Juban

Their sushi is fresh and tasty, but my favorite part of the meal was the maple teriyaki salmon, it was so delicious, I liked the accompanying broccolini, the potato au gratin was okay, didn’t really go well with the salmon for me. We were both stuffed from dinner, but the restaurant gave us dark chocolate as a compliments and they were good too. What a perfect way to end a meal.

My favorite part of the night was finding out the name of our waitress’ lipstick color, which I made sure to go buy at MAC the next day.
We started with shrimp skewers and was wasabi-​marinated raw octopus. I laughed at the tiny bowl containing no more than one ounce of tiny octopus nuggets the size of kidney beans ($ 7). The shrink skewer was shrimp paste cooked into squares and barbecued. Is this a crummy magic show?
The chef’s choice nigiri and sashimi were both tuna, salmon, and yellowtail that night. I waited for the waiter to laugh at his joke. Nope. The nigiri was delicious but over-​priced at $ 25 for 6 pieces.
Out waitress with the beautiful lipstick disappeared on us, too, leaving us hanging for 15 (‘a couple’) minutes between taking our app and entrée orders. Felt like I wasted the night here.

Pros
Good ambiance
Decent food
Great knowledgable service of their menu
Cons
Pricey for what you get
Food not mind blowing good (other than the scallop sushi. So fresh. So soft. Melted yum)
Far walk from main subways
Great place for
Dates
Feeling like a yuppie hipster («we make our own everything»)
Ikazaya food without insane lines
Overall a great place to go. I might /​probably will return if I’m in the area.

Amazing variety and delicious choices. Great atmosphere, laid back and relaxed. Order lots of plates and share amongst the table. If you enjoy a variety of amazing options, this is your place!

Delicious delicious interesting food. Small, culturally appropriate portions, go with the mood to try different things! Kobe beef on point, great veggie and vegan options too. The multitude of sake and sake chart to help you decide will make for a happy pallet:)

love the wide range of sake and soju lists.
food coming in small portion which is awesome, got to taste many more different dishes.
love their little pork bun. their sashimi were very fresh as well.

I went to an event in the area, and I was looking for a restaurant within walking distance. The photos of the food first caught my attention. The food just looks delicious. I was curious to find out if the taste would match.
Everything is served family style which is nice for a small group.
Saikoro steak — simply amazing. it comes out on a sizzling hot pan. it is tender flavorful and delicious
Pork fried rice — I wish there was a little more pork in the rice because the pork is great.
Snow Crab Creamy Spring Roll — AMAZING! Creamy, warm, tender rolls with a great subtle crab flavor.
Shrimp Tempura Roll — Simple and delicous
The restaurant is cute and the staff was sweet. I ordered their ginger mojito I couldn’t handle it and had to send it back. However, the lychee cocktail was light and yummy.

This place is a pretty sliver of a restaurant on 10^th. Serene, interior, cool Lou. I went for brunch and it was tranquil though food wise, nothing special.
Ate:
Shrimp and veg tempura over rice
Battered and fried shsito peppers
Total: $ 24
Their price alone for brunch/​lunch was exorbitant & while the food was good… I prefer more value and less esthetics than this non– Japanese run Chelsea spot doles out.

One of my favorite Japanese restaurants in New York City.
The food is always quick, delicious and flavorsome. Some of my personal favorites to have as starters are the white sesame tofu agedashi (most tasty tofu I’ve potentially ever eaten) and the garlic spinach
And then of course the sushi is some of the best in the city, I usually order the spicy salmon or the salmon and avocado and without fail the fish is fresh and the sushi is delish. My boyfriend tried the yellowtail namero which was fantastic too
All in all a little hidden gem of a restaurant, great service, great ambience, stylish décor and delicious Japanese cuisine

Cool chill place, super friendly staff, and overall great ambiance. I like how the tables on the left side of the room has a set up where you’re sitting next to each other (in a square shape) as opposed to across, I feel it provides a more intimate atmosphere. I like the décor, the big painting they have downstairs (as you descend to get to the washrooms) was a surprise for me. I noticed a lot of people come in and actually want to sit at the bar to dine which stood out to me because normally a table is preferred. I guess that just shows how much fun you can have at the bar.

I’m a little confused by the ratings here. The food is good but not life changing. The service is lame. The hipsters that work here take themselves way too seriously and it’s quite humorous. Eat here if you want to go home hungry and disappointed.

We were supposed to hit up another spot BUT they were full and we were hungry. Luckily, my friend saw Juban as we walked by and suggested that we check it out. I’m really glad we did.
The décor is really nice. Very comfortable and welcoming. Not a bad spot for a date at all.
The service was excellent from the very beginning, and the food was delicious on many levels. The sushi was very tasty and the Kara age was on point. I also had a tsukune and they took care of my quail egg request. It was good but not great. The spicy cucumber appetizer was official tissue though and my tea was constantly refilled. My brother had the Kobe beef steak and was going nuts over it. Portions are small, which is how Japanese cuisine should be served.
Desert was damn good too. I can’t wait to go back to this spot and try some of the other options.

Went there on a Friday night around 7pm and the place was ¹⁄₃ filled. That should have been my first indication of a problem. Order $ 150 worth of food and drinks and while the taste was mostly above average, the portions were microscopic. Yes, I understand the concept of tapas, but when the prices are more reflective of entrees, I expect the quantity to be more than what would satisfy a kitten.
As we left hungry and disappointed, I noticed majority of the restaurant is still unoccupied. And now you know why.

