Flavorful food, quick service when seated at the bar without a reservation on a weeknight during the holidays. Attentive staff. I would recommend ordering either the crab croquette or mentaiko pasta since both have the same creamy base (you should get both if you like the flavor) read more

See all

Just okay... Food is pricey for the portions but I guess you are in midtown. The only thing that I would get again is the ramen as the noodles and soup seemed fresh and authentic. Everything else was lacking in either taste or quality. read more

Sozai - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

Out of all the Japanese restaurants in NYC, I have to admit, this one is my favorite!! I loved every single dish and highly recommend the eggplant, scallop carpaccio, salmon soba, and katsu. I've been here countless times because the food never fails to impress and on top of that, the vibes are excellent! read more

Found this little gem doing some exploring! Food was phenomenal and drinks were excellent! The pork katsu curry rice was 10/10. Super flavorful. I split it with my wife and I am still full. The wait went quick and I love the ambiance of the restaurant. Made me feel like I was in Japan! read more

Sozai - Okinawa matcha drink (left) Smokey forest meal drink (right) Pork Katsu Curry Rice + spicy salmon roll - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

Delicious and amazing service. Friendly and attentive. Obviously high quality ingredients. The attention to detail reflects a Japanese sensibility. Even enjoyed the cutlery, wooden spoons etc. Not cheat but worth the cost. read more

Sozai - Was miso soup - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Came here on a busy December weekend with a reservation thankfully because the line is long! So make sure you make your reservations! The place is super tiny and cramped like most NY restaurants but they had nice booths which I appreciated. There are hooks up above you to hang your coat. No space for a stroller if you were to bring a baby just FYI. Unfortunately not the most family-friendly place to bring a one year old but we made do and just held her in my lap because there are no high chairs or booster seats. But I guess it is a Izakaya and that's not a place to take a baby. Our waitress was a bit impatient and didn't have the best attitude when she heard us wrong and ordered us the wrong food. Thankfully though all of us including the baby enjoyed the food. Baby especially loved the tonkotsu ramen noodles and went crazy with the noodles. Broth was super flavorful and not too salty. We ordered the kaarage and takoyaki which were all good. The Wafu mushroom pasta was really good but I thought it was a tad bit salty. Katusdon was cooked perfectly. Overall, a solid place that I would come to again if I was in the area. read more

A new Japanese izakaya place and a nice addition to the midtown food scene. We stopped by for dinner on a weekday. It was fairly busy inside but we were able to get seated without a wait. We ordered the karaage, agedashi tofu, mentaiko pasta, gyudon, and the eggplant. I can't say anything really blew my mind, but every dish was solid - though we all did find the eggplant way too sweet. Overall though this is a great place to stop by if you're in the area after work! read more

Sozai - mentaiko pasta and gyudon - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

This is such a cute place. The service was super fast and the restaurant ambiance is amazing. So pretty and aesthetic. The food was so delicious, we devoured it. read more

Sozai - Tonkotsu Ramen - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

Sadly was a bit disappointed in the quality of the fish (sashimi in the Kaisen Don), and wasn't a fan of the Mentaiko pasta or the tomato crab salad (it had too much potato and the tomato was dry and hard). However, we really enjoyed the clam miso soup and the fried oysters, which were massive. The monkfish liver and uni weren't bad but not as good as I usually expect. At the price point, sadly not sure I would return. read more

See all

Really great food especially grilled fish. Make a reservation because it's always full! read more

We haven't even finished our meal yet, it I felted compelled to start this review. I'm gonna get to eating and leave this short and sweet - Come here. You won't regret it. What we ordered: Sake Don Grilled Hamachi Collar Grilled Eggplant Spicy Tonkotsu Omugi Sour Cocktail I wish I could eat here every day. read more

Hard to find great vegan Ramen. Hot all the spots. The vegan mushroom ramen was 5 start. Also had the edamame and it was perfectly seasoned and warm. The service was courteous and quick. Will go again for sure. read more

