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    Yopparai

    4.3 (289 reviews)
    PriceyIzakaya
    Open 5:30 pm - 10:00 PM

    Order Yopparai Takeout or Delivery

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    YOPPARAI ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Intimate
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Yopparai

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    Reviews With Photos

    Kakuni (braised pork)
    Jason W.

    A cozy, authentic izakaya found in the Lower East Side, Yopparai is a good spot to snack on some well-executed Japanese food while drinking from an extensive sake selection. The vibes are calm, and Yopparai is fairly quiet. You'll hear smooth jazz play in the background while folks go about discussing their day. They have some tables where you can take off your shoes and sit on some pillows. There is an extensive sake selection and a scattered variety of Japanese food to pair. The sushi here is fairly solid, but I think the best item is the tempura, which is fried with an incredibly light batter and flavorful dipping sauce.

    8 types of Sashimi
    Christine L.

    Incredible cozy Japanese spot serving delicious fresh seafood and perfect tempura. They have a couple tables of more traditional seating where you take off your shoes, but there is also regular seating at the bar or a couple tables at the front. Def recommend coming with a reservation bc the place is pretty small. I came for dinner on Saturday with my aunt and we ordered: Chawanmushi (egg custard w salmon roe on top)- 5/5 perfectly silky and savory from pops of roe. The slices of yuzu helps cut through the saltiness. Hotate Butter (grilled scallop)- 5/5 the butter soy sauce is incredible! Scallop is really tender too. I ended up dunking the rest of the squid in this sauce. Ika Ichiyazuke (grilled squid)- 4/5 chewy and tasty with the ginger. Assorted 5 types of tempura- 5/5 came with shrimp, eggplant, shiso leaf, salmon, and squid. The salmon tempura was tender and juicy while being perfectly crispy- my favorite! They also serve it two ways, either with dipping sauce that has ginger and scallions, or simply with salt and lemon. 8 types of sashimi- 4.5/5 so fresh! Came with 2 pieces for each fish. My favorites were the amberjack and the salmon. We also got a hot green tea and hot sake carafe. Both were good, especially on a cold night. Service was very attentive, and the ambiance is cozy. They were unfortunately out of the homemade tofu, so I would definitely consider coming back to try that.

    Mike S.

    The restaurant is very cute! It's got a cozy Japanese style and we were lucky to sit in the "private booth". It was such a good experience. Food was delicious. Everything we ordered was very good. However they added up to the bill quickly and we spent over $100 each. The service was just okay. Water wasn't a standard thing here and no one offered to add water throughout the meal. Also we weren't given instructions on how to cook the hot pot and ran out of the fire so we asked for more fuel. The waiter was quite rude about it and said "this is the last one I'd give you".

    Phoebe A.

    I came here with the a friend earlier this week, and all in all, it was a very nice experience. I definitely appreciate the traditional seating, although can be a bit awkward with taking off your shoes and getting settled in the seat. The food was also really good, very fresh. The only downside is that it was a bit pricey for the portion size we got. That being said, we got a good selection of dishes to share (the 6 kind sashimi, the wagyu beef roll, the special okonomiyaki, and a special seaweed appetizer), which was satisfying for the two of us. The wait staff were also friendly and attentive. All in all, it was a great atmosphere and the food quality was very nice, albeit a bit pricey.

    Pancake
    Grace W.

    Dim lighting, intimate setting and food is pretty good at this upscale Japanese izakaya. We (3 couples) went for dinner on a Friday evening and tried a bunch of different dishes. We ordered a couple special dishes of the night, Braised Beef Tongue and Pancake. The tongue was flavorful. We also tried the Chawanmushi topped w/ Salmon Roe which is one of my favorite, it was so good. Karaage was alright, Grilled Scalloped in Soy Based Butter Sauce was delicious. The Grilled Miso Marinated Black Cod also my favorite of the night as well. The Tsukune Chicken Meatball Topped with Raw Egg Yolk was tasty. The Assortment of 8 Types of Sashimi, although fresh but small cut. Overall very decent food and good service.

    Jessica L.

    Came here randomly. Made a reservation 2 hours before. The food was good and the ambiance is nice. Service was good. And food was excellent. Besides the plain squid. Everything was great. The dessert was okay. We ordered the mochi ice cream and the macaron hojicha thing. Will definitely come back here. But expect the bill to be pricey. The chicken meatball is meh. Based on reviews I expected it to be great. But other wise everything else was great.

    hotate butter
    Jessica W.

