Details: Located at 39-34 Bell Blvd, Bayside, NY 11361. The official site is https://nipponcha.us/
Nippon Cha is pretty good quality Japanese restaurant on Bell Boulevard. The only downside of this place is that the prices are those of Manhattan when the restaurant is located in Queens.
I came with a group and immediately liked the interior. It’s a lot of wood and is fairly comforting and cozy. Try to avoid sitting in the very front because they have those backless stools I hate that a lot of Momofuku restaurants use.
I ordered the fairly standard tonkatsu donburri (panko breaded pork cutlets. Served in oversized rice bowls with miso soup, costs $11). It was fine. I also tried the potato croquette, which I can easily recommend avoiding. It’s not bad, it’s just a Japanese knish. Other’s at the table ordered mostly ramen, and I will say that the ramen looked pretty good.
The primary thing is that while many things on the menu looked good, they were simply too expensive or filling. For instance, the pork buns were eight dollars for two, which isn’t bad but I would rather have ordered one for four dollars. The salmon mentai yakisoba was twelve dollars and more of an entree than an appetizer. Some things, like uni or eel, I recognize cannot be cheaper, but other things (like the pork buns) can be. Basically, I wanted to try a number of things, but those things were mostly priced as entrees rather than appetizers. I would have liked if they created a long list of appetizers with smaller serving sizes so I could try more options without breaking the bank.
Additionally, the service was very good.
Overall, Nippon Cha is a good Japanese restaurant, especially when compared to the other Japanese restaurants in Bayside. If you’re in the area, it’s good choice for lunch/dinner.
Score: 6.5/10
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