ATXReview
photo credit: Roger Ho
Kemuri Tatsu-Ya
Included In
Unexpected crossovers can be a lot of fun. They’re how we ended up with things like Viet-Cajun crawfish, bulgogi tacos, and birria ramen. Sometimes, they’re just a short-lived fad (looking at you, cronuts), but other times they end up changing the entire landscape of food entirely. From the people behind Ramen Tatsu-Ya and DipDipDip Tatsu-Ya, Kemuri Tatsu-Ya in East Austin is a Japanese izakaya with a Central Texas barbecue twist. And they’re doing it in an entirely unique way that we think might just make it a crossover that’s here to stay.
The dining area is dimly-lit, with taxidermy deer heads hanging up between dusty sake bottles and Conway Twitty album covers. It feels a bit surreal—like an old Texas hunting lodge that picked up its decor from a kitschy vintage store in Tokyo. The speakers are pumping out old Wu Tang tracks—a fun background audio to the loud “irasshaimasu” welcome you’ll hear shouted out from all the staff as you enter the room—and there’s a lively energy coming from the exposed kitchen at one end of the room. You could just as easily bring a date here for a fun and lively dinner, or a group of friends to take down more of the menu.
photo credit: Roger Ho
Some of the food leans more into classic izakaya territory, with small bites like takowasa and chilled chawanmushi, but it’s where they start to incorporate some distinct Texas flavors that things get fun. The takoyaki—pretty much a staple in most izakayas—gets dressed in chili cheese here, and the jellyfish salad takes on a little menudo twist. Dishes like the guaca-poke probably don’t need much explanation, but it doesn’t make that first bite of tuna dipped in wasabi-spiced guacamole any less delicious. It feels natural, like it’s been a thing all along.
But the meat of it all is, well, the meat of it all. This is a former Texas smokehouse, and they use that to their advantage. The bento boxes here are kind of a DIY handroll situation made for the whole table—with meats ranging from sesame-pecan brisket, to smoked unagi. Unless you spent your formative years being raised in a Texas-Japanese smokehouse, this is probably pretty far from what you’re used to seeing when you think about a little boxed meal.
photo credit: Mackenzie Smith Kelley
If you’re pretty well-acquainted with sake, you’ll probably find a few names you recognize—though we’re fairly certain you’ve never seen their signature Tatsu-Ya x Daimon bottle outside of the restaurant. Ask your server if you’re not sure where to start, then prepare to choose from about a dozen different unique sake cups of varying shapes and sizes. The Japanese whiskey list is one of the biggest in town, and the cocktails are mostly Japanese-inspired tiki drinks, with things like a matcha painkiller, or the Puff Puff Pass—a rum and barley shochu punchbowl for two. And if your friend Dylan won’t shut up about wanting a sake bomb, you can get one of those too—but it’ll run you $100, and they’ll pour one for the whole restaurant.
Kemuri Tatsu-Ya is a product of both Japan and Texas, and as a result it’s a dining experience that couldn’t really exist outside of Austin. There are a few other spots in town that are blending Japanese and Texas flavors—like Otoko, Loro, and Lucky Robot—but each is doing it with its own twist. And the izakaya-meets-barbecue twist at Kemuri is one that we’ll readily get behind.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Mackenzie Smith Kelley
Chawanmushi
photo credit: Mackenzie Smith Kelley
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photo credit: Mackenzie Smith Kelley
Hotate Skewer
photo credit: Mackenzie Smith Kelley
Chicken In The Nest
photo credit: Mackenzie Smith Kelley