Stopped in yesterday for an early dinner at Narruto Bowl in Teaneck.
I’m gonna start by saying that everybody there was amazing with the COVID regulations. Everyone was wearing a mask the whole time. The tables were very spaced out in a large outdoor tent in the parking lot outside. They even had a self-service water station outside for you to refill your own water to reduce contact. Any time the waiter brought something to the table, they had us take it off the trays. The same with the containers for our leftovers.
Now, to the actual food…
I started with the Crispy AF Korean Hot Chicken ($15.40). These were two sliders that are twice fried dark meat with a house sauce on buns. I ordered the spicy version, but they offered a mild one as well. These were amazing. Probably the best chicken between bread I’ve ever had, and this includes the smoked fried chicken sandwich at Izzy’s. I would have literally eaten 10 of these if I could. The texture was unbelievably crisp on the outside with soft on the inside and the bun was great. The sauce was also a nice touch. They were spicy, but not too spicy and I’d say most people could order the spicy version.
My wife decided to start with the Bao Bites ($13.20). They let you choose which meat to use and she chose beef. Two things confused me with this dish. First, as you can see in the picture below, the bao is basically used as a base that they put the meat and then the vegetables on top of. It’s not a traditional bao bun where those things are inside. The server told us this and explained that this way they could have more of the filling and one larger bun. Which, yeah, ok. But it was definitely harder to eat that way. Second, the price is the same no matter what meat you use. That’s confusing because for many dishes on the menu, you’re able to adjust the type of meat and the prices change accordingly. Chicken or tofu cheapest, beef in the middle, veal or duck more expensive. Makes sense. Here, same price with your choice. I don’t know why. Perhaps they vary the amount you get of the meat depending on what you choose? Anyway, it was delicious with a generous portion of meat. The bao was well textured and the slaw had great flavor.
For my main, I got the Oyakodon with duck ($25.30). This is a Korean fried rice bowl with vegetables and a fried egg. It was delicious and massive. The sauces on top were really great and really improved the flavor profile once I mixed everything up. The duck was very tasty and was shredded in a way that made it easy to mix in but large enough that you could take a bit on its own. My fried egg was cooked perfectly. Crispy on the outside and just a little runny on the inside.
My wife chose to get a Shonkotsu broth with Handmade Ramen and Beef ($23.10). This was also a huge bowl. Her poached egg was made perfectly. The broth was thick with a great umami taste. The ramen was perfectly textured, as were her vegetables. The snap peas were still crunchy even in the broth. The beef was really good, with the slight complaint that it was maybe not sliced small enough to be easily eaten as essentially part of a soup. My wife struggled a little to cut it while it was in the bowl.
We also got the Papas Fritas ($7.70). This was a big bowl of French fries that they make in 4 varieties (chili powder or lime on top, or with kewpie mayo or a miso mustard dipping sauce). We got the miso mustard. My wife said it was really good and not that mustardy. Even so, I hate mustard and didn’t want to spoil this meal. The fries were like 85th percentile fries. Definitely better than most places, but not the best I’ve ever had.
We will definitely return to this place to try more things on the menu. The server made great recommendations and described things very well. My last comment is really about the portions and pricing. It kinda seems like the different sections of the menu are from different restaurants. The apps are way higher priced and smaller than the mains. Neither of us finished our bowl and they brought us great containers to take it home, and that was great. I think this is mostly because those apps require more manual labor compared to the mains. I’m obviously not saying to not order the apps. Those sliders are the best thing I’ve had in at least a year.
TL;DR… Go to Narruto Bowl. If you don’t know what to get, ask. Then eat it.
Nati Burnside 