Do You “Izakaya?”

If you do, great! If you don’t, you are missing out on a culinary treat!

Izakaya food is a diverse and flavorful selection of small plates and snacks, often featuring a mix of grilled, fried, and raw dishes. Popular izakaya dishes include edamame, karaage, yakitori, sashimi, and various grilled vegetable skewers, all perfect for sharing and pairing with drink!

I eat Izakaya every time I am in Tokyo, as well as one of the many great restaurants in New York that specializes as well…basically, Izakaya is like an English pub or any US bar & grill, gathering spots for locals to have a tasty and traditional bite to eat – food like this:

So What Is Served At An Izakaya?

Izakaya offer a wide range of foods. Here are dishes that are available at most Izakaya: sashimi platters, karaage(fried chicken), yakisoba noodles and edamame (green pod soybeans), plus all sorts of grilled meat skewers, which pair well with beer and sake.

Some of those grilled items will include chicken hearts, kidneys and more – and they are incredibly smoky and delicious! So why am I going on and on about the magic of Izakaya? Because disaster is unfolding!

Between January and November last year, 203 Izakaya operators in Japan declared bankruptcy, exceeding the 189 recorded in the whole of 2020, according to Teikoku Databank, which offers financial and research support services.

They are being squeezed by higher food prices and changing tastes…but here in New York they are proliferating…check out this one we ate at:

All it takes is a small cooking area and a lot of bite-size delights to give us! We also had Izakaya at a great Japanese jazz club in midtown Manhattan – and of course I had to have ramen!

It was a fun collection of bar food and of course there was music as well…take a listen:

Sadly, the future of Izakaya in Japan is under threat! Hopefully, by sharing this information, people will rally to support these businesses.

Click here for the whole story:

I also shared a story with you all about my attempt to make Izakaya at home…here’s a peek:

I made multiple dishes with varying degrees of success…click here for all of the recipes!

I love Japanese pub food like this: a plate of “Okonomiyaki!”

It may not be easy to pronounce, but it’s worth trying!

I make “oh-ko-no-me-yaki” at home and you can too – here’s the recipe!

Now, back to Tokyo: when we were there, we ate at a restaurant where the Chefs also performed songs like this:

What a great performance and food too!

See our meal here:

When my wife Alex, son Jeff and I were in Tokyo we ate all kinds of wild food, like sushi for breakfast!

Since we ate there – and yes, the sushi bars surrounding Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish Market served sushi at 6a – the market moved a bit further away from the city center – but it still exists so go see it!

Here is an inside look at the iconic market that was:

A bit more food and fun from Tokyo, you see my son befriends a Musician who worked in a bar and he played an original song for us!

This “Golden Gai” entertainment area is so much fun – see why by clicking on my story here!

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