Izakaya Ten

This restaurant has now reopened with the same team in the kitchen and front of house. Its now called Juban. Location is the same. I went two days ago and the food was great!
Juban on Unilocal

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This is deeply sad. I used to live right down the block from this place and was just raving about it to my husband the other day as one of the places I would take him in NYC when we visit. Drat! Stupid rent hikes ruining EVERYTHING.
I used to go here all the time and the food was always brilliant and the service even better. I was a regular so they’d take good care of me usually. I really hope the owners can find a new spot and reopen. Gah, this sucks.

Eel Dynamite (wow — unglaublich lecker!!!)

A wonderful restaurant run by the talented & lovely Lannie Ahn. Best wishes in your next venture!

Izakaya Ten is reopening! Very exciting news.

Best hole in the wall. This place started my addiction to Hamachi Kama.

The place has now closed

Not your usual American portions, so the Happy Hour between 5:30 — 6:30 during weekdays is a pretty good deal. $ 3 Sapporos and half priced appetizers so can’t go wrong with that. Decent sake selection as well.
The buta kimchee is a sizzling plate of umami. I hardly eat kimchee, but this was delicious. They used to have salmon/​sake sashimi but didn’t see or remember it on the menu. The Mori set at $ 16 is a tad overpriced but takes out the guess work on what to order.
Cute izakaya off the High Line… check it out during Happy Hour.

No way! This place will close in early October!!! Such a sad news to me as this place has been my go-​to spot for sake night with my best company. Heard that their landlord raised monthly lease, so the manager decided to move out… Many fans of Izakaya Ten should be disappointed at this news…
Please try this place before they close the business! Wide sake/​sochu selection (sochu is $ 20 off for a bottle on Tuesdsay!) and good foods. Usually not crowded like other izakayas in midtown. Relatively speak-​easy.
I think I’ve tried most of their popular menus. Here is what we usually order: get a bottle of sake and start wiht tako wasa, spicy cucumber, and kara age. Then, try the black cod (so amazing!), yasai tami (fried vegetable with pork), and buta kimchi (fried pork with kimchi). Mori Set (a set of grilled chicken, japanese peppers, short ribs) and tako kara age are also recommended.
Wish I can stop by one more time before their last day. Who knows, they might offer a special discount or happy hour on the last day!

My friend hosted his going away party at Izakaya Ten Saturday night. As a party of 8, we ordered about 10 dishes, 1 for each side of the table. This included the spicy pickled cucumber, garlic spinach, homemade shumai, saikoro beef steak, tako yaki (deep fried octopus balls), hamachi kama grilled yellowtail collar, yakisoba and yaki udon with panacotta and green tea mochi balls for the finale. With sake throughout the night, it was a veritable feast. Service was attentive and though it’s pricey, you have to approach this sampler-​style. Would recommend for high caliber casual Japanese food executed to perfection.

DINNER REVIEW:
I was not too thrilled with the selection here but the food itself was decent.
I recommend the Tako Wasa, Kara Age, Salmon Onigiri, and the Yaki Shio Saba. The typical stuff.
I do not recommend Ume Suisho (Shark cartilage marinated with plum sauce). the plum sauce overpowers all the taste in this dish, leaving a sour after taste in my mouth. Also, don’t bother ordering any of the Yakitori. Perhaps I’m just really picky about my Yakitori, but the taste was sub-​par and boring.
With a mix between the VERY boring ambiance and the decent food, I’d rate this place 3 stars. Not only does the Unilocal Menu differ from it’s actual menu, the actual menu was more expensive! Someone should really fix that.

Seeking an izakaya aside from mew, my friends and I stumbled upon Izakaya ten. We originally came here under the impression that the menu was identical to the one on the Unilocal page. Much to our surprise, this was not the case. The full menu on the side mentions far more dishes and offers cheaper prices than the actual menu at izakaya ten. I’m not gonna lie, I was disappointed by this because I was craving uni but oh well, we had tons of other dishes that soon made me forget my uni craving.
My friends and I shared the onigiri, yakitori mori set, plum shark fin, tako wasa, a carafe of the summer time special sake, and some sort of fish, and tako kara age. Almost everything we tried was delectable. The sizes of these dishes, although severely small, I find to be well portioned. For example, the shark fin was coated in a plum sauce that was a bit overwhelming. The small size of the dish made the shark fin enjoyable without being exaggerated in flavor. I was quite disappointed with the kara age as I expected more flavor. Instead we received rather bland boneless pieces of fried chicken.
The only reason why I am bunking the rating down a star is because of the seating situation. The tables are in the back of the restaurant and they are tiny. We had a group of four but our table seemed to be built for two. Other than that everything was enjoyable and made for another successful izakaya venture.

I came here on a rec by my coworker since his friend worked there.
This place is really small, so make sure you make a reservation before you make your trip out.
TOM is an AWESOME bartender! Exceptional service. I was with my friend waiting on a table to open up and he served us a surprise drink. It was soooo yummy, and as soon as he saw that my drink was done, he came by and asked if I wanted another one. (Ginger martini is so unique and delish)
Ningyu C. and I were so impressed with the service. When we finished our drinks, our table opened up and we ordered a bottle of sake per Tom’s suggestions.
I would definitely come back to try his other specialties and eat more of the food!

The happy hour between 5:30 — 6:30 is great. Beer is $ 2 for a 12oz or $ 3 for a 16. I recommend mixing up both. I also had a tako wasa (nice fresh and crunchy), a tsukune skewer, and the tako karaage which came with this pretty on point green tea salt. I’m only staying in Chelsea for a little while longer but I shall surely be back.