    My experience eating at Yopparai was quite pleasant. We were immediately seated at 7:15pm with a reservation for 7:30pm and were instructed to take off our shoes so that we could sit at the dining area. We ordered the Tsukune (Homemade Chicken Meatball Topped with Raw Egg Yolk), Hotate Butter (Grilled Scallop in Soy based butter sauce), and the Ika Ichiyazuke (Grilled Whole Marined Squid) for the appetizers. They were all around $16-$18 each, which is honestly not too bad for the quality of the food that was received. We also ordered the 10 piece chef's choice sushi for $85. The Chicken Meatball was really delicious. On the perimeter of the dish was this chopped radish-textured formation that was coated beautifully in this soy-based sauce. It was the perfect amounts of sour and savory. We had to mix in the raw egg yolk with the meatball and it tasted absolutely amazing. I could not stop eating the Hotata Butter scallops, the butter mixture was so rich and flavorful, and the added lemon juice complemented the scallops and the sauce perfectly. The scallops were also extremely tender and flavorful, and they even put salt on the side to add an extra zing. The grilled squid was also extremely appetizing and delicious, and they gave an extremely generous amount of squid that was addicting to eat. Lastly was the omakase-styled sushi part of the dinner. They gave us generous amounts of fish ranging from salmon roe, botan ebi, yellowtail, tuna, chutoro, salmon, fluke, and uni. Each piece was curated beautifully and was an absolute pleasure to eat. Overall my experience was great and my stomach was pleasantly satisfied at the end. We also got the Yopparai Partfait at the very end, which was $12 for vanilla ice cream, a ton of whipped cream, sliced bananas, strawberries, and cereal. It was a perfect way to end the dinner and the night.

    Clari B.

    What I love is the intimate space and sake options. What I want to love is the food, it's a bit inconsistent. Most times the fried food is drowning in oil and is unpleasant to eat what little or humongous cuts of vegetables may be hiding in there. Other times the fish is mild in flavor (even those that are supposed to pack a wallop of flavor). I do love that the uni is always fresh and perhaps that's all I'll return for. Overall a good Japanese eatery for a change of pace from the abundant food varieties around.

    Anago chirashi
    Helen F.

    Ambience was very cute! They had us take our shoes off before we sat in the booths. Portions were quite small, we shared these items amongst 4 people which came out to about 50 per person but none of us were full by the end. I think this review is largely driven by how much I liked the pork belly and karaage (which I would consider coming back for) The pork belly was a little bit of both sweet and acidic and mind-blowingly tender. It is very fatty which also makes it pretty fatty. I think it would have been very nice with a bit of rice The karaage was probably the best karaage I've tried in nyc. It was crispy, super flavorful and incredibly juicy. The yopparai chirashi was also quite good, I liked all of the components and the rice was good (a little chewy, not too sticky). This was probably the largest item and maybe could have fed one person Anago chirashi was solid but nothing too special. Probably wouldn't order the beef tataki, daikon salad, or pickles again

    House Chirashi
    Rainey C.

    Wasn't sure whether I wanted to give this place 3 or 4 stars but I rounded up because of the service and ambiance. It is a bit pricey but overall had a good experience. My favorites were the grilled squid and the 5 kinds of tempura. I ordered the fish hot pot for myself as the entree but wish it came with some sort of rice or that the portion was a bit bigger. My friends got the house chirashi and it was great. The fish was fresh. We ordered a bottle of sake for the table to share and the cost came out to almost $100 per person. Pricey but overall a good experience!

    Food: 3.5 stars Overall, the food is good, but I don't think it matches the price. We ordered black cod (4.5 stars), sashimi (4 stars), beef tartare (I didn't really like it, but my husband did), and tuna sushi (3 stars). Service: 4 stars. The service was pleasant. Ambiance: 3.7 stars

    Julia H.

    have been in search of a fire izakaya spot so decided to check this place out. will say that right off the bat, great hospitality! we had a table reserved outdoors in the kotatsu but it ended up being a lot colder than we expected so they were able to seat us indoors. we got a variety of dishes and the flavors were all very traditional. top pics were the tsukune, tempura, and kakuni. rice balls were a bit overcooked and some of the flavors were a bit too mild, especially id you are pairing with alcohol. as far as what i want in a go-to izakaya spot i'm not sure it checks all the boxes as there aren't a ton of options on the menu. however, the hardest thing to stomach is the price. you will inevitably hit the 150$ mark for two and you may not leave with a completely full stomach. i would say this is more of a spot to come to focus on drinking and share a few appetizers while youre there rather than have a full meal.

    Agedasho tofu
    Ainsley E.

    Are a reservation for two for the streetside outdoor seating with the kotatsu table to keep warm. It was definitely cozy with the kotatsu but a bit awkward with people walking by and having to take shoes on/off and go into the restaurant to use the restroom. Definitely a cool experience though. We ordered: - two types of sake (unsure which unfortunately) - nukazuke - karaage - agedashi tofu - kakuni (pork belly) - hotate butter scallops - 6 pieces sashimi - 6 pieces veggie tempura Our favorite item was definitely the kakuni -- we wished we'd ordered another serving of those instead of the sashimi. The karaage was incredible -- such delicious meat and the breading was so light. Probably the best agedashi tofu I've had and that's one of my favorites to order at Japanese restaurants. The scallops were delicious but the portion was a bit disappointing -- the total amount maybe equalled two whole small scallops, sliced up. Veggie tempura was definitely good but not groundbreaking. Sashimi was good quality but nothing better than what I've had at other quality sushi joints. This was definitely a fun (and pricey) experience. No regrets (except not ordering more pork belly) I'd maybe return if they changed up the menu significantly, otherwise there are plenty of other izakaya to check out -- the food here is good but expensive so you may get equal bang for your buck elsewhere.

