Craft Izakaya

We had a wonderful dinner at Craft. The tuna ball is a wonderful balance of flavors. We like the tapas style since we love to try a variety of dishes. The grilled squid was tender and delicious.
The service and décor was very fitting. We will definitely return again and again.

This place is great. The sushi is awesome and you can try a lot of different things because it’s served in small shareable portions. I also highly recommend their take on the Old Fashioned called the Old Smokey; it’s superb.

The best place for Japanese tapas ! The service is wonderful! Just ask for Jess or Derick. Try one of the bubble drinks or a Echigo beer. I love the toro over rice. Their hamachi Kama is out of this world.

Craft Izakaya was a fun group night, and while our server was great, the hostess was a bit frazzled and didn’t know how to handle a large group. The food was just ok. The price was too high for the quality of the food we received. My Moscow Mule (type drink) was ok but not memorable. For my second round I tried a different cocktail which was equally un-​memorable. Sure it is in Krogg street market which is a big draw. It’s always full with people, however there are waaaay better Japanese restaurants and Izakayas in Atlanta. When visiting Krogg Street other restaurants have much higher quality, ambiance, food and drinks. And as far as Japanese fare goes, it doesn’t represent the cuisine appropriately. I would eat here again, but only if I have to. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here. There is free parking in the Krogg Street Market lot.

Well. My wife and I went to this place on Saturday eve to have few drinks before bed. We walked up to the bar, sat down, and got the coldest reception we’ve received this side of Hades, complete with the icy stares. The brunette that first served us had a rubbish attitude. A fellow named Derek soon after began to serve us instead of the brunette. And his service was just as frigid. It made me hate the place with adept swiftness. We asked for a drink suggestion from each barmaid and you would have thought we asked them to show us their underwear. The service was so appalling that I cannot bring myself to review the mediocre drinks we were given.
Sad and rather unfortunate.

I had dinner at Craft Izakaya on a Sunday. We didn’t have trouble getting in without a reservation (with a group of four and a baby). They have a really fun menu. There is sushi (of course), with all the basics and some more complex options. They also have lots of other fun and interesting starters and dishes. We had a spicy tuna and avocado dip, some spicy fried rice cakes (which doesn’t sound that interesting, but was one of my favorite dishes!), vegetable tempura, and lots of other things. It’s all served tapas style, so you can share everything and try a variety.

I was craving Japanese, and the amount of restaurants in the neighborhood was a bit overwhelming. I kinda ended up at this place on a whim on a random Friday night. I was by myself, and the hostess kindly seated me at the sushi bar. The décor is pretty simple: low light, lots of black. Most interestingly, there are windows into the main kitchen which is lit with white light that contrast pretty bad with the otherwise intimate vibes.
I was feeling pretty hungry, so I got the crispy spicy tuna, as well as the 6-​piece nigiri platter. The nigiri was done almost immediately after my order was placed. All pieces tasted pretty great aside from the squid, which in my opinion, is nearly impossible to make appealing without frying it as calamari. Those disappeared pretty quick. I waited about 10 more minutes for the crispy spicy tuna. This is definitely one of the more inventive dishes on their menu. The tuna tasted fresh, but was far from spicy. I like a little more kick. The texture was pretty interesting, and it was an appetizing dish overall. It could have done without the quail egg on top, which just kinda made things more mushy, but overall, pretty damn good.
Prices are far from a steal, but everything tasted very fresh and the service was friendly, so I can’t complain. I’d go back!

We came for the ramen that is only offered during lunch 12−2PM on the weekends. It was decent, but at $ 13 with a measly piece of pork? C’mon, it’s only noodles, you can add a little more meat. Also, the huge amount of pickled ginger threw off the broth significantly. A not so heavy hand on the ginger, and a heavier hand with the pork could go a long way. For now, I still recommend Shoya Izakaya up in Chamblee.