We had a reservation on a Tuesday evening, but it was surprisingly quiet. The restaurant itself is clean and bright, and our server was friendly. Happy hour lasts until 6pm, so we tried a few drinks--including a Paloma and a yuzu highball--both were tasty at $12 each. We also ordered fried oysters (my personal favorite), fried octopus legs, and fried ube. While I enjoyed the flavors, I felt the menu leaned too heavily on fried items overall. Additionally, the hamachi tasted a bit fishy, and the clams didn't seem very fresh. A bit more variety and freshness would elevate the experience even further. read more

See all

Stopped in here for lunch on a Saturday before a Broadway show. Our timing was perfect since some bigger groups came in a little after us. There's a steady flow of customers, but the seating is a little limited and primarily for parties of 4 or less. Menus were QR scans, but you ordered with real wait staff (I detest ordering on a tablet or phone) who were able to accommodate requests/allergies. Choosing what to order was really hard because it all looked great! I was particularly impressed with the selection of offal. My beef tongue appetizer was thinly cut and quite juicy. The thinness was essential since otherwise this was a little chewy. The real wasabi was an excellent complement. For the entree, I got chicken livers, which were served with a lot of wild garlic scapes and a bowl of rice. It was all cooked well, though I would say the pieces of liver were a little too big. My husband got ube fries (tasty and perfectly fried) and tonkatsu ramen, which he said was the best ramen he's had in a while. He got the iced green tea, which was concentrated in flavor, while I got a yuzu beer that was fine. Even though we were hungry, I'd say an appetizer + entree was almost too much food for lunch. Almost... ;-) read more

Newer Izakaya restaurant located in Midtown. The food portions were quite small for the price and nothing blew my mind. The pasta sauce was quite thick and heavy. Service was also slow because we were in a secluded area and had trouble flagging down our waiters. read more

See all

Great food, great service, and great ambience. Also kid friendly and very nice and attentive to kids Also good for dates and is a very cute restaurant with booths for couples. I love the clams (you must try the soup the clams are in) The carpaccio is also so good. My niece loved the ramen. read more

See all

lovely atmosphere, great service, incredible food. will definitely keep coming back here.

Amazing food, great location, great ambiance! Perfect to grab a drink and bites late night! read more

Ordered for the whole office and it was a hit!! Amazing freshness and the shrimp sushi, sashimi. Everything was great and everyone loved it!! They also packaged the food really good. read more

Really good, Asian approved. The ramen is delicious, and the tuna is great. Nothing beats a warm bowl of ramen in a cold rainy day in NYC

Small place, good for intimate meal. Make a reservation for lunch. Food (sashimi, apps) was decent, service too, but not wow. Maybe over-rated because of location? Or maybe ramen is the thing to do? Probably won't go back--better sushi around. read more

Tried Sozai on Wednesday evening. Arrived at around 10p, tables were open but I chose to sit at the bar. Nice selection of Japanese alcohol, I ended up ordering a Yamazaki neat and it came in a small shot glass with a cup of water. It was a cold evening so I ordered their spicy tonkotsu ramen and karaage. The ramen came out relatively quickly. The broth was red from the spice with nori, chashu and egg on top. The broth was tasty enough and the ramen noodles al dente. I would give the ramen an overall 3/5 if this were a ramen specialty shop but the menu comprises of much much more as an izakaya. The karaage came out a couple of minutes later and were freshly fried. The flavoring was good with a mayo based dipping sauce in the middle and lemon wedge on the side. One thing that would have made these karaage great is if they had a flavored dipping salt. I would give the karaage a 4/5. The bar tender was friendly and service quick. For an izakaya, was not very loud, comfortable for a solo diner. Overall 4/5 dining experience. read more

