Sozai
We finished watching a matinee of a Broadway show, and we’re running out of desirable early dinner options in the Midtown area. This one was on my list for quite some time as it looked like a restaurant that was a no frills izakaya type restaurant. This restaurant is about 2 doors down from Valerie, a pretty popular Midtown restaurant. We were able to walk in around 4:30 PM on a Saturday without any issues.
Ambiance & Service
The interior was very much on point with typical modern day Japanese vibes. There was a lot of maple-colored wood everywhere, and the ambiance was dimly lit.
The service was very quick. When we ordered food, it came out within 15 minutes, but we were 1 of 3 small dinner parties.
Food
The Sparkling Plum Lemon ($8) was a non-alcoholic lemonade like drink with bubbles. This wasn’t super sweet, and my partner enjoyed it.
The Takoyaki ($12) came with battered octopus balls with bonito flakes and dried seaweed. The interior of the octopus balls wasn’t scalding hot, thankfully, and the mayo flavor was pretty good. The octopus was a little chewy, but overall this tasted good.
The Unagi Don ($32) came with grilled eel with teriyaki sauce and tamagoyaki. The eel had something off about it. It not only was a little fishy, but the texture was just a bit mushy. I probably would not order this unfortunately because when eel is fishy, it’s actually really fishy. There were some parts of the eel that were ok, but in general, this wasn’t enjoyable.
The Pork Katsu ($23) came with pork loin cutlet with tonkatsu sauce and sesame seeds. My prime katsu comparator will always be Katsu-Hama. This pork loin came out dry, though the batter was decently crispy. The side salad was a bit bland because it didn’t have any dressing.
Final Verdict
Sozai was a decent Japanese restaurant with options that span many different types of foods. Unless you are really have no other options, this restaurant was not high on my list. The food itself was just OK, and unfortunately, some of the main Japanese staples were underwhelming.
Yelp Jabs
While I enjoyed the flavors, I felt the menu leaned too heavily on fried items overall. Additionally, the hamachi tasted a bit fishy, and the clams didn’t seem very fresh.
The menu was actually pretty even between fried and non-fried items. Although coincidentally, many of the Yelp reviewers mention how the seafood may not seem the freshest.
We also had the miso ramen, but that didn’t look authentic or taste authentic. It wasn’t creamy looking - it looked like a clear, dark brown broth.
This Yelper from Boston had an interesting take on miso ramen expecting it to have a creamy looking broth. This is not true because “authentic” ramen can have both clear and creamy broths.
Revisions
- Apr 5, 2025 - Initial revision.