Japan Village: a japonês marketplace in New York City

I do not know about you, but I love visiting single-cuisine focused places. Here in New York, this is very common and there are restaurants specializing in single-cuisine and also focused food halls, such as Eataly (inspired by Italy) and Le District (inspired by France). A few days ago, New York got a new space that celebrates the Japanese culinary. Japan Village opened in Industry City and is the perfect place for those who want to enjoy more of Japanese cuisine.

We have been there a day after the opening to check out closely and I was very excited about the place! Besides loving the idea, Japan Village will certainly atract more visitors to Industry City. If you don’t know, Industry City is a complex of enormous warehouses located from 32nd to 37th Streets on Third Avenue, and from 39th Street to the waterfront on Second Avenue. Like Chelsea Market, each warehouse still pays homage to its industrial roots with exposed piping, heavy iron doors, and large freight elevators — but with the added amenity of rooftop films, chocolatiers, and $18 cups of drip coffee. With 6 million square feet of repurposed warehouse space, the area is now the home base to over 400 companies specializing in everything from film and architecture to fashion and food. (www.thrillist.com).

The food stalls will feature 11 vendors:

• Obentoyasan: Daily-made bentos and made-to-order onigiri, featuring different Japanese rice. The eatery will also offer a miso soup station, where visitors can choose from three different kinds of miso and select from a variety of toppings, including scallion, fried bean curd, egg, and chicken.
• Café Japon: Bakery with Japanese bread and cakes crafted on-site, as well as teas, matcha lattes, and drip coffee.
• Mika N’ Momo: Japanese juice and salad bar, featuring fresh vegetables including shiso, mizuna, kabocha, mitsuba, and komatsuna.
• Hachi: Japanese street food, serving okonomiyaki (savory pancakes), takoyaki (octopus balls), yakisoba (pan-fried noodles), taiyaki (fish-shaped sweets filled with red bean), and obanyaki (round cakes with assorted fillings).
• Setagaya: Ramen noodle shop serving tonkotsu ramen with black garlic.
• Gohei: Soba and udon noodle shop, where visitors will be able to view the production of the buckwheat and flour noodles on-site. Many of the toppings will feature a variety of tempura, as well as honeycomb beef tripe.
• Moriya: Rice bowl shop serving gyudon (washugyu beef bowl), Japanese curry, shogayaki (pork ginger), oyakodon (chicken and egg bowl), katsu-don (chicken or pork cutlet with egg bowl), vegetarian rice bowl and more.
• Shokusaido: Japanese appetizers, including agedashi tofu, hijiki seaweed salad, and salmon nanbanzuke. The shop will also serve traditional tempura, and an assorted mix of Japanese croquettes, fried chicken, fried horse mackerel, and french-fries with Japanese dips such as mentaikomayo.
• Brooklyn Steak & Lobster: Teppanyaki steak and lobster. The steak cuts will be wagyu, washugyu, or premium beef, and each steak will be served with Japanese condiments including ponzu with daikon, soy sauce with fresh wasabi, and yuzu kosho pepper. The lobster will be served with various condiments including soy sauce butter and yuzu butter.
• Omakase Sushi: Will serve omakase courses, featuring fresh fish from Japan.

Another highlight of Japan Village is the Sunrise Market, a Japanese supermarket that has everything you can imagine: sweets, condiments, frozen and even a cosmetics section.  Sunrise Market will also feature an array of authentic Japanese cuisines, including a tofu market with homemade tofu, yuba, and soymilk. The Japanese butcher shop operated by Japan Premium Beef, will feature wagyu and washugyu beef. At the seafood market, shoppers can purchase fresh sushi and seafood.

Wakuwaku will serve Japanese tapas, from grilled chicken skewers, to sashimi, to gyoza dumplings, and additional eats paired with specialty beverages. The cocktail bar will serve local craft beers and specialty cocktails. Japan Village’s liquor store, Kuraichi, will exclusively feature alcohol from Japan with a focus on sake, Japanese whisky and wine.

We like Japan Village very much! The place was packed and we ate something and explored the supermarket. The place reminds me Mitsuwa, which is in New Jersey and I already showed here on the blog. For those who enjoy Japanese cuisine and culture or even for those looking for different things to do, it is an excellent option. Industry City, as I mentioned, also offers several shopping, dining and entertainment options. It is there, for example, that there is the Avocaderia. Click here to learn more.

Address: 934 3rd Ave (D, N e R)