Bar Chuko

HORRIBLE PLACE! STAY AWAY! I went here with my fiancé on a cold winter day. We were craving ramen, so we ordered 2 bowls of the chicken ramen and 2 chicken skewers (yakitori). The ramen was incredibly small, they didn’t even fill up the tiny bowl that they’re serving it in. We had to pay extra for an egg (which should already be included in the ramen). The noodles were hard and difficult to chew. The yakitori was so small, it came on a toothpick. I don’t think it would even be enough food for a child. The food was extremely over priced. We will never go back to this place. Horrible horrible experience. Please stay away from this restaurant.

I’m a fan of Chuko Ramen, but both the food and experience here were underwhelming. Moreover, my group was seated next to the delivery door, which meant that every few minutes, the delivery guy would enter or exit, and we would be hit with a blast of freezing cold air. Not at all a fun dining experience.

I don’t get why people treat Bar Chuko like the lesser option of Chuko. Delicious food and friendly service. Not just where to go when you can’t get past Bar Chuko’s long wait, but somewhere to plan to go for delicious japanese yaki-​style food.

After getting shut out multiple times because of long wait times we decided to try Chuko on our way out of Brooklyn on Sunday at noon. We were seated immediately and ordered two ramen, the veggie and bone, and an order of gyosa. The ramen each were cooked perfectly and were delicious. For an early lunch our order was more than we could finish and we took half and order home to enjoy later. If you pick your time getting a seat shouldn’t be difficult and note they do not accept credit cards as we found out when we finished.

My boyfriend and I were craving ramen, but Chuko was too long of a wait, so we decided to come here. The atmosphere is great, but both the food and the service are subpar. Our ramen bowls were really small and contained very little chicken. We also shared two appetizers that were just overwhelmingly salty. Very disappointed! The servers were also very pretentious, as many other reviewers have pointed out.

Came here because of the affiliation with Chuko. Shared two appetizers and the food was super salty and frankly, just not very good. Didn’t finish either of them.
We then told the waitress, who took the plates and walked away while we were still talking to her. We then had another server come over and tell us they tried the appetizer, and it wasn’t too salty. Not sure what she wanted us to say back…
The Chicken Bone ramen was pretty disappointing. Wasn’t that hot, which is part of the reason you want ramen in winter. It was also super small and had barely any chicken in it. Noodles also weren’t cooked enough because the broth wasn’t hot enough — which was weird because we had to wait about 35 min to get any food.
Would not return. Restaurant looks super nice, but that’s about where it ends. Poor service, not very good food.

amazing food, great atmosphere.
the drink menu is incredible: if you’re here you HAVE to order the shush. i think about that drink all the time!
the skate wings may be my favorite menu item! sprinkled with togarashi, dipped in kewpie. amazing!
I also loved the grilled octopus, spicy tuna, okonomiyaki, all of the yakitori… honestly, my group ordered every item on the menu and had no regrets! can’t wait to go back.

Sometimes a meal here is fabulous and other times it just falls flat. Inconsistency is the name of the game at this joint. I’ve come here and ordered phenomenal items I’ve eaten previously i. e the salt and pepper prawns, or the chicken hearts, and have it taste as if it were made by an understudy. It can’t possibly be the same team members cooking each night. The head chef needs to find a way to make sure that they bring their A game every night. For the record, the times I ate here on a Saturday night it were great, on a Friday not so much.

Gosh I really wish I had a chance to try the food but the second I walked in I felt I unwelcome and the staff acted like they were too important to say hi or seat me. It was a slow time. It was quite sad. Had to walk out.

I wanted to try everything on their menu… so I asked the manager, Brooke, if she would go for a FOH «Omakase» style, and it worked out nicely. I got to try the miso cheese, the wings, a lil’ ramen and lastly this rice cake/​kimchi/​mozzarella dish that was basically heaven & I crave it daily. Hands down my favorite restaurant in Prospect Heights.

One of my second favorite restaurants in Prospect Heights. Also opened by James Sato & team, the people who own Chuko.
The food is excellent, and I’m never disappointed. Things such as the miso cheese, roe and scallion are killer– and then there’s the mackerel with lemon and pickled onions– also standout.
Recently they’ve started with specials, including steamed buns with fried soft shell crab– which always makes me extremely happy when it’s on the menu (hint hint).
It’s often busy, but waits aren’t as bad as Chuko and they have ramen too. Prices per plate are a little more, but definitely worth it.

This place was hands down the best restaurant we went to while visiting NYC. The food, the service, and the ambiance were perfect. We ordered a flight of each small plate and every single dish was absolutely incredible!!! The rice cake dish was top 5 best dishes I’ve ever had in my entire life and the wings were the best I’ve ever had period. Out of all the restaurants in NYC this is the one place that we’ll make a point to return to. AMAZING.

