Ruby C.

Gyutan no Lemon is so popular in Japan that getting a res can be nearly impossible, and people sometimes wait hours for a table. Now Chubby Tan has brought their famous ultra-thick-cut, charcoal-grilled beef tongue to NYC. I feel like NYC has been lacking a good gyutan specialty spot, so I'm really glad they're finally filling that gap! ＊Combo S+++ $52 (+ Mango Thick Cut $5.99) Perfect if it's your first time! You get to try the ultra, classic, and thin cuts with green onion. I upgraded the classic to the mango cut, and it ended up being my favorite. It locked in the juices so the thick gyutan stayed tender and juicy. The thin cut was my least favorite. It dried out quickly and didn't have that chewy beef tongue texture. ＊Combo A $56 (+ Ikura & Egg Rice $14) The ultra-cut gyutan was PHENOMENAL when eaten right off the sizzling plate! Super thick but surprisingly tender. I loved it with a squeeze of lemon, while the wagyu miso was so addictive that I wiped the plate clean. I also tried the ikura & pasteurized egg rice. Honestly, I don't think it was necessary since I liked the plain furikake rice better with the curry. But they were generous with the ikura, and I loved the savory pops with the creamy egg yolk. *Eat the gyutan asap! Since it comes on a hot sizzling plate, it can overcook pretty quickly. *Each combo set comes with gyutan miso soup, gyutan curry (SO GOOD), salad, and rice. ＊Mentaiko Zucchini $3.5 ＊A5 Wagyu Rib $6.9 I'd recommend getting the mentaiko zucchini for some extra "fiber" lol. It was very creamy and juicy. The wagyu rib was a bit salty for me, but I feel like it'd hit better with a drink or beer on the side.

Andy C.

Torn. Love the concept but the value isn't quite there. Good service. Responsive and accommodating. Matches the price point. We pointed out that our group was missing the last course of our set and they made sure to fire it ASAP, and sent over a few cans of sparkling yuzu drinks. I always say, mistakes will happen and service will never be 100%, but service recovery should be and they took care of things here. The food was solid. I went with a decent sized group of 5, with adventurous eaters and former residents of Japan. The thinner cuts of beef tongue were flavorful and tender. Ironically the biggest disappointment was the ultra thick cut, ending up too rare and flavorless. You can address the latter with sauces but there's no helping the fact that the thick cut was barely even warm in the middle. Even if you want a thicker cut I'd recommend upgrading to the mango cut for a better experience. It's a rich cut that can hold up to a bit more cooking, especially as crispy edges bring needed flavor and texture. Everything adds up though. We all needed to add on food to fill up because the portions are quite small. I was really excited to try this but ultimately I was disappointed. I'm glad this concept exists, and membership can alleviate the value concerns across their restaurant group, but I can't see myself visiting regularly.

Mable C.

This place really encapsulates Japan Izakaya culture so well. I loved the bar seating and overall vibe. Before ordering, everyone is given a complimentary set with beef tongue soup, rice, wagyu curry and a couple of sauces. I came to Chubby Tan to try the beef tongue of course, but was too intimated and ended up ordering the wagyu set... oops. Quality was spectacular and flavor of sauces and seasonings worked really well. Meat was cooked well and the wagyu steak was so good. I did however, order a side of beef tongue just to try it. It had a really nice sear on the outer edges and cooked to a nice pink color. Texture of the tongue was very unique so just not my cup of tea in general, but it was cooked it perfectly. Service was great and the staff thoroughly explained all the dishes and offered recommendations as well.

Judy T.

