At Dojo Izakaya, every dish does a magic trick - Review - Miami - The Infatuation

"You come to Dojo Izakaya for the same reason you still love a good card trick. The human brain is tickled by subverted expectations. Dojo Izakaya’s food does the same with unexpected pops of flavor hidden in the Japanese dishes. There’s wasabi suspended in the kosho ranch dipping sauce that comes with the karaage. Roe waits inside a volcano krab dip, revealing itself with your first chew. Every dish has something up its sleeve that proves this seemingly laidback neighborhood spot is one of the most exciting restaurants in the city. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Pause Unmute The small menu never stops sneak-attacking your taste buds in the most delightful ways. Every dish has gone through a composition notebook’s worth of iterations. With each visit, the karaage gets crunchier and the dashi dressing is creamier. Expect constant change. We’ve never seen the same menu here twice. Dishes we loved have already disappeared within days. It’s a game plan that’ll sound familiar to anyone who’s been to Zitz Sum, which is run by the same team. So you should come for dinner as often as possible, and then come back for Happy Hour, where daily food specials rotate each week. On a Tuesday you’ll be eating chunky katsu sandwiches. On Wednesdays, it’s a ramen that leaves your lips glazed in rich broth. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Pause Unmute Other than a few framed posters, the dining room is pretty simple. Dojo isn’t a flashy restaurant filled with cheap stunts and vacuous distractions. The magic of this place lives in the happy glances friends give one another after their first bites unveil a reality that’s so much more fun than it seems. Food Rundown The menu at Dojo Izakaya changes frequently, but here are a few examples of the kind of dishes you might find here. Hawaiian Kampachi Drag that kampachi all over the bowl like a little water skier tethered to your fork, collecting velvety dashi cream on the white asparagus water skis. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Hokkaido Scallop Grilled Florida corn and delicate raw scallops lounge together in a little pool of ponzu with sesame oil. It’s smokey, nutty, sweet, and hard to order just one. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Karaage Every meal here needs to include this. On their own, the bites of chicken are incredible. But with a little drizzle of lemon and an aggressive dunk into the ranch, it’s the envy of all the nuggets that ever existed. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Dynamite Krab Dip Ever wish you could scoop off the top of a volcano roll and eat it without judgment? Consider it granted. PlayMute video credit: Virginia Otazo Tonkatsu If this place only sold the curry that comes with this giant crispy pork chop, they could close all their restaurants and live comfortably on a private island forever. So maybe let’s not tell them. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Pork Belly Okonomiyaki It’s difficult to find okonomiyaki in Miami, and impossible to find one this impressive. The balance of flavors between the sweet Bull-Dog sauce, pork belly, and pickled ginger was probably calibrated by a mass comparator. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Denver Steak We’ve seen friends play rock, paper, scissors over who gets to pop the cured egg yolk that comes with this juicy steak. As long as you utilize the sweet sauce on every slice and all souls at the table get a bite, everyone wins. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Happy Hour Specials Happy Hour specials are liable to change here, but on Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm it’s a bowl of silky tonkatsu ramen with black garlic we'd happily pay twice the $18 tag on it. On Tuesday it’s a thick $14 katsu (or wagyu) sandwich more comforting than the sweatpants waiting at home for you. Both of these things are delicious reasons to stalk Dojo’s Instagram for updates. PlayMute video credit: Virginia Otazo" - Virginia Otazo