«I’ll have the Takara shochu, neat please.»
«Good choice, that one is my favorite.»
Apparently the bartender wasn’t lying on that note. A pour of soba shochu materialized as I was browsing the menu, barely measuring a finger and a half. Maybe a third of what’s normally served in a proper Japanese izakaya. Perhaps the bartender was saving the rest of the bottle for herself?
The eating part of the experience at Bar Chuko began for me with the crispy pork chop, mustard greens and quail egg ($ 14). The pork was well fried, with an innovative enough coconut sort of breading. No sauce of any kind accompanied the pork, but a small amount of mustard greens did. Thoroughly pickled, the quantity of mustard greens was itself sufficient, but perhaps a similar amount of radish or other Japanese pickled item could be included? It would be nice to have a bit more veggies on the plate. The quail egg seemed the size of a hummingbird egg, flavorful indeed, but all of two quarter-​bites of food; the yolk of a jellied consistency which could not be used to enhance the relative dryness of the pork.
Mid-​way through my pork chop plate, the meatlover yakitori set arrived ($ 15). First I attacked the cumin lamb meatball, which at least was a fine contrast moisture-​wise to the pork chop. Cumin was used fairly sparingly and appropriately, most notable in the aftertaste. Next I sampled the pork jowl which was sliced into about 10 thin pieces and topped with an ample amount of scallion; pretty tasty, if perhaps a couple slices overly charred. Wagyu shortrib was the third item of the trio; maybe a bit overcooked and I was not particularly fond of its marination.
The yakitori set was served with a spicy yellow mustard that featured a solid bite. I ended up applying more to the second slab of crispy pork than the meat skewers. Exhibiting my typical deftness in allocating a potent potable across an entire meal, a last nutty sip of the meager pour of buckwheat shochu remained to wash down my final bite of pork jowl.
All in all, a decent enough dining experience on an absolute basis, if less so after accounting for the price tag.
In other words, typical Brooklyn these days.

Bar chuko is located a deceptive few paces away from chuko. I’m sure many people like me who amble into Prospect Heights and get lost mistake it for chuko (thinking ‘whoa! They really spruced it up for gentrification, I can’t recognize it at all’)and by then it’s too awkward to excuse themselves and leave. Tricksy izakaya.
The spin off is more spacious than chuko, with a long metallic bar and lit pink (note: not very appetizing color scheme). The bench tables were occupied by depressing 2008 hipsters feeding or holding babies, piled in for early lunch. Second wave ones who decided defiantly to stay in Prospect Heights and not relocate to Rye because Montessori schools and brunch at the Beast. The bar area was crowded with 30 something hipsters talking about their messed up brother in law’s kids and how much they don’t like babies.
While trying not to spiral off into alienation, I ordered some recommended items to try with some upselling help from the bartender.
–Seaweed salad: (the bartender said it’s only good for those who like seaweed salad, proceed with caution.) a small dessert bowl piled densely with wakame. Probably the dish I ate with the most gusto. It has a tangy dressing with salty, thinly sliced pickles which are really refreshing. There were hints of an unexplainable umami brown goo that really added interest to the dish. Again I like seaweed salad and am not afraid of the gelatinous parts.
–Wings: A plate of five mini drumsticks. The bartender raved that these were the best she ever tried. I don’t agree. They had a wonderfully crispy coating, and a sweet and garlicky flavor, but they lacked complexity and the acidity spicy wings have. I prefer spicy wings, these were a bit boring to eat and had me reaching for any hot sauce. Don’t think I’d order again.
–rice balls: this was the dish compared to a lasagna. A miniature Korean lasagna served in a rectangular dish, but still heavy and filling. It is coated with smoldering cheese and inside little charred rice balls frequently stuck together in pairs (cool effect) and a more liquidy beloved pork and kimchi mixture. Overall it was interesting and a bit heavy for the cheese sensitive, plus I’m not a big fan of rice balls. Would have been satisfied with the old gold pork and kimchi.
–Japanese Pimms cup: quite gingery almost to the point of tasting like a drink with ginger ale when I first tasted it (and kept a poker face in front of the bartender). It tasted better when paired with the wings and rice ball lasagna.
I would like to try the okonomiyaki. The atmosphere was a bit tough to take for someone running from adulthood. Probably have to come back at 9:00 when the aspirational ‘90s dark ye ye girl’ style hipsters come in to eat air (or conversely, eat meat and have it turn into air) and talk wanly about their tinder hookups.

