Izakaya NoMad

Super cute environment with great attentive staff. They have standard choices as well as more unusual choices, all which was delicious. I even loved the trendy slow tempo trance music.
Likes:
I like their spicy tuna onigiri, they used super fresh crispy seaweed and the creamiest fresh tuna in it.
The ultimate clam hot pot was stuffed with half the pot full of clams
The dipping sauces for the purple yam fries were great, the spicy roe mayo is very strong in flavor (might not be for everyone)
The chicken kawa (skin) and neck meat skewers were good.

Dear people of New York,
This place had good saki bombs but that’s about all after that the food was ridiculous. The food I order look like the size of my finger.

Good vibe! Reminds me of being back in Osaka :) The okonomiyaki isn’t quite the same but still pretty tasty! I wish they would add takoyaki to the menu though.

This place is a must visit in NYC. I went with a group of six friends and we were waited on hand and foot from the moment we walked in the door. The staff was friendly and obviously worked very well as a team to run a tight ship. We had multiple people waiting on us and the food came out promptly and hot.
Now let’s talk about the food. After a day walking the city, needless to say, we had worked up a sufficient appetite. We ordered 26 entrees total, and I kid you not, everything that came out was beautifully presented and completely delicious. Even if you traditionally don’t like some of the more exotic Asian dishes, I would encourage a taste test because they really do their stuff well here. My friends and I are all under 21, so we didn’t even get to delve into the main attraction of this place. And we still loved it!!! Totally going back when I’m 21. And probably before that too.
Highly recommend!

Came here for lunch with my coworkers… my lunch was Disappointing… they used instant ramen for their spicy seafood ramen. $ 12 for instant ramen? No thank you.

I went on a Friday night. The ambiance of the place is excellent, with nice homey décor, and good music. There was good energy among the customers but it wasn’t so loud that it got in the way of conversation.
We ordered the Taco Wasabi, chicken meatball skewers, pork short rib skewers, Brussels sprouts wrapped in bacon, pork belly wraps, and seafood okonomiyaki. The food was all very good, the chicken meatballs, pork short ribs, and okonomiyaki being especially good, however the service seemed a little overwhelmed by the crowd. Part of our order was not entered until we reminded the server.
Overall, I did like the place and would definitely go again.

Great vibe, love watching the chefs grill the yakitori. Delicious sake. This place is a must if you are in mid/​flatiron area.
The grilled squid is incredible. They dress it with special aoili.

The Golden Roll and every vegetable appetizer. period.
This is a festive, warm cozy Japanese restaurant! It’s good for groups and dates!
There’s a bar for individual diners.
There are cozy little wooden alcoves and picnic style tables too!
I recommend grabbing several small plates for the table with a bottle of sake!
Four can eat and drink like it’s Thanksgiving and spend about $ 50/​each.
Service is 5 star!

Excellent sushi and yakitori. Great vibe with good prices and service! Came with fiancée and across from the hotel we are staying at in Chelsea. Asparagus bacon and chicken thigh are good.

I ordered Buta tofu kimchi, Seared Yellow tail, Gyoza and some Yakitori menus. All food was great. I think all the menus are good to be shared. I really enjoyed the sake night with those JP comfort foods. The place, ambience, food and service– everything satisfied me.

Came here with a large group of people. i’m knocking a star off of my rating because of my experience in booking a reservation. I had a large group coming and was expecting 14 people. When I arrived they had only set 11 places for me, despite having confirmed with them on three separate occasions that I had 14 people coming. They also did not tell me that the tables were unmovable, so we had to sit at two separate tables. Had I known this when I had booked it three weeks in advance, I would have booked somewhere else. They do have a front room that can accommodate large groups, but said it was taken so they put me in the back. Thankfully the winter storm came that night, and three people canceled. So in the end it worked out, but I would be hesitant about booking a large party with them again.
The food itself was really good, and authentic. After we had settled everything with the seating, the servers came to take our order. Service was a little slow at first, but when we ordered a large bottle and lots of food, they started to pay more attention to us. Overall the food was yummy, and made up for the stress at the beginning. The grilled terriyaki squid was delicious, and my favorite dish I ordered by far! The okonomiyaki was ok, I’ve had better. We also got some various yakitori, which was tasty and tempura shrimp– also good. Despite the booking concern, I would definitely come back in the future.