Dinner comforted and surprised my taste buds. We walked by the ten-​stool sushi bar and were seated upstairs in a cozy space, made for no more than 22, overlooking the crowd. Sitting here you hear the music but no shouting required to enjoy my company. While R&B throwback songs like Shai’s Comforter and Dru Hill’s In My Bed streamed through the speaker system, we decided to check out the following eats–
–Wasabi Shumai: 4 steamed dumplings with a hint of the hot mustard like flavor of the wasabi root. Consider biting each dumpling in two if you are sensitive to spice, or wake yourself up by putting the whole piece in your mouth.
–Spicy Tuna Avocado Ball with seaweed tempura: Pretty avocado slices cover colorful spicy tuna tartare mixed with a bit of Sriracha and sesame oil. Take a seaweed chip and spoon the buttery avocado tuna mixture on top, make sure not to miss the pops of fish roe on top and add a dollop of spicy mayo. It was difficult to share this with my friends.
–Agedashi potato with rice cake and duck in dashi soup: Savory duck, chewy rice cake, and a lightly fried potato in dashi soup. The soup is made with konbu kelp and katsuobushi bonito flakes that are simmered and then strained. I considered sipping the remaining broth straight from the bowl.
–Sushi (Fried scallop and avocado roll & Shrimp roll with avocado and lemon): tastier than expected given the average appearance. Six pieces per order.
–Green tea and Red bean mochi: I’m a carbivore, so this Japanese rice cake dessert made of glutinous rice hit the spot. Served cold, chewy and slightly sweet. My friends didn’t like it, so all for me.
A creative menu and all hits this time around. The prices are slightly high for tapas sized portions, so be prepared to order more to ease those hunger pains or fill up through CI’s extensive drink menu.

Well I will say this… James the bartender is great. The food was ok. If you think this is going to be a rating/​ranting about food stop reading now.
I had the WORST experience at this place. It was my first time there and DEFINITELY my last. I have never seen a more ignorant GM than the one here. He made the most disgraceful comments about a religion (my religion) thinking he was being funny to his friend. Well guess what buddy… you never who’s around you. When I spoke up about the comments he just kept going on thinking he was funny as I politely asking him to stop. When following up the next day to discuss with him personally the events of the previous night, he was completely disingenuous and tried to justify all of his reasons for making Nazi comments repeatedly.
I am asking for a boycott of this place. I do not care who you are, but as to be so ugly in a world that already has so much stupidity, you do not need to add to it. I do not believe he is Anti-​Semetic, but as to be so ignorant, (Riddle Me This) how the heck are you in the restaurant industry, especially as a GM?

Craft Izakaya has a decent variety of foods, both raw and cooked, to please different palates. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that an izakaya is essentially a japanese pub, so the food should pair well with alcohol. However, even if you’re not into just a late night snack, you can still get a full meal here. I think Craft Izakaya is great for groups so you can share and try different things.
Chawan Mushi — probably one of my favorite things to eat and they do it well at Craft. It’s like a hot steamed egg custard. I don’t think there’s any dairy in here, so the best way I can describe it is that it’s like steamed egg with a bit of water/​broth and usually there are other things in it like shiitake mushrooms. Next time, I’m ordering one of these just for myself besides the fact it’s so rare to see this at most Japanese restaurants.
Spicy Tuna Avocado Ball — I think this has evolved from what you see pictured on their menu, or maybe the picture just doesn’t feature the blue corn chips which are dipped in a light, crispy tempura batter. Think of a deconstructed tuna avocado roll with the fun novelty of spooning it on to a chip. Personally, I think this was a little too much grease for my taste, but hey, sometimes it’s warranted if you’re going to drink alcohol, right? I probably wouldn’t get this again despite the popularity of this dish.
Yakitori — We had a variety of different yakitori: chicken hearts, beef, etc. I forget the rest, BUT what really stuck out to me and my group is that none of the yakitori had that charcoal flavor. Kind of puzzling because we were told they meats/​items were cooked in a hot oven (the number 1400 degrees resonates with me for some reason), but we weren’t too impressed.
Uni Shot — $ 14/​pop and basically market price for the uni. These uni shots were in sake with uni, quail egg, salmon roe and sriracha. If you like savory drinks like a Bloody Mary and aren’t afraid of sashimi, then this shot’s for you. It’s not on the menu. I think my favorite part was the salmon roe which is the last thing you pop in your mouth. Mmm, briny.
Décor is kind of dark, but it’s the way an izakaya should be or at least that I know of. We’re lucky that we got to sit on the top floor so we could look down on the rest of the restaurant. Service was great but it could have been that we came after the crowd left. There’s something for everyone here and while some things may be designed for a more American-​taste, it’s definitely unique experience that I’m glad I got to try.

I haven’t tried as many Japanese places in Atlanta as I would like, but I really enjoyed Craft Izakaya. The spicy tuna ball probably isn’t the most traditional dish, but I LOVED it. It’s served with seaweed tempura to dip with and it’s a really cool dish.

