Bozu

Arrived on a Monday night dined in the patio across from the chef's station. Bozu serves Japanese cuisine and western dishes in a contemporary and electric manner. Most portions are small. Be sure to ask if the dish is big enough to fill you up. The menu was made in a mini binder with no breakdown on whether one page was a starter or an entree. A lot of Bozu comes from the friendly service—If you are not knowledgeable on the Japanese cuisine you will ask (a) question(s) about the menu, in most cases you will ask more than once. If you don't you will probably be stuck on ordering the typical standard sushi rolls. Bozu stands for Japanese cuisine—well at least the staff is. The décor is fun and modern like the accommodating service.


The orders:

Starters were on the recommended chef special which were the salmon tartar and the yellow tail ceviche. Both were incredibly small. But the dishes showed detail on every ingredient and they were well presented. Each mini one was about $10 and can be swallowed in one bite.

The party bomb is an equivalent to a roll but with a different presentation. Rather than have the fish rolled in with the rice and seaweed. The bomb has the rice shaped in a mold, and then goes the fish and such on top of the rice. This is nothing new but it beats the standard rolls in presentation. Nine of these bombs were $19.

On the contemporary page were the pork belly and burger with mash potatoes. I am not a fan of cross overs. It is very hard—and in most cases, can come off tacky when a restaurant has more than one genre to focus on. Bozu tried and failed. Failed in a sense that the western dishes did not live up to its home dishes. The burgers were essentially imperfect meatballs of three with a side of mesclun greens and not buttery and sandy mash. So the burger was marinated by fermented apple and onions but the execution did not make the cut. The pork belly is for those that love to eat the fat and skins besides the meat. Steamed and served in thinly sliced chucks. I would pass if you're keeping tab on the cholesterol and calories.


What makes Bozu running is the energetic and friendly staff. Don’t expect to get full from one plate. Play around and experiment and learn a thing or two.


Bozu 296 Grand St Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 384-7770