Juban

4.5 / 5.0 - I don't know how I never knew about Juban until now! It is an authentic Japanese izakaya with excellent food and drinks.It's quite cozy, with a bar counter and some seating in the back, where we were lead into.We ordered several dishes to share and everything was delicious:- Mizuna Jako Salad ($18+)- Snow Crab Cheese Roll ($14+)- Panko Brussel Sprouts with Spicy Miso ($13+)- Tsukune = chicken meatballs ($12+)- Tuna Avocado Roll ($13+)- Yellowtail Scallion ($12+)- Matcha Cake ($14+)Mizuna Jako Salad is a very Japanese dish and I really enjoyed it. I would also highly recommend the Snow Crab Cheese Roll and Panko Brussel Sprouts.For drinks, I tried the Yuzu Bubble ($17+), which combined 2 of my favorites--prosecco and yuzu.I think the only downside was the dessert. We ordered the matcha "lava" cake, as our server had explained to us, but there was nothing flowing out from inside. It was good, but it was a plain matcha cake.They have a minimum spend of $30 per person, but you can easily spend over $100 for a couple of drinks and food.At the end of our meal, the manager or owner, who was Japanese, came by our table. He was friendly and we chatted for a bit.Looking forward to dining again :)

I'm a huge fan of Izakayas and have been to many in Manhattan so I was really excited to try Juban. We made a reservation for 5:30 which was right before the dinner rush. The restaurant was still relatively empty so they allowed us to choose where we wanted to sit.The ambiance is nice and dim, so a great place to just drink and relax. The server was attentive and service was great. We had a few drinks and ordered a good amount of food. For the price, I was expecting to like the food a lot more. The flavors weren't extraordinary but I will say that the Hamachi Kama was one of the best I've had. It was grilled perfectly and the fish melted in your mouth.I think it was a good experience but probably not a spot I will seek out frequently.

Loved this spot. The food was delicious. Service was prompt. They do have a $30 minimum per person. It's easy to hit if you decide to sample a few items and share. The mochi was my favorite. Cold, soft and creamy. It's a quiet dim snug restaurant. Truly a gem. I'll be back very soon.

Juban is awesome! All our food was delicious, and the vibe/music was very chill. Sushi was very fresh and tasty. Super friendly staff we, will definitely be back!

Juban is a nice Japanese Izakaya type of restaurant in Chelsea. The two people booths are a bit cramped - especially if someone sitting in the next booth has long hair that could go onto your table if they sat all the way back. The food is good, but a bit overpriced for what you get. We ordered the Tsukune - Chicken Meatball ($12 for two), the Grilled Shishito Pepper ($10 for two), Spicy Pickled Cucumber ($9) and the Kobe Beef with Crispy Garlic Rice ($38). Tskune is my favorite type of Izakaya skewer and I enjoyed Juban's! The shishito pepper was standard, the spicy cucumber was addicting I could have had another order of this. The Kobe beef with crispy garlic rice was overpriced - for $38 it came in a mini skillet with not much rice, some tender beef on top, two shishito peppers and a little slice of shiitake mushroom. For the price, I think the portion of the rice could have been doubled. It was good for sure, but I don't think the portion warrants the price. The Ginger Martini ($19) was good - made with Wódka Vodka, fresh muddled ginger and house made lemonade - could have been a bit stronger but I liked the fresh ginger in there. Overall a good spot to dine!

Great service, warm cozy vibes, great for late dinner bites as well. The tuna onigiri is wildly good.... As is basically everything. It's got all the intimate Izakaya vibes you could want with excellent food. Came close to 10pm on a Friday night and there weee still a lot of people but no wait.

The ambiance is cozy and intimate while the fish is fresh and fabulous. Juban is a perfect spot for dinner after viewing some art galleries around Chelsea. I recommend a cup of ginger tea to sip along some sushi rolls.

Overall excellent service and ambiance 100%. The food was overall good-ish. Some dishes were pretty good like the udon special and the chicken thigh skewers were tender and juicy, but a lot of the dishes were just ok, decent but nothing special.Nice ambiance and friendly staff though. No complaints there!!

Speaking from a very spoiled perspective for izakayas in Hawaii, this place was just fine. The food was solid, the sake selection good, and service solicitous. They accommodated our big group in a semi private room in the back. They have a course menu which worked great and tons of food. The surprising part was the price - not sure if it was the bottles of sake or if the course menu is pricy but it ended up being over 200 per person which is not really worth it in my opinion. Oh well it's NY and not Hawaii and definitely not Japan.

The food here was good, but nothing super special. The waiters however, were very nice and super attentive! I enjoyed their chicken skewers here, but I do feel like they are very much overpriced for such a small portion. The vibes are nice with interesting murals and decorations on the wall!