Sozai - Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

See all

This was such a good spot! Definitely recommend making a reservation, we walked in and lucked out on a table but were limited to an hour, which is a good amount of time for how fast the food came out. The booths are private and cute, the service was also great, but it did feel like we were being watched, which made the booth feel less private. They were super attentive which is probably why we felt like that though. 10/10 recommend. read more

My first time at Sozai yesterday and I will be going back again and again. This is a gorgeous homey izakaya style restaurant with incredible food and even more incredible people. I think I lost my elite status on yelp because I wasn't able to post much last year. I was pregnant! And then gave birth to my beautiful little girl! And though it definitely put a damper on my reviewing it also made me very aware of restaurants and places to go in a whole different light! I think now I will be taking account something many other people with babies are also thinking about! I now look at whether or not a place can accommodate me and my partner with our baby. Sozai is one of the places that I would say isn't built for family dining but the people make it possible. We were a walk in with our baby after we went to MOMA and we didn't know if they would be able to seat us. Everyone walking through the door had a reservation. We waited in the little entrance way for a while (about 25 min) and the manager was incredibly hospitable and worked to make sure we could get a table that could also fit our stroller. For a very busy and very crowded restaurant, I know it took a lot of effort but they were able to do it. They don't have a changing table in the bathroom but there was a roomier bathroom they made sure I got into that I was able to use and changed her in the stroller and breastfed her without anyone bothering us. I really appreciated the staff for that help. I ordered the unagi don, my husband ordered the chashu ramen. We got an extra order of the miso cod and I absolutely always order a tako wasabi if anyone offers it. Every dish was delicious. The rice was amazingly fluffy and the price is actually incredibly reasonable for the quality of food. The unagi don had a lot of thick pieces of eel, the miso cod was gorgeously done. It was perfectly cooked and wasn't too salty. The tako wasabi was delicious and very wasabi with fresh wasabi going straight to the nose! My husband loved his ramen, I didn't try it so I will have to try some next time. We knew they needed to turn over tables and that people were waiting so we didn't linger because they were so kind to seat us. We will definitely be back. The food was beautiful and delicious, the restaurant was clean and well paced. The food was served very quickly especially for how crowded and packed the place was. The service was above and beyond. We very much enjoyed our hard earned and rare night out because of the people there. Five stars. read more

came for just the happy hour and was pretty disappointed. drinks are limited and the highballs are $12 for hh when i can get them for $8 elsewhere at non-hh price. the taro fried was solid but nothing memorable and most items on the hh seemed pretty basic and like normal non-hh prices. although we didnt order from the regular menu, i get the feeling it wouldve just been even more disappointing with the high prices. service was also somewhat uncomfortable since the restaurant is quite small but there are a decent amount of waitstaff they just paced close to our table making us feel pressured to order more or leave. with so many great japanese options in the city its hard for me to see why id come back to sozai again. read more

Sozai - taro fried - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

This was one of the BEST Japanese restaurants. The food was outstanding, the service impeccable. It was a little loud but in a fun way. The decor was very charming. We started with the grilled edamame with garlic wasabi which was so delicious but not too spicy. We also had the shishito peppers and fried Oysters. Hot. Fresh. Perfect. For entree we were going to have ramen because the bowls we saw looked yummy but we opted to have sushi, salmon skin roll -super crunchy, hamachi roll-super fresh and the salmon avocado roll which was also fresh and perfect. The rice was still slightly warm, just the way I like it. We also had the Japanese beer and the final price was extremely reasonable! Definitely will go back! read more

See all

I came here with a friend yesterday and I LOVED this place. It was packed for a weekday night and they had an extensive menu of izakaya offerings. I thought the food they offered was unique and authentic to Japanese culture. Upon entering, the lighting is dim and the seating arrangements are very nice where some are in wooden booths. I ordered the mentaiko pasta, which was creamy and filling. It was topped with bacon pieces that perfected the dish and I absolutely enjoyed it. My friend got the cold soba green tea and she thought it was pretty good. One of the best she's had in NYC. We wanted to finish our meal with a dessert, so we decided to go for the sweet potato balls with hojicha ice cream. The sweet potato balls were chewy and had a sugary finish to it. The ice cream was similar to gelato and was decadent. Overall, we loved our experience and I would say I'm definitely coming back for more. The food, service, and ambiance were amazing. Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Ambiance: 5/5 read more

