as ever. apart from the authentic feel of a japanese yakitori place, the food is amazing. They also have a good selection of japanese beers and sake.
If i'm goin with a group of 5 or more, we end up getting the $90 bottle of Oyama sake which stands at about 2 feet. They also have Kirin beer on tap which i recommend.
The food... for sake drinkers, must try the RAW octopus w/ wasabi flavor. It's basicall a small chopped up pieces of raw octopus with the wasabi kick.
The Yakitori (meat and or veggies on a stick) must try the chicken skin, scallion, and chicken meatball yakitoris.
The fried dishes
squid legs (must have)
chicken wings (japanese style)
corn croquettes
age dashi tofu
chicken w/ cheese
other notable dishes
Mushroom and oysters in butter sauce
pigs feet
Best japanese spot in the St. Marks area
this place is now gonna be my go to place away from the touristy yakitori taisho on st. marks place!!! why?
fri nite no wait!! food and service is relatively fast! food not overly greasy either!
food
- salted octopus - yum tons of it, not overly fermented tasting, pretty fresh
- sashimi bowl (only 10 bucks??) - tons of uni, salmon, salmon roe, crab meat... omg perfect! all over rice too!
- kimchi noodles - cold dish which was exactly what i wanted and wasn't expecting at all... its not really got kimchi but rather gochujang sauce to mix with ur cold stringy noodles
- salted cod - overly salted... better have this with rice... but super soft and tender
- tsukune ball - nice and bouncy and sweet
- squid legs - not overly grilled!
- pork intestines - again would be great over rice cuz tons of sauce
- string beans with black sesame sauce - cold dish with this sauce totally unexpected again and yet refreshing
overall the menu offerings here i think are a lot better... very unique stuff tons to choose from but no pictures... um i guess take ur time and order a lot?!?! haha
oh don't forget it all adds up tho!
I love the yakitori here. They also have a decent korean selection although its a japanized. The service is decent and the food fast and good. I hear there are better yakitori and izkayas in midtown, but I don't want to go all the way up there. This place is priced just right with a wide variety of great drinking foods. I would safely say this is best yakitori in st.marks :D
I love this area for the food offered... While most of the establishments are the same, yoko cho stands out somehow for my standards... As a person who used to work BOH, this place was perfect on a friday or saturday after long night because they last call either 2 30 or 3!
As far as food comes along, you expect to pay for what your ordering, but its all really enjoyable food and perfect when you're buy yourself, or with a large group. Their cocktail bar is also something to see, especially if you're on a date...
All that said, this place is great for just you, or when you want to bring a few other people along for a good time out, good food, japanese beer, good time!
I love the noodle dishes here, as well as many of the "tapas" (mmm takoyaki). I just had the kimchi rice (super addictive and spicy) and lots of tasty yakitori at my friend's birthday.
They were also kind enough to give her a reservation for our party (though that might have been because we sat down at the not-so-busy hour of 6:30). The food is all very reasonably priced, and I haven't had a disappointing dish yet.
Very yummy spot! What's not to like about this Japanese tapas place? The prices were reasonable, the food was excellent, the ambiance was very hip yet casual, the service was friendly, and all the patrons seemed to be having a great time.
My friend and I came here on a Friday night around midnight and totally pigged out. In the end, for the amount of food we ate, the bill was ridiculously cheap. $45 bucks total, and we definitely went to town. The wait wasn't too long either - about 45 minutes, which is easy to kill next door at the bar.
They do run out of food sometimes so it might be best to come a little earlier and get your order in. They ran out of the conch, and I heard a few groups trying to get it and being told the disappointing news, us being one.
A great spot in the village. Go check it out!
fried squid legs are amazing, as are their various grilled items (chicken skin, liver, asparagus & bacon). their hot pot is enough to feed 2 with leftovers usually. the place is packed but they always honour reservations and i appreciate that. i have also tried some of their specials including the oysters in foil (pretty good) their soup with squash, beef and something i can't remember which is also pretty awesome!
this place was pretty interesting and quirky. i was brought here on a day when my stomach wasn't… Read more »
I'm not a big fan of the food here. I came back about a month ago after taking about a year off and it was still just ok. The service can be off too. The soupy dish I got was really fishy but the edemame and seaweed salad was good.
The space is very large and I do like the setting. I don't really know why I keep coming back, I actually prefer the food at Kenka's.
mmm. grilled chicken liver. mmmm.
im glad i stumbled upon this on yelp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i will definitely be back.
love love love the decor!!!
I am a convert to Village Yokocho - I came here a lot as an NYU student simply because it's "cheap." But back then my tastes were, um, elementary. I can't believe I missed all the amazing tapas on the menu! Sure, I tried the noodle and sashimi dishes in the past but the true charm of Village Yokocho comes from the variety of little tastes and bursts of flavor from adventurous ordering...
The pumpkin soup is amazing. I never would have ordered this but my friend insisted it's healthy and tasty - BOY was it tasty!!! I want to go back just for that.. and the miso black cod. Addictive.
I really love the Sochu cocktails here - served in a massive pint, it's just the right amount of alcohol for me to be "fun" but not feeling it too much. Esp the grapefruit sochu cocktail. YuM!
