Izakaya Experience Trendier Than Sushi

[Mulboyne]

NYTimes: A Challenger Arises for King Sushi
...In a city where small plate restaurants have been the rage for several years now, the Japanese izakaya ― a pub featuring savory snacks downed with sake or cold beer ― is starting to shove the sushi bar off its pedestal. The small dishes in izakayas typically come in traditional forms of tempura, simmered dishes called nimono and grilled dishes like yakitori skewers. But from downtown's Little Tokyo, home to many izakaya hole-in-the-walls, to West Los Angeles, where a new-wave izakaya serves duck breast marinated in sake along with Basque sheep's milk cheese, Los Angeles may have the most inventive permutations of izakaya-style restaurants in the United States...more...

The link may go premium so the rest of the article is in the next post.

[Mulboyne]

[jacksonwest]

Sure, when takoyaki and okonomiyaki take off stateside, then maybe sushi will lose its allure. But San Francisco has had Nihon, Oyaji and Tekka for years, and only now are New Yorkers noticing because of a few trips to LA.

[tatsujin]

I'm amazed, culturally, that a concept similar to an Izakaya is not more popular.

I'm speaking from an insular point of view, but one of the biggest compliants I hear from foreign trekkers when they return to Ireland from Europe, or indeed Japan, is the taboo against food and drink being consumed in a pub-like establishment like an Izakaya.

Don't know what its like in America, but I know in UK or Ireland, the operative phrase on a night out seems to be: "You eat, you cheat" Even for casual after work drinks (bar palate ticklers like crisps and the like)