The famous Tokyo restaurant Gyutan Lemon has finally made its way to NYC! Since I've been to the original location in Tokyo, I had to check it out and see how it compares. - - - - - - - - - ~ Combo A: Ultra thick gyutan set $56 ~ Rating: 4 / 5 The set comes with 6 pieces of ultra thick-cut beef tongue, salad, and beef tongue soup. Unfortunately, the quality was a little inconsistent. My first serving appeared to be a cut closer to the tip of the tongue, which tends to have a coarser texture, and it was also slightly overcooked. The staff were incredibly accommodating and replaced it with a new serving cooked medium rare. This time, the cut seemed to be a center cut of the tongue, making a huge difference. The texture was more tender and bouncy, with the juicy bite I was hoping for! The beef tongue soup was also excellent, packed with large chunks of braised tongue that were soft, flavourful, and comforting. ~ Uni ikura rice ~ Rating: 4.25 / 5 Can't remember how much the add-on was, but it was worth it! The uni was creamy and rich, while the ikura added little bursts of briny sweetness. Mixed with the rice, every bite was packed with umami and disappeared way too quickly. A simple add-on, but one of my favourite parts of the meal! - - - - - - - - - - Will I be back? Not sure... My Hong Kong friends are going to laugh when they see how much I spent on this meal! The beef tongue is good, but paying over 3x Japan prices for a product that doesn't really match the consistency or quality of the original is a tough call. A nice treat once in a while, but not somewhere I'd find myself returning to regularly unless I'm really craving gyutan!

Claire L.

I'm so sorry to report, but this was a a miss from me. Those beef tongue chunks were just so large and tough. I did like the ribeye, though. The crab roe was fun and exciting, but didn't taste like anything special. I mean, it's a nice fancy place, but I don't know if it's just worth the money. Funny enough I've been to this exact location, which was also a wagyu restaurant before Chubby tan was here and I really enjoyed that place. The service was great. The food came out fast, and the waitress was very nice and helped explain the menu and the Chubby membership program to me. I did get the Chubby membership because I do generally like Chubby places, and I go to a lot of them.

Mindy L.

This place has such a nice cozy and welcoming atmosphere! I didn't see any side tables and only booth seatings (which is great since you get to see them cook your food) but I'd recommend only coming as a group of 2 since it'll be easier to talk to one another! The food on the other hand was such a great and unique experience. I've never tried cow tongue before and I can't say I'm the biggest fan of it but I'm a texture person and this wasn't for me. However I can say that it was very tender and cooked to perfection, and so were the other dishes we ordered!

Shawn J.

Great food and quick service my favorite was the thick cut but everything was good. The space is a bit tight but every seat is good to watch the chefs as they prepare the food

Dalena D.

Very high quality ingredients Salad,soup, curry and everything is so delicious. I love how they have directions on how to properly enjoy the dish I got the S+++ bowl because I wanted to try all the different cuts of the Beef Tongue

Zicheng Z.

As a huge fan of beef tongue in all its forms, I can say this certainly did not disappoint! The space is small but cozy, with long bar-style seating. Directly across the bar is a beautiful charcoal grill - when the chef cooks the tongue, you can see a column of flame as fat drips down from the grill, perfuming the meat. Overall, the tongue is great - for the thin and medium cuts, they did dress the tongue, but you still get some really solid beefy flavor. The lemon adds some great acidity without overpowering the taste of the meat, similarly for the miso. The ultra thick cut is definitely the star of the show, with a fantastic mouthfeel and great flavor. The rest of the add-ons (rice, salad, curry) were nice, but the grilled tongue was definitely the highlight of the meal. Each set runs around $40-50, which was a little pricy for how much meat we received, but for a premium cut, I think it could be worth it. Probably my only complaint is that the tongue cooled pretty quickly for the thin/medium cuts; they came out in very quick succession, and by the time I started on the medium cuts, it had already cooled. The thick cut tongue was served on a very hot plate, which helped preserve the temperature - I wish I asked for a separate hot plate to warm it up, which I saw the person next to me request. The restaurant is still in its soft opening phase, and I'm excited to try it again in the future to see if they make any changes!

Melanie W.

