The ambiance was great, a good spot for a chill night with friends and getting small dishes to stay and chat for a while. The “hot pot” was more of a photo worthy experience than what you would traditionally think it is! While being really pretty, the portions are very small for a dinner and higher priced for the size than we expected.
Young Suk Jo
Fresh sushi with delicate selection of small
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Jillian Matt
Yopparai consistently exceeds my expectations. Even after visiting Japan and eating similar izakaya there, I am still impressed by the authenticity of Yopparai’s fare. The hotate butter is a MUST order. One of my favorite restaurants!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Portions are definitely small, but everything was SO GOOD. We ordered something from every section of the menu and it's hard to pick a favorite, but one highlight was the chawanmushi appetizer. The place ain't cheap but for the quality, it's totally worth the money. That said, you'll probably still have room for a $1 slice after leaving.
Shira An
Quite an expensive place for dinner.high quality fishinteresting dishesbut the portion is very small for a bunch of people sharing.Agedashi tofu was great, so was the Sashimi.
Upscale izakaya fare in an intimate bar/lounge setting, Yopparai is perfect for dates or small group dining.I went for a birthday and got a solid assortment of nigiri, tempura, homemade tofu as well as some more exotic (by USA standards) dishes like shirako (cod fish sperm) grilled over charcoal. It can get pricey - after drinks and tip we spent ~$450, but we felt it was fair given the quality of ingredients and diversity of the menu. Really photogenic bar too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Assorted Sashimi, Karaage Fried Chicken with Green Tea Salt, Yopparai Special Chirashi, Homemade Tofu
Adam Cheung
Food is alright, nothing special. Very traditional but lacking in simple refinement. Ordered the tsukemono like dish and there was a carrot, daikon, and eggplant. There was nothing but salt to the flavour. The sushi is good, rice is firm annd well cooked and fish is fresh. Botan miso is also good. Yaki oni was lacking crunch and the rice just tasted dehydrated on the outside. The beef tataki was also fine but lacking in any flavour complexity. The miso butter scallop was extremely over cooked. To the point where the scallop almost didn’t taste like scallop any more. The flavour of the sauce was good though. Wagyu truffle nigiri is fantastic. Smoked mentaiko is alright but serving is quite large. Great drinking snack. All in all not awful but not worth.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Max Pietsch (Max)
This place was great overall. Meal with appetizers for two was about $100.Loved the sushi. Some of them had unique flavors and one had wasabi between the fish and rice.The edamame was salty and tasty and had a nice black sauce (maybe soy sauce).The vegetable tempura was also delicious. Not wildly different from regular tempura, but solid nonetheless. Had some unique vegetables like a basil leaf.
Lemon
Food was delicious but in very small portions. This place got redecorated and became more elegant but also more expensive than before. It's great for people who like quiet ambience and for dating. The menu doesn't have a lot of options and prices are pretty high.
Joyce
The sashimi and sushi are fresh and tasty. The choices for sake amazes us, and the seats are pretty comfortable and each party has their own space. However, it is kind of expensive. We have 3 glasses of drinks, sashimi, sushi and few other dishes, which cost us almost 300 for 2 persons.
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.
We did the $130 a person experience it was beyond beautiful the food was delicious fresh. We ordered a bottle of sake so good. Soooo much food and soooo good our servers were so kind and attentive
Elena Clavarino
Food is bad and restaurant is expensive.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 4
Lesley K.
Recently came here for a date night. Different location but I expected the same quality of food. We ordered an assortment of small dishes and nothing really stood out for me. The wagyu rice dish was was too seasoned and seeing the chunks of fat rather than marbled in texture made me question if it was real wagyu. The squid and squid paste was a bit fishy, the pork belly hot pot was pretty bland. And the grilled rice balls tasted stale. Not sure if I would recommend or go back, especially considering the price point .
GregoryM
Truly one of the most genuine and consistently excellent Japanese culinary experiences in NYC. This upscale izakaya offers a varied menu with lots of options for everyone and an excellent sake program. Interior is fabulous with private tatami booths, long bar and great music. Highly recommend.