Foods are delicious, but overall the quality and taste of foods don’t deserve to be charged at such a high price. Pricy. For example, their yakisoba is ok, quite authentic, but it doesnt need to be 13 – 14 dollars. Besides, the portion of dishes are too small, even smaller than portions in Japan! So I don’t think their dishes need to be that pricy. It does not make sense.
Atmosphere is good, quite, good for talking and relaxing, but again, I don’t recommend it for its prices, because their dishes are not unique to be pricy.

I’ve been here twice and have had the best of times. Manhattan prices so co prepared to spend a little money. We were there for several hours and had a blast but it did cost about $ 100 per person. Taking Kara age is amazing. The Tako (octopus) is pounded and then fried. It melts in your mouth. Spare ribs are also amazing. The rice in the nigiri sushi was a tad off. Not sure what was up with that but it was all really good. The daiginjo sake made it all go down so well. I’ll be back!

Disappointing. This place is not as good as the old Izakaya Ten. I knew that a new owner took over the place and replaced chefs and all other staffs, but everything isn’t as good as the old days. So disappointing. Izakaya Ten was more authentic Japanese Izakaya vs. today’s place is more americanized with a bit different menu/​taste.
I was a big fan of Izakaya Ten. I was missing their food and sake, so stopped by this evening for a Thursday dinner/​drink. The food menu is not a bit different, though the sake menu and interior looked the same (or similar). My favorite menu at Izakaya Ten were (i) spicy cucumbers (ii) taco wasa (iii) chicken kara age (iv) black cod with miso sauce. Ordered (i), (ii), (iii) and I couldn’t finish half of them as they were too SALTY. Not good as before. (iv) black cod is not on the menu anymore. We also tried couple of skewers. Just okay, nothing to rave about.
Don’t think I’d go back again. Izakaya Ten was one of my 4-​star rated places in Chelsea, as well as my go-​to spot with my favorite colleagues/​friends. Now, this place is not as before.

Really delicious food here, came with a girlfriend at 7pm and we got lucky with a free table. We were overwhelmed with such great choices but our waiter was super helpful.
We started with the seaweed salad, spicy tuna, yellowtail, cucumbers and shisito peppers. Each dish was delicious. Even the soy sauce here was top notch. For the main course, the scallops and more sushi.
The prices were actually not too bad, we didn’t drink though.
I can’t wait to come back to this neighborhood gem.
Oh and the murals were awesome!

I’ve never been happier to be a third wheel! After a YEE at STK in the Meatpacking District, fellow awesome Unilocalers Josh and Angeline invited me out for a post-​event dinner at Juban. They told me they had a bottle of shōchū with their name on it. At first, I didn’t realize they meant it literally. Ha!
We entered this sleek and stylish izakaya, parallel to the High Line, and took our seats at the bar, a wall full of shōchū and other alcoholic bottles shining in front of us. It was my first time having it (…admittedly, I momentarily confused it with soju, because hey, white girl here…), and was pleasantly surprised by its crisp and clean taste, akin to a nice cold sake. Josh had a reserved bottle ready for them at the bar, with a name tag and «expiration date» on it and everything! I felt special to be able to share in their special bottle. Haaa.
We shared many plates among us from kara age to chicken skewers, shishito peppers to fish, to a nice large bowl of Ochazuke with Ume. Everything was a delight! I’m not a seafood gal, but even I enjoyed a few bites of the lightly fried dish, covered with fresh-​squeezed lemon juice. A split plate of delicious Pork Yakisoba rounded out our meal so nicely!
The vibe here is great and the food was delicious! I’m ready to come back for Round Two!

Neglectful of me to not write a review of Juban until now. Taking over the old Izakaya Ten space («juban» in Japanese means #10) in Chelsea, Juban refreshes the décor and menu while keeping very much the same concept.
Two huge improvements in the space are the revamped bar area, which now features exposed brick and excellent bottle lighting, and the sugidama hanging over the stairs down to the bathrooms and kitchen. Both are nice additions. The large octopus mural, which I’ll miss, has been replaced by another frenetic design by the same artist — brighter and more colorful than the original. All in all the space is improved over the former space, though carries the same DNA throughout.
Food menu carries some hold-​overs such as the best-​in-​NYC buta kimchi, an iron skillet served thin sliced marinated pork and kimchi which is always nicely caramelized, unlike other NYC versions which tend to be more watery. There are also some new additions to the food menu. The scallop shiso basil is interesting. Unlikely anything I’ve tried elsewhere. Also enjoyed the fried fluke.
The drinks menu remains as it was before with a helpful flavor map for the sake list as well as other Japanese drinks such as beer and shochu. As a shochu lover, their list is solid, if not as robust as some other shochu bars. But that’s fine. The selections they have are more than enough to get me through a dinner with plenty to spare.
I nearly shed a tear when I realized Izakaya Ten was closing and I’m very happy that the experience has been so faithfully recreated by the new owners, who cared a great deal about giving NYers an authentic, yet approachable izakaya experience in Manhattan.
Kampai!

This place was my goto spot for after hours drinks … The new Reno is tasty … The new management/​owner was very friendly accommodating. Most of the old staff is back as well as Mikio my favorite bartender.
Would love one or two late nights to slow down the pace before heading inn.
Best Wishes Juban