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Where to Eat Japanese in Atlanta
The ultimate list of Japanese dishes and restaurants in Atlanta.
Photo credit: Courtesy Sushi Huku
Table of contents
- The Best Japanese Izakaya Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Critics is:
- The Best Japanese Sushi Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Critics is:
- The Best Japanese Izakaya Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Readers is:
- The Best Japanese Sushi Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Readers is:
- Last Year’s Critic’s Choice for Best Japanese
- Japanese Dishes from our 100 Dishes List
- CL Recommends: Japanese Restaurants
Atlanta has a vibrant Japanese community that goes back many years. We are blessed with both authentic Japanese cuisine as well as a wide variety of Japanese-infused Southern cooking that keeps life interesting.
Here are our winners for the Best Japanese over the years: Best Japanese
The Best Japanese Izakaya Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Critics is:
Shoya Izakaya
Japanese public house serving sushi, sashimi, noodles and more. Shoya’s encyclopedic menu, spread over seven crowded pages, will either send you into a rapture of excitement or cripple you with indecision. Dishes tend to be surprising. Order away and see what shows up.
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The Best Japanese Sushi Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Critics is:
Nakato Japanese Restaurant
Nakato’s been the king of Japanese steakhouses in Atlanta for 35 years. It’s a dinosaur of Atlanta dining, outmoded on so many fronts by the flashy Japanese restaurants that have come since, and yet another example of how slow and steady can win the race. The wide selection of appetizer-sized plates...
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The Best Japanese Izakaya Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Readers is:
Shoya Izakaya
Japanese public house serving sushi, sashimi, noodles and more. Shoya’s encyclopedic menu, spread over seven crowded pages, will either send you into a rapture of excitement or cripple you with indecision. Dishes tend to be surprising. Order away and see what shows up.
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more...
The Best Japanese Sushi Restaurant in Atlanta according to our Readers is:
Last Year’s Critic’s Choice for Best Japanese
Sushi Hayakawa
Authentically Japanese, from the pristine fish to the clean, spare light wood decor to the bottles of sake and sochu lined up behind the chef. Some of the best dishes are only found through word of mouth, such as the fabulous monkfish liver in ponzu sauce, or the salmon roe marinated in rice wine. T...
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Japanese Dishes from our 100 Dishes List
A5 Wagyu Nigiri at Brush Sushi Izakaya
Available at Brush Sushi IzakayaA slight change in knife angle can transform the texture and taste of sushi. In this bite-sized hedonistic experience, chef Jason Liang scores a sliver of well-marbled beef flown in from Miyajaki, Japan, torches it lightly, adds tiny bits of grated garlic and ancient Japanese sea salt and embellishes with briny UGA caviar. It melts away on the tongue as you close your eyes in ecstasy. Yes, ecstasy. $13.
Black Tonkotsu at Jinya Ramen Bar
Available at JINYA Ramen Bar - Sandy SpringsSlick and modern national chain it may be, but a bowl of Jinya’s tonkotsu holds a time-honored tradition. House-made noodles are springy. Toppings of earthy wood ear mushrooms, green onion, garlic chips, fried onion, oozy soy-marinated soft-boiled egg and brined and braised tender pork slices add ripples of flavor. But what it’s really about is the broth. The porky potage has an irresistible plushness, while drizzles of black garlic add charred nuttiness. $12.95.
Chicken Skin Salad at Shoya Izakaya
Available at Shoya IzakayaLet’s call this Japanese cracklins. Mixed greens and sesame dressing equals a bowl of transcendence with a handful of golden-brown chunks of fried chicken skin.
Gobo Stick at Shoya Izakaya
Available at Shoya IzakayaDelicately fried, crunchy burdock served with a matcha powder, a green tea-based seasoning, that will have you forgetting French fries and ketchup were ever invented. Order as an appetizer. And order again. And again.
Hamburg bun at Miso Izakaya
Available at Miso Izakaya - Permanently ClosedIf Hello Kitty had a mouth, she’d take great pleasure in this Japanese version of a slider. The delicate white bun is folded over and pinned to contain a patty of freshly ground pork belly and beef. The patty is topped with a fried quail egg and grilled onions. It’s beautiful architecture and reverberates with far more flavor than the typical slider around town. $4.
Ikura Don at Sushi House Hayakawa
Available at Sushi HayakawaSunset orange ikura (salmon eggs) ceremoniously piled onto perfectly seasoned sushi rice still warm from the steamer are crowned with slivers of deep-green seaweed. Each popping bite into an egg releases a flood of the sea mellowed with the sweetness of the dish’s mirin marinade. $8.
Orange apple tofu at Top Flr
Available at Top FlrThis dish is all about smoosh and contrast - a slab of crispy fried tofu, the bracing fresh chomp of baby bok choy, and the intense tang of a thick Japanese eggplant miso puree. Yummers. $12.
Tomo Uni at Tomo
Available at Tomo Japanese RestaurantEating uni is like having sex with the sea - the creamy texture and oceanic flavor are almost kinky. For those of us hooked, nothing else will satiate that particular desire. At Tomo, the experience is ramped up: The uni is wrapped in a shiso leaf and tempura fried. The result? A hot steaming package of lusty seafood creamsicle. Turned on yet? $9.
Tonkotsu Ramen at Haru Ichiban
Available at Haru Ichiban Japanese RestaurantThis Japanese standby was around before ramen was trendy in Atlanta and is still going strong. At Haru Ichiban, you can customize your tonkotsu ramen filled with pork, bamboo shoots, green onion, and noodles any way you want. Is spice your thing? They’ll make that creamy pork broth red as an apple with chili powder, so red you’ll have to poke around to find those chewy ramen noodles under the silky surface. It’s arguably the most satisfying bowl of ramen out there right now.
Tonkotsu ramen at Yakitori Jinbei
Available at Yakitori JinbeiButtery and cloudy, the pork bone-based tonkotsu broth is the undisputed star of the bowl with its intense piggy flavor rounded out with the almost milky collagen-rich broth. Tender slices of rolled pork come in a close second. When plucked from the bowl, crinkly noodles bring along al dente rectangles of stewed bamboo shoots and bright pops of green onion. Lunch: $9.90; dinner: $12.90.
CL Recommends: Japanese Restaurants
Shoya Izakaya
Japanese public house serving sushi, sashimi, noodles and more. Shoya’s encyclopedic menu, spread over seven crowded pages, will either send you into a rapture of excitement or cripple you with indecision. Dishes tend to be surprising. Order away and see what shows up.
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more...
Sushi Hayakawa
Authentically Japanese, from the pristine fish to the clean, spare light wood decor to the bottles of sake and sochu lined up behind the chef. Some of the best dishes are only found through word of mouth, such as the fabulous monkfish liver in ponzu sauce, or the salmon roe marinated in rice wine. T...
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more...
Sushi Huku Japanese Restaurant
While dining Omakase (the chef’s choice) is ideal when money is no object at this popular sushi restaurant, you’ll fare well by making a meal out of some pristine fish and a few hot items such as geso karaage (fried squid tentacles) or the off-the-menu umeboshi chazuke, a soup with a clean broth tan...
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