Five star food. Most interesting menu. Perfect spot for dinner. Because it’s Asian fusion though it’s «light» so don’t come starving. I had the Skate wing appetizer which was amazing. Their chicken bone soup is incredible the broth is super flavorful and the chicken is too. I ordered the fried anchovies which came with a great sauce that was super flavorful. The pickled rhubarb was superb!
Their soju cocktails are light and refreshing and they have a great selection of alcohol and cocktails including Japanese whiskey. The décor is very upscale but casual and modern, very minimalist. My one complaint is they don’t have tea. Waitress told me no tea and no dessert ! I guess it’s a quirky Brooklyn thing?
The other thing I didn’t like was that I had to google half of the things on the menu and the cocktail menu. Because it was a mix of Korean Japanese maybe Chinese it was great because I wasn’t familiar with all the dishes and it was like nothing I’ve ever had, but I didn’t know what many of the ingredients were. You definitely have to be an adventurous, open minded, eater to enjoy this spot!

As Chuko newbies we showed up around 9:40 on a recent weeknight expecting no wait – ha! One hour.
Dejected, we walked across the street and luckily Bar Chuko was able to seat us immediately. Unluckily, though, for some reason the service was incredibly slow – it wasn’t particularly crowded and it looked like they had enough servers out on the floor so I really don’t know what the problem was, except that it was kind of annoying and dinner ended up taking twice as long as it should have.
That being said, everything was incredible: I had the tokyo mule, which was a great take on the moscow mule, and the rice cakes which deserve the praise they are getting in these reviews. Like others have noted, they are similar to a lasagna or mac and cheese, and I’m craving them three days later. I also want to add that although my server warned me it wasn’t a full meal, it was actually plenty – it’s a rich dish and a pretty large portion at that.
I honestly don’t know if I’ll return to Bar Chuko but I suppose I may try to make the elusive Chuko meal happen again, and if it means a wait across the street so be it.

I’ve been here two times since my first visit because we had Gilt deals (sorry, they’ve expired)! Here are some additional dishes I’ve tried, and my thoughts on each:
The Good:
— Chilled fresh tofu — There was a flat layer of smooth, silky tofu and a flavorful blast of chili oil, cilantro, and scallions. This dish is sure to wow even those who think tofu is too bland. This was licked clean (with spoons).
— Wings — Five wings came in this dish. They were small, but packed with savory soy garlic flavor. Really, really good.
— Crispy pork chop — They were thin pork katsu, but didn’t come with Bulldog katsu sauce; it instead had a salty, sweet breading. The accompanying pickled mustard greens were also great to balance the heaviness of the fried katsu. The boiled quail eggs didn’t really serve a purpose, but oh well.
The Not-​So Good:
— Miso cheese — I guess the name should have deterred us from ordering it, but it looked like hummus, smelled like miso, had the consistency of thin peanut butter, and was too pungent.
CONCLUSION:
The dishes I’d recommend getting (in no particular order because I can’t make up my mind):
1. spicy tuna
2. okonomiyaki
3. any of the meat skewers besides the liver
4. chilled fresh tofu
5. wings
6. crispy porkchop

I really wanted to like this place. I did! It’s in a fantastic area, the space is cute and the whole skewer thing is a concept I can get behind.
…but I didn’t. Before I get on to the food, I have to mention the odd service. We had three waiters throughout the evening, and the first girl was nice but… pushy. She told us not to order something (whaaa?) and essentially made fun of our palates. K, thanks!
Now the food/​drinks. In the ICKY category we have the: Seaweed salad, eggplant skewer (so bad I spit it out and refused to eat the rest), and the cocktails we had were terrible. In the FINE category: Octopus skewer and cauliflower. Everything else was just shmeh.
Hoping they’ll make some changes, but until then there are other places I can frequent.