This is one of my favorite places to go in the Village. It's a 5min walk from my work and the food is awesome! I recommend getting the Okonomiyaki and splitting it with a friend. It's really good. The staff there are really friendly and they always draw a bunny or another animal on the receipt. I would say that you would spend about $15/ person, but it's WORTH it!
All of their cocktails are served in pint glasses...and taste delicious, even though they are made from shochu, which I consider quite far from the world's tastiest spirit. A whole pint of fizzy yogurty lychee cocktail, times two, and I felt a quick and sudden wave of tipsiness when I stood up and was faced with the task of navigating my way around tightly-spaced tables to get to the bathroom.
I would definitely come back for the lively atmosphere, easy-drunk cocktails and grilled skewers which certainly make for a more exciting beer snack than chex mix.
Warning: Groups bigger than 4 will fight over the last quail egg.
Love fried squid with mayonnaise? What about a pitcher of Kirin? Does your idea of a good night involve some grilling Japanesey style? Come to Village Yokocho!
I don't know half of what I ate because we had Token Japanese Girl order everything for us. It was all good; though nothing was really amazing except the takoyaki! It's like jello, it's alive! -- I love how bonito flakes move around. No worries, none of the other food moved.
My replacement of Taisho, standard japanese yakitori stuff. the place is VERY hidden. the address is miss-leading. better google it before you go.
Like all the japanese yakitori places.. you need to wait.. make sure you don't go there too hungry.. the place is HUGE..
I do like their food.. but my heart will always belong to Taisho.. I don't mind come back here for sure.
St. Marks is a bit of a culinary wasteland to me, even though there are all these hole-in-the-wall-type Japanese places that are deceptively tempting. A co-worker of mine who's from Japan recommended this place, which at least seems more "authentic" than other restaurants in the area.
It's up a random flight of stairs above the Sunrise Mart entrance (this is also how you enter Angel's Share bar/lounge next door). The space is done in your typical casual Japanese decor, with bamboo and wood fixtures. The menu is extensive, and there are cutely illustrated fliers that advertise the specials on one wall.
Two of us shared a "Sakura" yakitori combo plate, which featured squid legs (a bit overdone), quail eggs (delicious, but hard to mess up), a grilled prawn (also overdone--the shell was sticking to the meat), scallops (cooked well but not too much flavor), and some sort of 6" long silver fish (my favorite thing--the whole fish was completely edible, including the bones, and was stuffed with roe, which...I guess is an acquired taste).
We also had a sashimi bowl, which had salmon, salmon roe, sea urchin (very fresh and buttery), and crab (oddly dry and had too may shell pieces mixed in with the meat) on a bed of sushi rice.
Service was okay--I spent a bulk of the meal looking sadly at my empty tea cup and wishing for a refill that never came. If I'm in the area again and want dinner, I'd probably go back simply due to the lack of other options, but I wouldn't make a special trip otherwise.
Tip: Try Yakitori Totto on 55th x 8th Ave. instead. It's completely worth the trip uptown, and it's also tucked away up a random flight of stairs.
This is my favorite izakaya in east village. Their menu selection is awesome...they carry every hot Japanese dish that I can think of, and all of them are pretty decent. Their service is always attentive and price is reasonable. Even though this place is not geared towards children, I feel still comfortable to bring my kids because of their friendly service. My favorite item is fried squid legs. All of their yakitori items are good and nabeyaki udon is also excellent.
Oh... new favorite dish, though messy, the pork feet are excellent.
If you like trying out tapas, this is definitely the place for you. A wide-open-variety menu filled… Read more »
With no storefront, it's easy to walk-by this delicious eatery. But when you get upstairs, you'll see why it's a local favorite.
This is the first time I've had yakitori at a restaurant, and I would recommend trying that first before moving on to more standard dishes like rice and noodles. Go for the more unusual choices: chicken gizzard, chicken heart, beef tongue. This is the only place I know of that serves gizzard, heart, and tongue, and it is delicious! If you served the tongue to people without telling them what it is, no one would suspect it's tongue. Rather, it tastes like a tender cut of beef! The plain beef yakitori is rather unremarkable, and the duck with scallions was pretty dry. So definitely stick with the unusual yakitori!
I also had the grilled rice ball with salmon. The salmon was okay, and I realized I'm not a big fan of grilled rice. So if you want a rice ball, choose the steamed option. *A plus: the steamed rice balls are prepared faster than the grilled ones.
The calamari here...is the ONLY kind of fried squid I actually like to eat. They don't use too much batter, so you're actually eating the squid instead of grease and fried breadcrumbs. I also like that they gave us the tentacles instead of generic rings of rubber. This may make some people squeamish, but I actually like to recognize the animals I'm eating. And the mayonnaise on the side tastes very similar to that used in the Cantonese shrimp and broccoli dish they serve at banquets.
While I didn't order the okonomiyaki myself, in the hour I was there, I saw at least 15 orders of it being plated! And boy, do they slather on the sauce! I must try it next time.
I guess the best thing about this place is that the yakitori is small and cheap enough so you can sample a lot of them. And if you're just in the mood for a quick and light meal, this place is perfect. Definitely sit at the far corner of the bar so you can watch the cook grill the yakitori!
Happy Hour!
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
now serving on sundays!
Neighborhood: East Village
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Japanese
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