The ambiance was great, a good spot for a chill night with friends and getting small dishes to stay and chat for a while. The “hot pot” was more of a photo worthy experience than what you would traditionally think it is! While being really pretty, the portions are very small for a dinner and higher priced for the size than we expected.
Fresh sushi with delicate selection of small
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Yopparai consistently exceeds my expectations. Even after visiting Japan and eating similar izakaya there, I am still impressed by the authenticity of Yopparai’s fare. The hotate butter is a MUST order. One of my favorite restaurants!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Portions are definitely small, but everything was SO GOOD. We ordered something from every section of the menu and it's hard to pick a favorite, but one highlight was the chawanmushi appetizer. The place ain't cheap but for the quality, it's totally worth the money. That said, you'll probably still have room for a $1 slice after leaving.
Quite an expensive place for dinner.high quality fishinteresting dishesbut the portion is very small for a bunch of people sharing.Agedashi tofu was great, so was the Sashimi.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Assorted Sashimi, Agedashi Tofu
Upscale izakaya fare in an intimate bar/lounge setting, Yopparai is perfect for dates or small group dining.I went for a birthday and got a solid assortment of nigiri, tempura, homemade tofu as well as some more exotic (by USA standards) dishes like shirako (cod fish sperm) grilled over charcoal. It can get pricey - after drinks and tip we spent ~$450, but we felt it was fair given the quality of ingredients and diversity of the menu. Really photogenic bar too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Assorted Sashimi, Karaage Fried Chicken with Green Tea Salt, Yopparai Special Chirashi, Homemade Tofu
Food is alright, nothing special. Very traditional but lacking in simple refinement. Ordered the tsukemono like dish and there was a carrot, daikon, and eggplant. There was nothing but salt to the flavour. The sushi is good, rice is firm annd well cooked and fish is fresh. Botan miso is also good. Yaki oni was lacking crunch and the rice just tasted dehydrated on the outside. The beef tataki was also fine but lacking in any flavour complexity. The miso butter scallop was extremely over cooked. To the point where the scallop almost didn’t taste like scallop any more. The flavour of the sauce was good though. Wagyu truffle nigiri is fantastic. Smoked mentaiko is alright but serving is quite large. Great drinking snack. All in all not awful but not worth.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
This place was great overall. Meal with appetizers for two was about $100.Loved the sushi. Some of them had unique flavors and one had wasabi between the fish and rice.The edamame was salty and tasty and had a nice black sauce (maybe soy sauce).The vegetable tempura was also delicious. Not wildly different from regular tempura, but solid nonetheless. Had some unique vegetables like a basil leaf.
Food was delicious but in very small portions. This place got redecorated and became more elegant but also more expensive than before. It's great for people who like quiet ambience and for dating. The menu doesn't have a lot of options and prices are pretty high.
The sashimi and sushi are fresh and tasty. The choices for sake amazes us, and the seats are pretty comfortable and each party has their own space. However, it is kind of expensive. We have 3 glasses of drinks, sashimi, sushi and few other dishes, which cost us almost 300 for 2 persons.
Restaurantji Recommends
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.
We did the $130 a person experience it was beyond beautiful the food was delicious fresh. We ordered a bottle of sake so good. Soooo much food and soooo good our servers were so kind and attentive
Food is bad and restaurant is expensive.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 4
Recently came here for a date night. Different location but I expected the same quality of food. We ordered an assortment of small dishes and nothing really stood out for me. The wagyu rice dish was was too seasoned and seeing the chunks of fat rather than marbled in texture made me question if it was real wagyu. The squid and squid paste was a bit fishy, the pork belly hot pot was pretty bland. And the grilled rice balls tasted stale. Not sure if I would recommend or go back, especially considering the price point .
Truly one of the most genuine and consistently excellent Japanese culinary experiences in NYC. This upscale izakaya offers a varied menu with lots of options for everyone and an excellent sake program. Interior is fabulous with private tatami booths, long bar and great music. Highly recommend.