Japan Village

You're confronted with two mouthwatering options upon stepping into Japan Village: Do you go to the popular Sunrise Mart, which has a trio of much smaller locations in Manhattan, filled with adorably packaged snacks and hard-to-find ingredients? Or do you hit up one of the 10 vendors that make up this food court within the sprawling Industry City warehouses along the Brooklyn waterfront? Eat first. If you go with a group, start at Shokusaido and order a spread of snacks, including the kakiage ($5), a Japanese-style fritter that comes out as a tangle of julienned vegetables studded with shrimp. Be sure to add a fish-patty skewer ($2.30) and a croquette ($5). The chicken katsu ($5), a breaded and perfectly deep-fried cutlet, is the size of a small pancake and large enough to share. If you’re feeling more adventurous, order Ramen Setagaya’s Mt. Fuji ramen ($14) for a whimiscal experience. Your task is to conquer a bowl of noodles in a rich pork-bone broth topped with a chili-tomato foam that cradles a heap of Parmesan cheese. While many of the dishes are ideal to pair with drinks—don’t miss Hachi’s okonomiyaki ($9)—the limited bar menu only offers beer and sake. After a drink or two, there may be moments that make you feel like you’re at a market in Kyoto, where chefs are known for specializing in a singular dish. At Shokusaido, chefs make their own bread crumbs; while the best part about Gohei’s ebi tempura udon ($15) are the springy noodles, which are made fresh in-house every hour. It takes restraint not to order more than you can eat in one visit. But Japan Village, which on weekends feels like a mall for the Brooklyn set, presents plenty of options: Stop by Obentoyasan and take home an onigiri ($3.50), a triangular mound of rice wrapped in seaweed and filled with ingredients like spicy-mayo tuna and pickled plums. Another reliable on-the-go snack is a chicken katsu sandwich ($6) from Café Japon. You won’t have to worry about stepping into Sunrise Mart on an empty stomach.