Their drinks are creative and taste good. I liked the crispy lotus root dish the most. Kinda expensive for what you get.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
hiro ICI
I wanted to take Saba bou zushi. But this day all sushi menues are not available… If I knew this, I wouldn’t reserved table. Other menues are not so special for me.. tastes are nice. But just feeling disappointed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Yat Sang Yan
This is a great experience at Kawabun, a cozy ambiance, tasty food and attentive service. Highly recommended.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Minghwa Tan
Amazing food and service. Felt way more luxurious than the price point suggests. A great dating spot!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cormac Kinney
Having visited Japan about 8 times, Kawabun transported us back for much less than a Japan Air ticket. This is our third visit - better now that they can serve beer and wine. The chef offers many classical favorites and lots of totally unique recipes I’d never tried before. The downstairs room is beautiful and comfortable and the service is enthusiastic. Highly recommended when you want something a bit different. Shout out to the sushi chef who was happy to split everything in half!
True わしゅくJapanese food is incredibly subtle and not in your face. Then portions in total leave you 7/8’s full after the meal. On these measures the restaurant is a grand slam. A real gem and filling Kajitsu-the previous tenant’s very big shoes. ありがとございます.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
MisterStars
Authentic food, prepared and plated with attention to detail. Top-notch service that goes above and beyond. They offer an extensive selection of sake/shochu-based cocktails, mocktails, and sake, but the list could be improved by expanding the choices. Still, the main focus here is the delicious, seasonal, and traditional food.
Alex Zhang
Came here for lunch on the weekend. The lunch menu is really small. We are a party of 4 literally ordered everything on the menu was still hungry after the meal.The food is not very impressive. Very basic bento style for lunch. The grill eel is $60 for the portion you can get less than half for what you can get. All dishes are over priced and nothing stood out.The only thing needs mention is the great service. And the place is super cute upstairs and downstairs, warm lighting very cute.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Ried S.
Friend picked this place for lunch due to location, and while overall I enjoyed the meal - mostly the company - I am not sure I want to come back, at least not for lunch. The menu was very small. We ordered 80% of everything on the menu for 4 adults to share, including a double order of the fried chicken which was the tastiest item. The other dishes, while pleasant, were rather bland and certainly not worth the prices they were charging. It was pretty empty for lunch on a Saturday. I imagine more people come here for dinner / drinks downstairs. The cocktails were very good - we tried 4 of the 5 from their list of special drinks. I typically avoid cocktails in favor of straight whisky, but the Mizuki cocktail was excellent. Sake Sudachi Sour with Sake, elderflower, sudachi, and egg white. Quite yummy and the others with me agreed it was the best drink of the four we tried. My least favorite was the Kabuki "Japanese manhattan" which they rightfully tell you isn't a mahattan at all, rather a combo of plum wine and sake.. The ambiance and service are great though. Downstairs is a very chic bar and dining area - empty during lunch, again, I imagine packed for dinner. Upstairs is a large, brightly light dining room with bay window and fireplace. The envy of any Manhattan resident who wants that size living room.
Alex Z.
Came here for lunch on the weekend. The lunch menu is really small. We are a party of 4 literally ordered everything on the menu was still hungry after the meal. The food is not very impressive. Very basic bento style for lunch. The grill eel is $60 for the portion you can get less than half for what you can get. All dishes are over priced and nothing stood out. The only thing needs mention is the great service. And the place is super cute upstairs and downstairs, warm lighting very cute.
It was delicious and surprisingly so authentic! I went there to try with my girlfriends and it didn’t disappoint. It is so close to my office so I booked for next week to return for my business dinner.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
RosaS
All the food was so good. We couldn't decide what we liked more—the quality was top notch across the board. It was a calm and classy atmosphere, and the wait staff was incredibly considerate. We waited a little long for our order to be taken, but afterwards everything flowed smoothly. We would absolutely come back for a special occasion.
Service was so sloppy and bad - never asked about food, felt super rushed, never said thank you, kept wanting to clear drinks and dishes before we were done. Complete amateurs. Never explained anything about the food. Just atrocious. And why are we paying $150pp for lunch for this crap? Restaurant will absolutely shut down soon. I've been to the Nagoya one and what a shameful legacy this NY one is.
Christian M.
We had a lovely impromptu dinner here. The food, drinks and ambiance are all wonderful! Waygu sando was 10/10. The staff was so helpful and professional- they even mentioned that they recently got their liquor license and how they are now serving their Tasting Menu and Omakase menus in their second floor (main dining room) Everything here was wonderful. We'll definitely be back - a true hidden gem in the Murray Hill/Grand Central area!