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    2 months ago

    The food was great, service very good, enjoyed the cocktails too. I would recommend it highly.

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    Yopparai Reviews in Other Languages

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    Kazumi Popup - Chicken Karaage

    Kazumi Popup

    4.3(17 reviews)
    1.6 miChelsea

    Kazumi is a lovely pop up restaurant with an intimate space and attentive service. The menu is…read moresmall but every dish is wonderfully designed with unique flavor pairings. Half of their menu is vegan-friendly. Spoiler alert: they will open a permanent location in June/July! *Chicken Karaage*** This chicken karaage was TO DIE FOR -- the caramelized sugar lemon on the side took it to a whole new level. The boneless chicken was so tender and juicy with a thin deep-fried batter. The meat was extremely refreshing after squeezing the lemon and dipping in honey mustard sauce. * Handrolls - Salmon Yuzu, Tuna, Yellowtail** Y'all need to order their handrolls! The sashimi piece was thick and long enough to cover the vinegar rice. It would be a pain to pick which handroll I like more. They layered up the flavors of each piece with house sauces, shiso leaf, fried leek, avocado etc. Wish they would add a handroll set in the future. *Pork Cutlet Curry The curry was a blend of shredded meat, mashed potatoes, tomatoes and grapes (yes grapes!). The pork loin cutlets were crispy and not heavily breaded. The meat was a bit dry, yet it was cut in thin slices so it didn't bother me much. I found the multigrain rice even more enjoyable than white rice with its crunchiness. *Matcha Crème Brûlée** WE LOVED THIS. Matcha flavor is strong. The caramelized top and creamy matcha custard complemented really well. Trust me, their crème brûlée is the best dessert to finish off your meal. *Vegan Matcha Cheesecake This cheesecake was homey and light. Matcha flavor was tasteable but not very strong. The raspberry compote added a nice touch to it. I liked the crunchy biscuit layer on the bottom. *Yuzu White Peach Sparkling *Virgin Green Tea Mojito Their Japanese-inspired mocktails were great and not too sweet (very rare for mocktails). Very refreshing to drink along with your meal.

    A cute neighborhood spot for casual lunch. The restaurant is very small, 4-6 tables, but it's cozy…read more The menu is simple and no fuss which I liked not being overwhelmed with options. Starting off with the Agedashi Tofu: Three pieces of tofu in tsuyu sauce. Light and crispy, with a savory but not too salty broth. It came with fried enoki mushrooms. Some grated radish would've been a nice touch. Chicken Karaage: This was my personal favorite. The chicken pieces were tender and juicy, while crispy on the outside. The portion came with a decent amount of chicken which was shareable between three. Shoyu Ramen: Not a standout dish, but seeing as it's not specifically a ramen restaurant, it was standard! Not amazing but not bad. Pork Cutlet Curry: As someone who loves Japanese curry, this hit the spot! Warm flavorful curry with crispy tonkatsu. However, I think it would taste better served with fluffy white rice! Also I think it was served with a side of grapes which was seemed odd unless it's a new food trend I'm unaware of. Overall, would definitely come back! They seem to do fried foods well, hopefully they can introduce tempura or a katsu sando would be amazing.

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    Towa

    Towa

    4.3(141 reviews)
    1.7 miFlatiron
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    Wonderful experience for our group to celebrate a birthday dinner! First this restaurant is very…read moreunassuming, simple doors that take you to the open sushi chef counter followed by small tables in the back. The restaurant was full at the counter however only a few tables in the back. Our server was often always standing next to our table, attentive and observant with our needs. I really liked that we had the option to get as many omakases as we wanted and/or order as many a la carte menu items. Many Japanese omakase restaurants do not allow this! And I never understood this either. We ordered 3 omakases to share amongst 2 people, and then a ton of a la carte dishes to share. Which were such a beautiful compliment to our omakase dishes. We got the "O" which was a 9 course meal with some cooked and raw options. From the a la carte menu, we ordered the chicken karaage, agedashi tofu, hamachi kama, clay pot rice with salmon and roe, sukiyaki noodles, 2 different rolls (tuna and salmon) and of course the uni taster (which were 3 different kinds of sushi from California and 2 from Hokkaido). The agedashi tofu was the worst amongst our group for a weird texture, definitely did not feel like tofu. The best dishes were the uni taster, chicken karraage, and hamachi kama all from the a la carte menu. And from the omakase, definitely the sushi platter (which were 10 pieces of sushi) and the soba noodles were so amazing! The sushi rice here were so delicious! This is how you can tell a authentic sushi restaurant vs not. Overall, definitely recommend and absolutely order a la carte to get a full tasting of the dishes.

    Great value for food here!…read more We were able to get a last minute reservation and this place did not disappoint! We both got one of the course sets and it left us full, the price was definitely worth it for quality sushi with different variety of fish and dishes. Would love to come back and try other courses as well! They also have a counter with omakase it seems.

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    Towa - Omakase counter

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    Yopparai - izakaya - Updated May 2026

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