Izakaya Futago — Restaurant in New York

Do not ever come here during lunch time, unless you have a very flexible lunch hour or work schedule.

I came here for lunch on a reservation with my mom, who came out here during her lunch break to eat with me, and the first thing I found odd was that they put us in the empty back room, whereas everyone else was in the main dining room. It didn't become an issue until 10 minutes later and we realized no one had come by to ask us what we'd like to drink, let alone serve us water.

They moved us to the bar but it only got worse because the service was non-existent. We ordered a tofu salad as an appetizer, which itself took about 20 minutes. Soon, 15 min went by, and we noticed that we still hadn't gotten our soba noodles and everyone else that came after us was finishing up their meals and paying their bills. I asked our waiter what was going on and he tried to make up a BS excuse and said that they "usually serve the main dishes after the appetizers are done". We were livid. I've never been to a restaurant that ever did this, and the fact that he tried to make up a lame lie was worse. It's lunch hour--the busiest hour yet--in one of the busiest business epicenters of the world, and you want to tell me that your restaurant doesn't have any concept of timing serving to customers who have to go back to work within the hour? It was purely an excuse for their poor time management and lack of understanding of priorities.

It was not packed like some other restaurants that I've been to in the area during peak lunch hour. We literally arrived at 12pm--exactly when they opened for lunch, and only 5 other tables were already seated, so it's not like we had a random walk-in while it was packed. We were annoyed and asked for the soba to go since there was no way we would've had any time to enjoy it at the restaurant because it had been an hour since we got seated and ordered at that point. All the waiter offered was a free, small teapot to make up for the trouble lol.

The soba was not good, btw. Maybe because it was takeout quality but the broth was so mediocre and it was such a nightmare having to open so much packaging and dump things in my broth.

Honestly, this was a pretty traumatizing experience, considering that we both had to run back to our offices for meetings that we had originally set aside ample time to digest the food and walk back at a leisurely pace beforehand but ate up an entire hour...

Lunch vs. Dinner:

I've been to Soba Totto several times, for both lunch and dinner. As a lucky Bara Chirashi diner during weekday lunch, I went back for New Years Eve dinner, only to discover the far more extensive menu. So, when you see the $$$ signs on the Yelp profile for this restaurant, note that it refers to dinner. Lunch is a $10-25 quick quality ordeal (if you want it to be).

Love that this outpost of the Totto group is SOOO MUCH MORE MANAGEABLE than freaking Totto Ramen. You can even call in for reservations, even on Christmas and NYE (though they were closed on New Years Day). No waiting outside for an hour in a polar vortex B.S. The dining rooms are large. And the cocktail bar in front is separate, and quiet -- I would bring friends here for a good evening of drinks out, without having to shout to carry on a conversation...

As for the food, the prices are all quite reasonable for the quality and quantity they give you.

Although It can be tricky to hazard a guess at the portion size of yakitori and other small plates and appetizers based on description/prices, without having ordered the item before. It's no problem to order more plates as you go along though--just save room for your soba or chirashi.

The Tori Dango comes with 5 delicious chicken meatballs (tsukune) in sticky rice dumplings; they were excellent, and very filling, and better than the plain yakitori tsukune. In general, each skewer can be shared between 2-3 people for a taste, whereas other yakitori places having seriously single-serving skewers. I highly recommend the chicken oysters, chicken gizzard (really greatly done, with a lovely crunch) , and gyu-tan (beef tongue, about 5 pieces per skewer).

Ikura (salmon roe) lovers--hurry here and get the cold Ikura + grated radish soba! You know who you are--the type for whom just 3 of the beautiful orange balls on anything can sway you to order the whole dish off the menu... I'm telling you. You will likely run out of soba before you run out of ikura.

All in all... Soba Totto is a great restaurant for any occasion--has a coat check, and easy reservations system that can accommodate larger groups with no drama. Plus, it's...

After enjoying a night at the Japanese Society, it felt like a Japanese dinner was in order. Midtown in the 50's contains a plethora of fancy ones, Izakaya and Ramen Noodle joints all catering to the Japanese businessmen in town. Soba Totto is no exception. On the night we where there the room was filled with soba slurping Japanese businessmen getting toasted on Sake as the evening rolls on.

This simple modern wood filled décor has an open kitchen with long rows of banquette table and bar seating as you enter. The back away from the action is quieter but in my opinion not as fun. The front has an active energy from the kitchen and chef's as they prepare the food.

This menu is extensive here. There is no sushi on the menu here. This is not a generic 'Japanese' sushi place. What you do have here is a fantastic soba choices hot or cold. Yakitori and small dishes plus a good list of Sake. I think you are almost transported to somewhere in the fashionable Roppongi Hill district. The Soba served have a delicate mild flavor. It can be eaten simply plain or with other ingredients. The broth pairs wholly with it. The Yakitori were perfectly grilled and simply presented for enjoyment.

As with establishment of this caliber, don't expect it to be cheap. With 3 people, Soba, 3 Yakitori and sake will reach in the neighborhood of $60 pp(including tip). While I certainly would love to eat like this every night, sadly this is certainly not a casual dinner night unless you have an expense account or part of the UES...