Me & My husband love going over here. Freshest Sushi ever. Nice ambiance, this is the go to place in the Flat Iron district! Give it a try & you won’t regret it!!!

My friends and I tried Izakaya Nomad on a Sunday after a pottery class. We had the okonomiyaki, spicy salmon onigiri, yaki onigiri, Yuzu sasami and hamachi tataki, grilled octopus and chicken wings.
Okonomiyaki — not as heavy as expected and included peas (which was an interesting touch), appreciated that it was precut. Overall– yummy!
Yaki onigiri — fish to rice ratio was incredible
Grilled octopus– great aesthetic and cut in front of you
Chicken wings — they were steaming
Yuzu sasami — interesting there was a bite of sauce at the end of the chicken. It was tender!
Hamachi tataki — i don’t eat raw fish but my friend who ordered said it tasted good. Lots of onions too.
Overall, we enjoyed our meal here and would return. We think it would have been a better place for late night small dishes with drinks, rather than the dinner we came here for.

Hehe, I returned to the restaurant and this time, I’ve got my okonomiyaki! Yayyy~!
Spinach mini salad: lightly seasoned spinach with katsuobushi (dried bonito), dried seaweed and radish sprout. It was definitely a mini portion. The cooked spinach was delicious. I could eat a lot more of it.
Okonomiyaki: japanese pancake with vegetables (carrot, corn, green beans) and katsuobushi (dried bonito), parsley with okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese mayo. It’s listed as an appetizer but I had it as my main dish. It was light and easy to eat. I really enjoyed it! I was happy and satisfied.

Izakaya NoMad has been on my radar to try since early 2015. Saturday night 2016 rolled around and the verdict? Meh.
The vibe is awesome. Let’s get that out the way first and foremost. Music is jumping and the décor feels cozy. That’s where the party stops. Came around 9ish for a late dinner. Was told by the waitress that if we were to order yakitori, that i would take roughly around 40 mins since they just started the grill. Obviously a lie. How long does it take for you to start a grill?
Anyways, the food was mediocre. The only dish I’d recommend is the braised pork belly. The sauce it bath in was heavenly. Worth it’s weight in gold. Dessert was even more of a let down. Sesame ice cream tasted like it was vanilla with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. I could help but notice that this «izakaya» was mainly ran by Koreans. Not an issue but if the food isn’t on par then It’s a big issue.
If yakitori is your fancy, skip NoMad and go for Kenka or Yokocho in St Marks.
It’s weird to see a place jump from a 2 and half to 3 star rating to a solid 4 star rating within a year. Either there was a different chef on spot tonight or there something fishy with the rating. This is one spot I won’t be coming back to.

Pretty solid izakaya option with some good non-​sushi options which probably is what helps differentiates them the most among all your Japanese options. It’s a warm atmosphere, cozy but not cramp, clean and feels new.
The smelt yakitori is great. The yellowtail collar is a good value and well grilled. The clam hotpot is delicious and you get a generous amount of shellfish including razor clams!
I’d be happy to come back here.