Their drinks are creative and taste good. I liked the crispy lotus root dish the most. Kinda expensive for what you get.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
I wanted to take Saba bou zushi. But this day all sushi menues are not available… If I knew this, I wouldn’t reserved table. Other menues are not so special for me.. tastes are nice. But just feeling disappointed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
This is a great experience at Kawabun, a cozy ambiance, tasty food and attentive service. Highly recommended.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing food and service. Felt way more luxurious than the price point suggests. A great dating spot!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Having visited Japan about 8 times, Kawabun transported us back for much less than a Japan Air ticket. This is our third visit - better now that they can serve beer and wine. The chef offers many classical favorites and lots of totally unique recipes I’d never tried before. The downstairs room is beautiful and comfortable and the service is enthusiastic. Highly recommended when you want something a bit different. Shout out to the sushi chef who was happy to split everything in half!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Black Cod, Wagyu Beef Claypot Rice, Assorted Tempura
True わしゅくJapanese food is incredibly subtle and not in your face. Then portions in total leave you 7/8’s full after the meal. On these measures the restaurant is a grand slam. A real gem and filling Kajitsu-the previous tenant’s very big shoes. ありがとございます.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Authentic food, prepared and plated with attention to detail. Top-notch service that goes above and beyond. They offer an extensive selection of sake/shochu-based cocktails, mocktails, and sake, but the list could be improved by expanding the choices. Still, the main focus here is the delicious, seasonal, and traditional food.
Came here for lunch on the weekend. The lunch menu is really small. We are a party of 4 literally ordered everything on the menu was still hungry after the meal.The food is not very impressive. Very basic bento style for lunch. The grill eel is $60 for the portion you can get less than half for what you can get. All dishes are over priced and nothing stood out.The only thing needs mention is the great service. And the place is super cute upstairs and downstairs, warm lighting very cute.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Friend picked this place for lunch due to location, and while overall I enjoyed the meal - mostly the company - I am not sure I want to come back, at least not for lunch. The menu was very small. We ordered 80% of everything on the menu for 4 adults to share, including a double order of the fried chicken which was the tastiest item. The other dishes, while pleasant, were rather bland and certainly not worth the prices they were charging. It was pretty empty for lunch on a Saturday. I imagine more people come here for dinner / drinks downstairs. The cocktails were very good - we tried 4 of the 5 from their list of special drinks. I typically avoid cocktails in favor of straight whisky, but the Mizuki cocktail was excellent. Sake Sudachi Sour with Sake, elderflower, sudachi, and egg white. Quite yummy and the others with me agreed it was the best drink of the four we tried. My least favorite was the Kabuki "Japanese manhattan" which they rightfully tell you isn't a mahattan at all, rather a combo of plum wine and sake.. The ambiance and service are great though. Downstairs is a very chic bar and dining area - empty during lunch, again, I imagine packed for dinner. Upstairs is a large, brightly light dining room with bay window and fireplace. The envy of any Manhattan resident who wants that size living room.
Came here for lunch on the weekend. The lunch menu is really small. We are a party of 4 literally ordered everything on the menu was still hungry after the meal. The food is not very impressive. Very basic bento style for lunch. The grill eel is $60 for the portion you can get less than half for what you can get. All dishes are over priced and nothing stood out. The only thing needs mention is the great service. And the place is super cute upstairs and downstairs, warm lighting very cute.
Restaurantji Recommends
The portion of food is too small.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 5
It was delicious and surprisingly so authentic! I went there to try with my girlfriends and it didn’t disappoint. It is so close to my office so I booked for next week to return for my business dinner.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
All the food was so good. We couldn't decide what we liked more—the quality was top notch across the board. It was a calm and classy atmosphere, and the wait staff was incredibly considerate. We waited a little long for our order to be taken, but afterwards everything flowed smoothly. We would absolutely come back for a special occasion.
Service was so sloppy and bad - never asked about food, felt super rushed, never said thank you, kept wanting to clear drinks and dishes before we were done. Complete amateurs. Never explained anything about the food. Just atrocious. And why are we paying $150pp for lunch for this crap? Restaurant will absolutely shut down soon. I've been to the Nagoya one and what a shameful legacy this NY one is.
We had a lovely impromptu dinner here. The food, drinks and ambiance are all wonderful! Waygu sando was 10/10. The staff was so helpful and professional- they even mentioned that they recently got their liquor license and how they are now serving their Tasting Menu and Omakase menus in their second floor (main dining room) Everything here was wonderful. We'll definitely be back - a true hidden gem in the Murray Hill/Grand Central area!