Robataya NY

When I stepped foot into this restaurant, I was amazed and also overwhelmed.

J wanted us to sit by the bar where the performance and cooking all comes together but all the seats were reserved. So, we ended up getting seated in the backroom where there are 20+ tables and waiters to serve us. Not a total bummer because the place is actually pretty nice. The decor was homey, in a Japanese sense.

The menu was pretty simple. A lot of their dishes were grilled with suzu salt, a salt that is imported all the way from Japan. They had a wide variety of sake and alcohol drinks. The restaurant really came off as a civilized place where you can drink and feast on some small dishes of snacks throughout the night. Be warned, this place is about quality and not quantity. So, if you want to spend less and be full, I suggest you walk right out the door and treat yourself to a ramen bowl instead.

Uni Kobu Yaki

I never had cooked sea urchin before but this didn't really please me. It had a fishy seafood taste when cooked and I didn't really enjoy this much. I'm glad J did, cause he was going to end up eating the entire thing anyways. Man, I'm evil.

Wagyu Fillet Mignon

It's a small dish, sliced into 4 pieces. But it taste so amazing. You're probably thinking, it's just beef. It is, but it's quality beef that just melts in your mouth. Hence it cost $15 for only 4 small slices.

Oyster Kamameshi

Kamameshi was just rice in a pot. It's very similar to the Chinese's rice in a clay pot. The rice for this dish was very soft and had a slight sticky chewy texture to it (I love that of Japanese rice!). Nothing so special, just rice and cooked oyster. It was really bland, so J and I had to end up pouring soy sauce into our rice...

Grilled Sweet Fish

That fish looks small and scary, just like piranhas. The meat has a slight sweetness to it but if you don't really savor the taste, then you won't be able to tell at all. Just to let you guys know, all the entrails of the fish has not been removed. Avoid the dark/black areas because it was so bitter. Yea, I tried it...

Grilled Skate Wing

My most favorite dish of the night. I love skate. Let it be dried, grilled, fried, however it's made - I'll eat it. It's actually fun to eat also. The meat comes off in strips because of the cartilage that separates it. YUM!

Green Tea with Rice Cakes

Extremely refreshing and also really simple to make. The rice cakes are just mochi balls in matcha green tea with a scoop of green tea ice cream. Not bad, but not that great also.

This experience was just mediocre - maybe it's because we didn't get to sit in the front by the bar. Also another reason for us to go back would be that. I like my food to be handed to me with a paddle.

Robataya NY
231 E 9th St 
New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-9674