Thank you Izakaya Ten for delicious and innovative cocktails. I loved the lychee martini, it’s strong, but not overwhelming. The lychee at the bottom of the glass is a nice reward for finishing my drink! There is also a ginger martini that is also pretty great too, makes you feel healthy and forget that you’re actually drinking alcohol.
I don’t know much about yakitori, but I thought the food was considered one of the best I’ve had in New York (though I don’t eat at expensive places much). The actual food we picked was kind of a blur, but nothing disappointed.
The best part was the mochi green tea ice cream at the end!

Everytime I go to Izakaya Ten, it’s usually great company, great food, and great experiences. More often than not it’s great service, too. It’s a small restaurant in West Chelsea that boasts quite an extensive food, sake, and shochu menu. It can get a bit pricey, but well worth a visit — even if just for a few appetizers and sake before heading elsewhere for a main course. There can be a wait at times, given their limited space — so be prepared to wait a bit on a busier night.
Must-​trys:
–Buta Kimchee (pork belly and kimchee) — $ 13
–Takoyaki (fried octopus balls garnished with bonito) — $ 6.50
–Black Cod — $ 18
–Definitely get a bottle of Sake too — depending on your taste
–Have you tried warm sake? — It’s delicious!!!

Izakaya Ten is a great izakaya with a cozy feel but still manages to look modern and fashionable for those who expect that. Upon walking in you’ll see the dozens of bottles that are kept behind the bar for regular patrons. If you come on Tuesday, you can purchase one of these for yourself at a $ 20 discount, almost nullifying the markup on most bottles, and it’s a good deal because you can return any time until 2 months later and drink from it for free.
Food is good but make sure to get something starchy to fill up or you will end up spending a lot of money. I recommend the tsukune and anything that comes on a sizzling platter, like the buta kimchi (though, for my money, it can’t beat the buta kimchi at Donburiya.)
Buying a bottle is a good way to get into the servers’ good books. We came once and were originally told that there was a table free, but the hostess needed it back within 45 minutes. After 45 minutes of enjoying some snacks and shochu, we were asked if we’d like anything more. We said no, we heard the hostess needs the table back. And they said, «we want you to stay, so we can squeeze you in over on the counter if that’s not too much of a problem.» So we did. Just the words «we want you to stay» are not what you usually hear at most restaurants in the city. Goes to show that it is still hard to top Japanese service.
It’s a great place to have a party — they take reservations. Better than waiting for a 12-​top on St Marks Place on a Friday night, and worth the extra couple bucks you’ll pay to be entertained.

The izakaya concept is very dear to my heart, ever since I spent one summer in Tokyo and frequently visited these typical Japanese drinking establishments. Izakaya Ten in Chelsea has a laidback atmosphere with an impressive shōchū and sake selection. The prices were a tad high. Nevertheless, I enjoyed both my food and the spirits that I was served. Friendly staff on top of that.

If Sakagura is my dream man, Izakaya Ten is my rebound. After waiting in line for the Yayoi Kusama’s show at David Zwirner Gallery for four hours, my friends and I could not feel our feet, and decided to eat somewhere close. As most places require waiting, we retreated to Izakaya Ten, which provided us seats immediately.
Like other rebounds, Izakaya Ten did not get along with my friends. Although the décor with Japanese cats is charming, my friends seemed to hate the food. According to my friend, while the onigiri (riceballs) looked fluffy and crispy, they were awfully salty. Another friend had oysters and stopped eating after a bite. The fact that he kept drinking sake implied that he was attempting to wash away the flavor.
Yet, this rebound was actually fine in my opinion. I enjoyed eating the chilled eggplant and the spinach with garlic. The former was pleasantly flavorful and the latter actually had sufficient garlic, which is rare nowadays in restaurants.
Considering that only I had a good impression with Izakaya Ten, I plan to stop by there again if I happen to be in the area checking out art galleries. Rebound is someone whom you will only hang out when you feel lonely and are in need of love.

Izakaya Ten has changed through the years. The mood has gotten lighter and less sleek and the sushi has almost left the menu. There is not much sushi here and unfortunately two types, the red snapper and sea urchin were out when we visited.
The servers here are always warm and genuine. The space large enough that you don’t feel on top of other people’s tables. A huge Japanese drawing of interacting figures blankets the long brick wall of the shotgun sized restaurant. The sake menu is enormous. The sushi was tasty, the dumplings delicious and the mochi ice cream hit the spot. The food here is very good, not exceptional. Put all the elements of Izakaya Ten together and you have a comfortable, cool little spot to relax with friends around a meal.

Food is overpriced, portions are abysmally small & there is no point in making reservations because we still had to endure a long wait.
Tried the Chilean sea bass, tako yaki, edamame and salmon onigiri. Chilean sea bass was a tad bitter (how do you mess up this naturally buttery and tasty fish?!). A lemon arrived alongside it and o squeezed some off, but this only made it worse. Tako yaki was just deep-​fried, which is not the way authentic tako yaki is made. I suffered a sodium attack from the salmon onigiri. The only very good dish was their edamame — steamed/​blanched to give the perfect bite.
Their location is quite ideal and the staff members do make an effort in providing polite and courteous service, but there are so many better options in the area that will deliver on service AND good food, not one or the other. MPD is only a few short blocks away and there are options in that neighborhood that will give you much higher quality food for the same prices.