Everybody loves Chuko, so it only made sense for them to pull a Pok Pok and open Bar Chuko down the block, a place to have a drink and a few bites while enduring the long waits for Chuko’s amazing ramen.
However, it looks like the waits here might start to rival the ones at the original restaurant. They better open a third restaurant another block north.
The problem is that there is too much good food to choose from here. In fact, you can actually get a much more complete meal here than at Chuko. The menu is much larger with tons of different kinds of great stuff to try:
— Miso Cheese ($ 6)
Described by our friendly server as a kind of make-​your-​own salmon cream cheese bagel, this consisted of a bowl of ikura and thinly sliced small circles of cucumber alongside a smear of miso cheese, with 3 long, thin bagel crisps. As long as you enjoy ikura, you will love this.
— Wings ($ 8 for 4)
Slightly different from the great wings at Chuko (in fact, there is literally zero menu overlap between the two), these were also delicious. Packing quite a bit of heat, they were sticky with a sweet, tasty soy glaze. My only complaint is that there was no wetnap to go along with them. Plan to run to the bathroom to wash your hands before the next dish comes out.
— Grilled Rice Ball ($ 3)
This was much better than a lot of rice balls I see, which are often a one-​note blob of plain old mushy rice. Here, the grilling added a really nice crunch to each bite. It was still just pretty plain rice though, but that was remedied by the tasty soy butter served with it.
— Wagyu Shortrib Skewer ($ 5)
— Chicken Breast Skewer ($ 3)
— Tsukune Skewer ($ 4)
A large section of the menu is dedicated to the skewers, which were all as good as the ones at most of the renowned izakayas in the city. Definitely get the shortrib and the tsukune, which were both soft enough to practically melt in your mouth.
— Ramen ($ 8)
Onto the larger items, the ramen was ironically the one item of the meal that wasn’t so great. It’s a very small, simple bowl, with a few slices of what seemed to be ground chicken. Chuko has some of the best ramen in the city, so it was surprising that this bowl was so underwhelming. Skip this and make sure to get the real thing down the block.
— Okonomiyaki ($ 10)
This was excellent. The taste of that sweet sauce and the bonito flakes immediately made me feel like I was in Japan (aside from the hipsters and the loud hip-​hop soundtrack). This was a nice sizable dish, and is a definite bargain and must try.
— Rice Cakes ($ 12)
Much more than just the plain old name indicates, this was definitely the best dish of the night. These rice cakes were served in one of those piping hot cast-​iron pans, and were loaded up with kimchi, pork and mozzarella. Kind of like a Japanese take on Mac & Cheese, this was incredible. The mozzarella was really stretchy and gooey and went do well with the chewy rice cakes. The pan will also keep it hot for the entire meal, but it won’t last long since it’s so good.
There is of course a bar up front with seating, along with several 2 and/​or 4-​tops and a communal table in the back. All that was left was the communal table when we arrived at around 7, and by the time we left at around 8:30, there were more people waiting out front to get in than there were at Chuko. That could just be due to opening weekend interest, but given how great all the food was, it will probably remain crowded. I would suggest getting some ice cream at Ample Hills down the block while you wait, but that line is even worse (and unlike me, you are probably normal and have a problem eating ice cream before dinner).
We almost pulled a Bar Chuko/​Chuko Bang-​Bang, but the typical wait at Chuko once we were done here deterred us (I was surprised though that we were only quoted a 45 minute wait). Eventually though, we will be back to both, probably just aiming to come a bit earlier next time to avoid the crowds.

First thing that comes to mind when you think «Brooklyn»? If you said hipsters, spot on my friend.
Anyone that knows me knows Im a sucker for izakaya joints. Bar chuko would be the latest edition to the genre curtiousy of Chuko. Open earlier this week (Wednesday), BC sports that nonchalant, non pretentious atmosphere with a hipster vibe.
Furnished with wood, we were seated towards the left side of the place that had a long bench followed by a row of tables. Great way to save space in the some what confined area. There’s also two communal tables (bbq style) in the back
Yakitori. As their parent restaurant Chuko is know for their ramen, this place is more of a tapas place.
We ordered
Skewers
— chicken thighs
— chicken breast
— gizzards
— wagyu beef
— Prawn
— and a few others that I fail to remember
Also
— Half dozen Hurricane Harbor oysters (from Canada)
— Ramen
The yakitori were on the average to high price point (3 – 5 dollars per skewer) were surprisingly decent. Being an avid fan, you really do get your monies worth compared to other well known spots.
Notable mentions are the chicken thighs which were dusted with a ginger/​scalion mash up (if you’re Chinese, you’ll know it better as gurn chong). Wagyu beef although decent wasn’t really worth the 5 bucks. Gizzards run 5 pieces a skewer and was every bit delicious as I’ve come to expect (Innard fans rejoice!). But seriously, the star of the show has to be the prawn. One huge prawn that had the consistency of soft shell crab, was deep fried and sprinkled with an array of spices to give it a savory flavor. First thing is first, suck the head (wait. whatt???) This is the bread and butter of the skewer, that head is where all the flavor comes from and you wont’ regret, just don’t look your date in the eye while doing this. unless. oh nevermind.
Ramen was generic as it wasn’t meant to impress but more of a filler. An acidity taste to it which could be either lemon or yuzu, I felt that it was a decent palate cleanser if it had a role to play in the dinner.
From the staff to the bartender, all were very affable and pleasant. I think next time i should come in flannel and a few more tattoo’s to blend in thou.
Oh and fans of Suntory whiskey be pleased, they have the triple threat. Hibiki, Yamazaki and Hakashu — all 12 year.
Dope spot.