Shalom Japan

Was a little trepidations considering how hyped this place is, but it was surprisingly impressive. The matzoh ball soup ramen was very tasty, a delicious marriage of two different soup flavors. The matzoh balls were fluffy and the soup had a lot of chicken elements. Great marinated egg too! The okonomyaki was also excellent with a kraut flavor. The wagyu pastrami was ok, but I’d try something else from the menu next time. Drinks were great and the menu had a lot of options. Employees were super kind!

It’s a creative concept and there are some really fun fusion dishes, like the okonomyaki, and matzoh ball ramen, plus their umami-rich challah. But there are also some dishes that play it safe, like an unremarkable noodle bowl or the admittedly tasty but not even remotely Japanese (but rather Levantine-inspired) falafel-breaded egg. For dinner, the large plate menu is pretty lightweight: a sandwich, ramen, a pork chop, aforementioned vegetarian noodles and what is essentially a poke bowl with smoked salmon. In short, Shalom Japan has flattened out over the years, and some of the fun fusion has faded. Service was average — food just dropped in place, a missed opportunity to convey the restaurant’s approach to fusion — and we were very disappointed to see that the menu prices reflect cash payment (add 3% surcharge for cards), a clear violation of New York consumer law, which requires menu prices reflect card prices. (The cash discount mentioned on the menu is already reflected in the prices, so it’s actually a surcharge to pay with cards.) I hope they can address this soon.

So I’d been stalking their Instagram for ages. Finally had a reason to come to NY from West coast & immediately made a reservation here. Honestly had like an idyllic dinner- small cozy restaurant, we chose outdoor seating where people ( and doggo) watching was good. Our server was friendly, enthused, hella patient. Made good recommendations, told us about off menu options. A bonus surprise: the cocktails were excellent! We each had two, I tasted all four and holy cow it’s been way too long since I had a cocktail which truly deserved it’s price tag like so. Jacob’s Milk, Fauci Ouchie, Velvet Evening, Lychee Saketini. Also loved the food. Okanamiyaki was amazing as were the lions mane mushrooms, beef tartar top notch absolutely lick your bowl yum. We enjoyed our two noodle dishes as well- not quite as impressive as the appetizers but also who knows if that’s partially coz we were getting full already. It does seem more Japanese than Jewish- all delicious. No tummy space for dessert but they looked fab. Tidy restroom w ramen wallpaper. They were good to let us linger over our drinks long after we finished dining which I appreciate. We both loved it. Would definitely return. We even had a little bit of take home leftovers.

My friends and I have wanted to go to Shalom Japan for the past year, so when my partner and I were in Williamsburg for an event, we made sure to get dinner here. Unfortunately, the experience was a let-down. Food: The food was completely hit or miss. Two dishes stood out as particularly good: the Jew egg and the lox bowl. The Jew egg is a unique take of a scotch egg over hummus and israeli salad and was delicious. The lox bowl was a poke bowl with a hearty serving of lox and the flavors melded together perfectly. We were less impressed with the other food we ordered. The matzo ball ramen lacked flavor and was served lukewarm. The sweet potato cheesecake was decent. The worst, though, was the challah bread pudding we ordered for dessert. It was burned on top and, unfortunately, that burnt taste ruined the dish. Service: The staff was attentive, but there were two interactions that rubbed us the wrong way. In the first, the server took our order and we told her what small plates we wanted. She then cut us off and told us that "the chefs prefer all food to be ordered together," even though I was about to order the rest before being cut off. The second interaction was when another server ran our food to our spot at the bar. He didn't say a word. I thanked him several times and he simply looked at us and turned away. Props to the bartender, though. He was attentive and clearly cared for his craft. In summary, the pretentiousness of the staff was not justified by the lackluster food. From the start, we did not feel welcome as a walk-in and the staff seemed to feel like they were doing us a favor. If you do go here, though, the Jew egg and lox bowl are safe bets. Next time I'm in the area, I will pick somewhere else to dine.