The tuna avocado ball!!!
I think I can stop my review here…
The avocado ball is seriously the best thing on their inventive menu. Thinly sliced avocado surrounding spicy tuna with fun fried nori chips. What more could you want?
We also had some sashimi (very fresh, yay!), several of the rolls (pretty standard), geso karaage (fried squid legs), grilled octopus, and the chicken yakisoba. The octopus was definitely a winner. It was perfectly charred and was well cooked. The geso was ok but not as crisp and fun to eat as I hoped and the yakisoba was straight up gross (think burnt heavily).
Despite several of these missteps I will definitely head back again and try more things on their menu. Prices are high as expected for the KSM vendors but still definitely worth checking out this creative spin on Japanese food.

After reading mixed reviews I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve also recently had the best sushi of my life out in LA and I was worried that would taint me. (It did keep me from trying the toro here)
Everything is tapa style so we started with the spicy tuna avocado ball. You MUST try this. It was so good! Not spicy at all in my opinion. But the spicy mayo here tastes like they make it themselves and was great.
Next I tried my friends Tuna tar tar and the crispy spicy tuna (with some adjustments). Both were good but not as good as the wasabi ae I ordered. I think that was my favorite thing I ate all night.
We each ordered yakatori. I had the duck, it was good but not the best I’ve ever had or anything. I didn’t think the sauces they brought out did anything for the meat and I tried all 3. My friends got the pork belly and said it was really good.
Lastly we tried the chicken yakisoba because of all the Unilocal reviews. I didn’t get the hype. It was good but nothing special and we all would’ve been just fine without it.
I will go back and have the wasabi ae and the spicy tuna avocado ball for sure!

Our group first bellied up to the central bar to grab a cocktail as we were exploring KSM for the first time. The bartender was friendly, the drinks were fun, and the atmosphere was livley on a Saturday night. After a few stops elsewhere, we decided to head back here for dinner.
In short: great food, friendly service, distracting music.
We order a lot, my favorite being the spider roll: nicely crisp fried soft-​shell crab with cool cucumber. The chirashi was quite pretty, with good flavor and more-​bite-​sized pieces than many chirashi that I’ve had. The tonkotsu was solid — crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside, and just the right amount of sweetness on the sauce, with finely cut cabbage. Delicious food, whether you love Japanese food or are trying it for the first time.
What’s up the with music though? Maybe it was just the night that we went, but it was a little too loud and/​or aggressive. I guess they’re going for urban instead of zen.

I enjoyed my dinner last weekend at Craft Izakaya. The service was good, and the atmosphere feels trendy and upscale.
Pros:
Bubble tea with alcohol…
Octopus hush puppy things
baked california roll
garlic parm edamame
Cons:
Didn’t receive an item I ordered
basic rolls are pricey for 6 pieces
Ddin’t enjoy Wasabi dumplings and skewers
I want to return soon and try a few more items on the menu.

Craft Izakaya is one dark restaurant. We went for dinner. It was so dark, I could barely read the menu. I almost wanted to use my flashlight app so I can read it. They need to get some more ambient lighting in there.
Craft Izakaya is an Izakaya. So you’ll be eating a bunch of small, tapas-​style plates. They’re all Japanese of course. It’s not traditional Japanese. They have your non-​traditional stuff to cater to the trendy, hipster white people that go there.
They do have traditional dishes too. I would consider Craft Izakaya a Japanese fusion place. They have some innovative dishes based on traditional Japanese food.
One of the more traditional dishes was the natto salad. I call it traditional because I don’t know who would eat natto, except me. The natto salad came with some tuna sashimi, natto, some julienned vegetables, nori to wrap the salad in, and some tsuyu sauce. It was okay. The seaweed runs out fast. I wished they had some rice to go along with the natto.
Natto is fermented soybeans. If you never had it, watch out. The flavor is sour. It is extremely sticky. Some natto have an aroma of stinky feet, luckily this one didn’t. Although you do get a sense of it. If you feel adventurous, try the natto salad out.
I tried their yakitoris. They all were grilled well. Their beef tenderloin was a bit tough though. They gave us 3 different sauces to dip the meat in: pineapple jalepeno, spicy miso, and chili cilantro. My favorite was the pineapple Jalepeno.
Their salmon cheeks (Sake Kama) were delicious. The cheese was grilled well, and I loved the flavors of the honey miso. It gave it a nice, sweet taste to balance out the charred and savory flavor of the salmon.
I loved their Spicy Fried Rice Cake. It is a variation of Korean ddukbokki. I loved how they fried the rice cake. It made it crunchy. The ddukbokki flavors were also on point. I wished it was a tad bit spicier. I still liked it.
Their Ochazuke was nice and comforting. It comes with salmon roe, salmon meat, rice, shiso, umeboshi, and bubu arare, and possibly others. It tasted like your standard ochazuke to me, and that’s fine by me. I like good Ochazuke.
I tried their Takuan Rolls. It was okay. It had too much shiso in my opinion. But I know why they did that. Just a plain takuan roll would be boring.
I also tried their garlic, avocado, salmon roll. It was okay too. It was poorly constructed since it fell apart. The strong, raw garlic made it interesting, flavor wise.
I liked Craft Izakaya. They have some cool dishes. I would probably come back and try some more.