See all

Excellent food and service. Was a few blocks from hotel so stopped by early evening. The space itself is cool, a little retro and modern at same time. Had the pork katsu curry and the salmon skin salad. I enjoyed both. Would dine here again. read more

From the get go the service wasn't up to par. The hostess was impatient with me for not being able to decide on a table. There was only 1 table, but there were 2 other empty tables all "reserved." Their agedashi tofu was smelly. The tofu wasn't fresh. Miso Black Cod was okay. There were a lot of bones to pick through. It tasted kinda fishy. Sashimi bowl didn't taste that fresh. Their Uni was supermarket uni atop crab and scallops. I saw everyone order a scallop carpaccio. It's NYC pricing. Along with the portions that make it tapas small. I shoulda known this was going to be more Asian fusion when there's only fried rice options. I tried it once. Not gonna go here again. How does one mess up Agedashi tofu! And give you smelly tofu!? read more

See all

A great find in the theatre district. Delicious food and so many options-something for everyone. The people who work there are so nice and welcoming. Our server was Ing and she was amazing. The best karage I ever had! Also the miso cod was excellent and so were the desserts. read more

I had been craving warm ramen and Sozai delivered. The Tonkatsu Ramen broth was deep and rich with flavor. We had a private booth that was very cozy and intimate. The ambiance is very modern yet warm. Our server Farlarr was so attentive that my water cup never was empty and never once did I have to look for her. I'm looking forward to my next visit read more

The service was really good everything came out fast, the ambiance is nice it feel homey and calming, and the food was amazing some of the best japanese food I have had. read more

Sozai - Pork Katsu - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

See all

We came on a Saturday without reservations and was able to get seated right away at 5:30. By the time it was 6pm, the place seemed to have filled up and walk-ins had to wait. We chose this place because it had a lot of variety in their food, which was good for the kids. Loved the ambience but the food was just ok. The Ube fries, chicken karaage, and Takoyaki were good. The kids loved the mushroom pasta since it has sweet soy sauce. We also had the miso ramen, but that didn't look authentic or taste authentic. It wasn't creamy looking - it looked like a clear, dark brown broth. Regardless, the husband ate it up. The seasoned egg was good though. Decent experience, decent food, but we are probably going to try another Izakaya next time! read more

Great lunch before a Sunday matinee. Sat at bar. Excellent cocktail very refreshing. Had small plates ....food very fresh and flavorful. Highly recommend read more

Tasty udon and katsu curry! I like the combination of booths, tables and bar. Warm ambiance and good service - thank you Farlarr read more

Sozai - Beef sukiyaki Sukiyaki Beef Udon - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

Cool place. Food was interesting and satisfying. Sat at the bar and the bartender was excellent. read more

Sozai - Izakaya Near Me - New York, New York

New izakaya and ramen place in midtown Manhattan. Sake clam miso , mentaiko pasta, and sushi roll is a must !! read more

See all

Great little spot for a quick dinner before a show. We had a few drinks and some light bites and it was perfect. Perfectly crisp, cold beer and a refreshing high ball complemented a mental crab croquet and some Kara age. The crab croquet was amazing and I'd come back just for that. We also really liked the grilled pork jowl dish, all went well with alcohol. Looking forward to coming back and trying out their mains, we saw a lot of people had ordered their ramen and sushi dishes. read more

Fair prices, nice drinks, abundant portions. It was worth it and I would definitely be back!

Sozai is a great place with some great options. The squid skewers were on point, the crab croquette is my girlfriends favorite, the black cod was fantastic, and aside from the ambiance is very nice. read more