I came when they just opened, no wait. I ordered the combo set S+++ and my mom ordered the combo set B. Amazing experience, just the hot weather outside and no ac inside, we finished the meal than 30 minutes. My first time trying thick cut, so delicious but I do wish they served everything all at once instead serving the different cut individually. I wish it looked like the picture in the menu. The soup was a little salty and the curry was rich flavor. The salad was refreshing, I wish a bigger portion, of course. It worth it to try it once especially if you like beef tongue.

Nicole B.

This Japanese BBQ restaurant specializing in beef tongue truly lives up to its reputation. The thick-cut beef tongue is incredibly generous in thickness, perfectly charred on the outside and tender on the inside after grilling. It's bouncy and not dry at all, with absolutely no gamey taste. The aroma is absolutely divine, every bite is incredibly satisfying. You absolutely must try this restaurant when you're in New York!

Janice C.

So excited to know Gyutan No Lemon has a collaboration here in NYC! The food is great and the extra thick tongue is just like in Japan! However, the price is much higher compared to Japan and the portion is only 1/2 of it. You need to get extra food if you really want to eat more real thick beef tongue. Anyway, food is great and service is good. Seating is very tight as expected. If you really like beef tongue, this is a must go.

Johnny W.

The staff at Chubby Tan was exceptional in making us feel welcomed and comfortable. They were very considerate in making sure we're all safe and don't injure ourselves with the hot plate. The S+++ combo gives you the best bang for your buck by giving you a bit of everything! I honestly think that was perfect because too much of one piece can be quite overwhelming. From my personal preference, the miso was the best seasoning for all the cuts of meat, so highly recommend getting some more of it! Since it was their soft opening, there were a few kinks to work through. First was the complimentary soup, which was hearty by quite overly salty. The chunks of beef in the soup were nice, but the broth itself was very salty and left us feeling dehydrated after the meal. The second was the tiny amount of miso that was provided in the dish, which is a little dollop in the photo underneath the drink (wish I took a bigger photo), a simple fix if they choose to but the amount provided made it seem like it's just giving you a tiny sample to make you order more. Furthermore, I was provided with salt and wasabi to pair with the meat but my wife wasn't, but wasn't sure if that was because we ordered different things, but that shouldn't be the case since most of what we ordered weren't pre-seasoned. Unfortunately we didn't catch that until the end of our meal since our experience was a bit more chaotic. Third was that some of our orders got mixed up with other diners, resulting in our sides or add-ons going to them instead, which I understand can happen when a restaurant is just starting to find its own rhythm. Fourth, because of so much going on at once, some meats came out only once we finished a prior piece, whereas some pieces came out together at once. I believe it's best to stick with one or the other so the diner can pace themselves accordingly, for I found myself sometimes taking my time to enjoy one selection of meat, and other times racing against time before the meat cooled off to try multiple. Personally, I prefer all at once so I can compare the pieces and even mix and match to play with its flavor profile. My partner got both of her selections before I got my first one, which made our dining experience imbalanced where one of us was watching the other eat. Lastly , the curry came way too early and because of that, it became a thick glob by the time we got our first meat dish. One of the most disappointing part was that what we got fell far short of expectation from the photo on their menu: the thin tongue supposed to come with some scallions seasoning, the curry did not have as much ingredients than the one shown in the photos, the presentation of our meats on multiple hot plates made it less aesthetically pleasing, and the amount of miso given to us definitely pales in comparison to the amount shown on the photo haha (I attached a photo of how the meal was supposed to look like and you can judge yourself). Although of these issues ultimately detracted from our overall enjoyment, we both nonetheless had a pleasant experience, especially since the staff were all so nice and friendly. We truly believe that once Chubby Tan gets more experience and is receptive to diners' feedbacks, that they'll master the flow and efficiency to provide one of the best, if not only, beef tongue specialty restaurant in all of NYC. We hope our suggestions can help Chubby Tan strive to become even better and we can't wait to come back to give Chubby Tan the 5 stars we both know they are capable of achieving! Thank you for reading and best of luck! TLDR; highly recommend getting the S+++ set with the mango cut, egg, and extra miso add on!