Ambiance: think lots of wood, relaxed, mellow, good lighting (not too dark), good music– I went on a Tuesday night. Very casual vibe in a nice environment.
Service: awesome. Everyone was friendly. The owner went around greeting almost every table. Food came out in a timely manner and everything was exactly as described.
Food: everything tasted great. I went with two other people and we shared about 10 dishes: Uni sake shooters, Takoyaki, a couple different yakitori, tuna tartare, hamachi Kama, A couple orders of Uni nigiri, ebi shiitake, spicy scallop roll, albacore roll. We also had a small bottle of sake that was crisp, clean, and paired very well with all the food. Great izakaya meal. Everyone was comfortably full. (Full disclosure: we went across to Jenis for some ice cream after. There’s a second stomach for dessert. Right? Right.)
Will be back!

I brought my visiting half-​sister here for an evening, and I fairly worried she left very unimpressed, actually, I’m quite sure. Granted, I didn’t take her for the Japanese food connoisseur, I figured as an izakaya, she’d be treated to some new and interesting foods within her palate. I was sorely unimpressed by the range of their menu in comparison to a majority of Atlanta based izakaya. It’s a reasonable menu, but the sushi menu felt more worthwhile, as well as the whole place felt very sushi bar and not much like an izakaya, to me. I’m no expert though, so take with a grain of salt. It’s simply that for the cost, there are way better izakaya.
I found it interesting that the edamame were garlic parmesan. Really interesting concept. Tasty too, but it just felt weird. Haha. Weird good? Maybe?
Takoyaki– A definite buy for me. Period. I have to try each places takoyaki. Crafts? A++!
Salmon Belly — Salmon was good. The ikura… far more fishier than it typically is for me. And while I’m okay with salted warm tomato on rice with fish… this dish just was subpar for me. Pretty though!
Yakisoba — My half sister ordered this. She said it was weak, but better with soy sauce. I tried some as well, and it was a bit weak, but not bad.
Pork Belly Kimichi — Nice spice, and overall pretty good. Didn’t really care of the soft tofu pieces that came on the side, however, made for nice plating.
Spicy Tuna, avo, fried with panko — Tasty roll. Honestly, I think I’d only come to Craft for sushi from now on.
As with everything at Krog Market, sorely overpriced, not the quality I’d expect for the price, but average. Sushi was memorable, but one roll hardly makes my opinion on that sound. Plus, I felt like I had to constantly confirm if the meal was okay. It may be awhile before I ever take another go around at Craft, but the next time will be Sushi all the way.