Izakaya NoMad is one of those places that I feel right at home as soon as I walk in. In juxtaposition to the exposed brick walls are cartoon paintings, in bright colors and the more that I look around the more little curious decorations I see.
The restaurant is made up of lots of little booths, which gives it an intimate vibe right off the bat. There is also a bar in the front. Since we were a party of 6, we were seated in the very back, in a little nook with 3 or 4 tables that can accommodate slightly larger parties. I loved that little space. It was bright and decorated with string lights, giving it a very cozy feeling.
Of all the dishes we ordered, I especially enjoyed the Kakuni — which is a braised pork belly and radish in a sweet soy sauce. It’s slow cooked for at least two hours and is just melts in your mouth delicious.
I also really liked the okonomiyaki here, as it was not drenched in sauce and was relatively larger in size so that I could have more than one slice.
Before 7:30pm, there is also a beer special — a set price for all you can drink beer. As I was wrapped up in thinking about what to order and how much I already loved this place, all I heard from my friend’s conversation was «If you drink 2, then it’s worth it» and I could drink two, so I went for the special. It was only until the beers arrived and everyone started chugging that I realized it was all you can drink. In the end, I drank 4. And I didn’t have to chug. Just sayin’, boys.
The cherry on top? Izakaya NoMad takes reservations. That pushed it from 4 stars to 5. They care about my time here, so I’ll definitely be back soon.

Came here on a Saturday with my roommate. We didn’t have a reso so the hostess sat us at the bar. This was my first time eating izakaya so I was pretty excited to try things.
My roommate insisted we order okonmyaki. We went with the bacon option. We also ordered a raw tuna salad, the purple sweet potato tempura fries and 3 different skewers. The skewers we got were salted pork belly, chicken meatballs and short ribs with hot sauce.
Highlights of the meal were the tempura fries, they came w/​a great chipotle mayo dipping sauce and I also really enjoyed the chicken meatballs. The meatballs were flavorful and juicy.
Per my roommate the okonmyaki was underwhelming vs. other versions he had had. Could’ve used more noodles and veggies. I was not overly impressed myself.
For the price we paid (a premium) we both left dinner still feeling hungry. I was disappointed there want more noodle options on the menu.

Great atmosphere, perfect for two or small groups. The tapas are small, and definitely better for a group of 2 – 3. But, each dish is consistently good and very «lite». The sushi rolls are pretty giant though.
We ordered the hamachi yellow tail tataki, seafood okonomiyaki, buta tofu kimchi, saba mackeral, and tako wasabi.
The yellow tail came in lukewarm, but I liked the outer crust, the okonomiyaki is really good and very filling. The kimchi tofu is also really good, the pork belly was made really nicely. I love fried macakeral so I’m super in love with their fried saba. The takoyaki wasabi is also fresh and tender. Very much enjoyed it.
Our stay was pretty nice, and the waiter/​waitresses were very accomodating. Would come back for small eats again.

I remember when I used to work on 26^th street. There was never any good food in the area, and suddenly, all sorts of great restaurants and bars sprung up in the area in the last 4 years. Poor timing on my part, I suppose!
Izakaya NoMad, like the name implies, is a Japanese restaurant that specializes in small plates and fresh seafood. Bring a friend or two, because it’s definitely worth sharing a few plates (or a lot of them).
The spicy salmon onigiri looks like something out of a cartoon (is that racist?). It’s rice and salmon with creamy sauce (the waiter told us that the super spicy version makes people regret ordering it so we did regular) surrounded on two sides by seaweed. Because of the rice, it’s a little bit filling, but also makes a good palette cleanser.
The taco wasabi (strange name to call something with raw octopus and wasabi) was great. I would imagine if you don’t like the texture of raw octopus, you’d have issues, but I thought it was great. Spicy to cut the fishiness, and firm but not overly chewy.
They were out of some of the special dishes, so we had to change up our order (waiter gave us a free soda as a result). Went with the NoMad Buta Ssam (grilled pork belly lettuce wrap), which was good, but on the lighter side. Great flavors though.
And finally, we did the prime beef tataki. Thin strips of rare beef in black pepper, sesame and yuzu sauce. It was seasoned well, and helped alleviate any worries of leaving hungry. The beef itself was a great cut.
All in all, Izakaya NoMad is worth checking out if you’re willing to wait for a table (we only had to wait 10 minutes to sit at the «bar») and willing to shell out the cash (it’s fancy izakaya… as if that’s really a thing). I would imagine going here for the lunch specials would be a much better deal (and they’d be less likely to run out of some of their more popular items).