Hakata TonTon — Restaurant in New York

Short review- order the goma, kani, wagyu, tonsoku. Nabe/hot pot is alright.

I went here a while with a group.

The first thing that arrived was probably my favorite bite of the night which was the Goma Hamachi for $20 with baby yellowtail with scallion, seaweed, and sesame sauce which is poured table side. The hamachi was excellent quality being buttery with a soft texture and the nutty sesame sauce (said goma) worked nicely with it. This was excellent and I would recommend it heavily.

Also very tasty was the Kani Harumaki for $14 with a blend of snow crab, pork, mushroom, and vegetables served with spring roll skin which came with a light soy based dipping sauce. There was a bit of sweetness, a bit of earthiness, and some richness and it all fit well with the crispy skin. This was very good as well and was decently portioned for the price point.

Also very tasty was the Wagyu Yakiniku Wrap for $18 with BBQ washu beef with lettuce, pickled vegetables, and mayo wrapped in a scallion pancake. This was perhaps a bit messy due to the mayo as well as the sweet sauce especially when paired with the slightly oily pancake but the flavor was excellent. The beef quality was high and it had some sweetness to it but not too much so and the pickled vegetables added a nice crunch.

The Tonsoku Ponzu for $13 with grilled pork feet with scallion and ponzu sauce is one of their signatures that you can't really find in many other Japanese spots. The dish of course has a lot of collagen so it's rich and fatty but the ponzu helps cut down the richness of the pork. There was also a Japanese hot sauce on the table which helped as well. This was also good though I would recommend more compared to other small plates to share.

The Kara Age for $9 consisting of Japanese fried chicken with mala mayo was pretty standard outside of the price point being relatively cheaper for the portion size compared to most other places. The chicken was pretty tender though I have had much crispier versions before but I can't complain with the light batter and the amount of chicken given. Though the color was different, the mayo also didn't exactly have any type of mala seasoning either but it still worked with the chicken.

The Koji Ebi Chili for $20 consisting of shrimp with sweet chili over egg omelette was pretty standard western Japanese/Yoshoku style comfort food. There was plenty of shrimp/ebi in there and the sweet chili was standard. I wish the egg was a bit fluffier but that is only a minor fault in an otherwise standard tasty dish.

Last was our large main to share which was the Tonton Hotpot (or nabe) which is $68 for the large or $38 for the small and we got the large one which was large and fine. This came with pork feet, chicken thigh, pork belly, dumplings, tofu, vegetables, and your choice of soup where we got the spicy miso tonsoku soup. The primary meat in there was the tonsoku/pork feet with there being some thigh and a little bit of dumplings and pork belly. Outside of the size which is easily big enough for four people as it should be for the price point, it's hard not to compare it unfavorably to some other nabe spots such as Kimura or even some other recent ones such the izakaya Toriya on the LES which both had much better broths, a little more variety in terms of vegetables, and was not focused on one meat in particular. Possibly the motsu/intestine pot is better here but I would recommend sticking with their other dishes instead.

This place is tasty with plenty of highlights and a worthy successor to the original...

This place gets busy very fast and stays busy. Many people who came in group had to wait a bit, with as many as five groups lined up in front of them on the queue. So be sure you have reservations or patience. They are currently having a grand opening. All my photos of the food show after I've eaten more than a few bites. I couldn't wait. I came at around 7 alone, so I was at least able to get a seat at their bar. The place was packed. They have a standing space in the front for people to wait. It's nicely decorated with flowers and a bonsai display. The rest of the restaurant feels more bare of color, with the AC system exposed in the ceiling, simple metal stylings above the bar, gray floors, wooden stools and tables; all save fpt a green neon sign in the middle. The servers are very courteous even when busy and often are very occupied. I feel they might be understaffed or just overbooked possibly, but they are able to accommodate well enough for the dinner rush that they don't forget what you ordered and will come tell you if there has been any delays, which is appreciated. Their Motto is that they make everything with care, which might explain the wait time for the food, though the full house should also be taken into consideration. It's not an egregious wait time for food. For people waiting to get a table though, it could take a while since the atmosphere encourages people to linger. I had planned to order the chuhi red, but they were out of the carbonated shochu, I guess. I ordered the Suntory instead, with the tontoro and a gocha (earl Grey) cheese cake for dessert. As I sipped my beer, I could watch the Barkeeper serving other people at the rather packed bar. The seat I was on was a little wobbly, and the small surface area wasn't the most comfortable, compared to Tonchin in the same area. The tontoro is a hot dish served on a sizzling platter, so that takes a bit longer. It came hot with the chive sauce, which was sort of fun to pour on, save that it spattered a bit. But that's to be expected. The pork cheek comes with celery, and you can shift them around on the pan with the sauce to get them a little brown before eating. Despite the richness of the pork, the chives cut through entirely. The pork itself has a good, chewy mouthful. For dessert, the gocha cheesecake came with house-whipped cream and orange zest. Unfortunately, the orange zest was the dominant flavor and the delicate aroma and flavor of earl Grey was taking a backseat. However, the texture of the cake was great and rich, contrasting with the mild and light cream. The crust is also well baked, with good color. Overall, this was a fun experience. I suspect that once they get into the swing of opening back up, they will work out all their kinks and be even more popular than now, which...

Our party of four came in on a Friday with a 7:30 resso. I had been to their West Village location years back (which I think is also closed now) but only had the hot pot. This time, we ordered other things to try in addition to the hot pot. We kind of made up our own little tasting menu and shared all the plates. We had:

Liver sashimi (Veal liver sashimi with sesame oil, salt, and Pajang sauce) - I wasn't sure what to expect because I like liver but have never had liver sashimi before. It definitely tastes very different. The texture is also chewy but slightly crunchy. This wasn't for me

Citrus salmon (Atlantic salmon with salmon roe, red onion, jalapeno and lemon dressing) - can't go wrong with salmon sashimi. It sounds like there's a lot going on but all the flavors worked well with each other

Chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken with mala mayo) - another classic. When in doubt, just go with the fried chicken

Katsu sandwich (Japanese pork fillet cutlet sandwich with Japanese mustard butter) - I can't remember if I liked this or not. Nothing really stood out to me

Yakiniku wrap (Barbecue washu beef with scallion pancake, lettuce, pickled vegetables, and mayo) - kind of basic and not worth the $16

Gyu tongue (beef tongue with ginger scallion sauce) - very tender. I really liked the ginger scallion sauce

Yuzu miso pork (Pork belly with Sichuan pepper and yuzu miso sauce) - I remember this being a bit dry

Kani harumaki (Blend of snow crab, pork, mushroom and vegetables. Served with spring roll skin) - also pretty basic.

Ebi mayo (shrimp with roasted almond, fresh cherry, and yuzu mayo) - I liked the yuzu mayo

Hakata roll (Amberjack roll with scallions wrapped in amberjack, shiso, and spicy cod roe) - too much shiso but other than that, the roll was good

Uni scallop (seared scallop with sea urchin) - what's not to love about uni or scallop? This was the crowd favorite of the night

Small Motsu hot pot "white" (Chicken bonito broth with beef intestine, cabbage, chives, and dumpling skin) - this was very flavorful and the broth tasted really clean. The veggies were a nice addition after indulging in such rich dishes earlier in the evening. But by the time the hot pot came, we were already pretty full.

Even though we ordered so many things, there are still a bunch of other dishes I'd like to try, so I'll...