Craft Izakaya opened at Krog Street Market in August 2014. Initially concerned this place might turn out to be an overhyped, trendy Japanese restaurant, I’m happy to report the food here is actually quite good. The cuisine is a mixture of authentic, creative, and unique Japanese dishes.
Craft is headed by chef/​owner Jey Oh, who worked for years at Sushi Huku in East Cobb (and still does, on a limited basis, as far as I know). A Korean with California roots, Chef Oh has worked with and learned from a multitude of chefs including, in the Atlanta area, Kondo-​san at Huku and Fuyuhiko Ito at Umi. Jey described Chef Ito to me as one of his mentors. Also on the team at Craft are Richard Tang and Arianne Fielder, the latter a well-​known Atlanta bar consultant. Overall, the staff is friendly, fun, energetic, and passionate. I think these qualities are reflected in the restaurant’s lively atmosphere.
Whereas Shoya Izakaya in Doraville is more of a traditional izakaya (a casual Japanese tavern serving food and snacks), Craft Izakaya appeals to a more hip crowd, much like Miso Izakaya in Old Fourth Ward. Craft’s bar does a neat wraparound where its sushi bar faces the dining room and the «backside» of the bar faces the inside of the market. The sushi bar seats around 6 – 8 guests. Brightly, naturally lit at day and romantically candle-​lit at night, the space isn’t terribly big, featuring a lot of dark wood and exposed bulb pendant lights. There’s a small upstairs dining area with more seating.
Craft’s helpful picture menu is chock-​full of small, interesting, and varied plates (40+). Examples include Whole Fried Baby Flounder, Agedashi Potato with Rice Cake & Duck in Dashi Soup, Chawan Mushi (steamed egg custard), Grilled Snapper Head, and Iidako Karaage (fried baby octopus). There are Korean dishes such as Kimchi Pork Belly and Spicy Fried Rice Cake (dukboki). In addition, there are nearly 20 different yakitori meat skewers (e.g. chicken hearts, gizzards, beef tongue) and a respectable selection of nigiri and sashimi sushi, chirashi, plus a ton of sushi rolls.
Expect to spend roughly $ 6 – 13 per izakaya dish, $ 4 – 5 per yakitori skewer, $ 20 and up per chef’s choice nigiri/​sashimi, and $ 8 – 13 per 6-​piece sushi roll.
Sharing is the way to go. Here are items I’ve tried:
Plates:
* Tako Wasabi — marinated octopus in wasabi soy
* Ikura Umeshiso Ochazuke in green tea dashi
* Geso Karaage — fried squid legs with mayo-​based dipping sauce
* Spicy Tuna Avocado Ball with seaweed tempura and spicy mayo
* Ika Sugata — grilled whole squid in eel sauce
* Tonkatsu — fried breaded pork served with steak sauce
* Takoyaki — fried octopus balls with Japanese mayo
Rolls:
* Toro Roll with Green Onion.
* Spicy Scallop, Masago, Sriracha, Spicy Mayo, Green Onion
* Spicy Tuna Roll, Avocado, Deep Fried with Panko with eel sauce and spicy mayo
Dessert:
* Red Bean and Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream
Special (Omakase):
* Hokkaido uni, quail yolk, house-​cured salmon roe, katsuobushi, toasted nori, ground sesame seed, sesame oil, fried shallots, sushi rice
Alcohol:
* Boba Cocktail — Good Morning Vietnam — Troy and Sons White Whiskey, Condensed Milk Syrup, Coke, Cherry Bark, Bitters, Espresso.
* Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Honjyozo Sake
I love the Tako Wasabi, a dish I’m also fond of at Sushi House Hayakawa. The cold, raw, marinated octopus is firm and flavorful and freshly grated wasabi is used (not your typical wasabi).
Ikura Umeshiso Ochazuke is a mild, comforting soup made with dashi stock which is the base for miso soup. Salmon roe, cooked salmon, and rice are the main ingredients in this soup.
When it comes to squid, I prefer the Ika Sugata over the Geso Karaage, though both are delicious. The Ika Sugata contains both the squid body (rings) and legs, grilled, whereas the Geso Karaage is squid legs only, fried with batter. Either way, you can’t go wrong.
The Spicy Tuna Avocado Ball is a playful dish. Grab a tempura seaweed chip and use the supplied mini wooden spoon to scoop up avocado, tuna, tobiko, and spicy mayo as a dip/​spread.
The Tonkatsu is on point — crispy and delectable. The single serving size is manageable unlike many Korean restaurants where it’s served in gigantic portions.
Four Takoyaki come to an order. This is a great shareable app. The balls are soft and succulent with delicate and tasty bonito fish shavings.
The sushi rolls are terrific. The fish is fresh and the rolls are neat and compact. Also, Craft makes its own soy sauce. How many Japanese restaurants in Atlanta can say that?
The mochi ice cream, made with chewy glutinous rice cake, is sweet and a superb ending to any meal.
Reservations generally aren’t accepted unless it’s a party greater than 6 before 7pm. Omakase (chef’s tasting) is available, typically between 5−7pm. Call ahead for omakase. Chef Oh’s omakase-​style dish listed above can only be described as an inventive and orgasmic combination of flavors. Phenomenal.
Complimentary valet and free self-​park available.