In The Mood For Sushi – In 2D?

Well, that’s what happened when my wife Alex, our friend Yvette and I headed to a restaurant on New York’s lower east side – what do I mean by “2D?”

This!

Entering Shirokuro on the lower east side of New York is like stepping into a two-dimensional, black-and-white drawing, with floors, ceilings, and furniture that all look like they’re straight out of a comic book. Even the bathrooms are on theme! 

Here’s how the restaurant describes it:

“At Shirokuro, we didn’t just want to create a traditional Japanese omakase restaurant. Our vision was to offer something unique: a place where art and food intersect in a living, breathing sketchbook. Inspired by the precision and emotion of hand-drawn artwork, we chose not to use wallpaper or printed graphics, but instead hand-drew every single line.”

That’s right: NO wallpaper, it’s entirely hand drawn!

Shirokuro’s commitment is truly impressive. Its name actually means “white black” in Japanese, and you see it utilized everywhere, whether it’s the illustrated sake bottles lined up next to real ones behind the bar, or the delicate grain of the “wood” floorboards. It took the restaurant’s art director more than three months to hand-draw it all. 

Well, that commitment is worth a closer look, so it was time for us to head in and check it out! Here’s what we saw as we arrived and entered:

As you can see, the walls are intricately drawn to appear as a Japanese Manga – all in black and white!

Here’s another look on video:

That’s the sushi counter, where almost every single thing is kept black and white! Every table was the same, a cool hand drawn look because they all were!

It really does look like a 2D drawing, with only the warm of the ceiling lighting keeping it from a harsh black-n-white setting! Alex and I got a selfie at the table:

Next, Yvette and I provided the color at our table while Alex grabbed a photo of us:

Our photo session over, it was time to eat! Well, after being served a very colorful drink:

Here’s the menu – black and white of course:

As you can see, it’s a traditional Japanese pub, with hot and cold appetizers and different varieties of sushi and sushi rolls on another page to order as well…we started with the charred oysters:

I love raw Oysters, but also ones that are broiled with toppings like this: decadent but delicious!

Next up was a favorite of mine: okonomiyaki – the griddled pancake stuffed with vegetables and covered with flavored mayos!

The potstickers come in a unique presentation:

The potstickers are under this thin pancake-like crust! A fun crunch to add to the chewy potsticker!

Shu Mai were next, then it was on to some cut handrolls:

Yellowtail, spicy tuna and spicy salmon – all straightforward and tasty, well priced as well.

A platter of sushi followed – here’s a visual tour:

Everything was good, fresh and fast – well priced too!

Overall, a fun experience as the design is really unique and the food was fun – did the trick!

This type of restaurant is close to a traditional Japanese Pub: a wide variety of small bite with some sushi options as well:

It’s known as an Izakaya, and here is a bit of the rich and flavorful history of Japanese pub food!

I’ve been lucky to ahve gone to Tokyo 5 times so far, always finding unique food – and where I made my first Okonomiyaki with my son, his friend and Alex!

There it is, waiting to be consumed at a terrific restaurant in Tokyo’s Kubiki-Cho party district!

I then made my first one at home – click here to see how much fun it is to do!

Which leads me to this:

I shared this when I found a poster for an Okonomiyaki Burger – and now I want to make one at home.

Here’s the recipe and look for my attempt to make this next week!

A bit more food and fun from Tokyo, because my son befriended a Bartender in the Golden Gui bar district of Shinjuku:

He was also a Musician and he played an original song for us! Check it out!

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

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