Greenwich Village's cheap meal mainstay Dojo served breakfast for the first time this morning after reopening earlier this month. Plenty of NYU students and budget-conscious diners suffered mini-meltdowns when the West 4th Street eatery shut its doors last summer after two decades in business. Luckily, the popular Japanese-inspired restaurant had just closed for renovations and always intended to reopen within months. Now Dojo is gradually easing back into service with a facelift and new menu.
"The concept is completely different," Erina Yoshida, the owner's daughter and Dojo manager, explained. Extensive changes were made to the menu, but the restaurant kept its most popular dinner items like the Hijiki Tofu Burger, the soy burger, and steamed vegetables and rice. Don't worry: the famous Dojo carrot ginger dressing hasn't gone anywhere.
The six-page menu has been simplified to one page and they now have an executive chef. A note on the new dinner menu reads: "Dinner at Dojo is an Izakaya, a Japanese tapas establishment where guests share various dishes. The menu is designed as a sharing plate style to allow guests to try new, multiple dishes." Options on the dinner menu include Quinoa Hijaki Salad, Edamame-Mole, and Braised Scottish Salmon Nitsuke.
Expect menu choices to change and expand as they test out their new concept. Yoshida tells us they plan on opening a separate Ramen noodle shop in their third room in order to accommodate "different kinds of people with different tastes." Additionally, they're offering prepared foods for students and workers on the go.
In addition to the change in dining style, expect changes in dining prices. "There's great feedback from customers coming in," Yoshida said. "It's not 100 percent positive, which is the hardest part." The price increases, Yoshida explained, reflect the challenges of maintaining a second-generation family business in an area with such coveted real estate.
The dining rooms feature new wood panelling, lights, and art. Owner Tony Yoshiba personally saw to most of the interior renovations, creating the door shades by hand and painting the art in the dining room.
Though the menu is still not finalized, Dojo's owners felt it was time to start reopening. "It was frustrating for customers—and frustrating for us—since renovations were taking much longer than expected," Yoshida explained, saying they needed time to work on the lease with the landlord and re-envision the restaurant.
Because the menu is still being worked out, Dojo is still in soft-open mode, and has been gradually extending its hours and opening new rooms in the restaurant every week. As of today Dojo is not yet open on weekends, but we're told it will be up and running for regular hours over the next two weeks.
14 West 4th Street // (212) 505-8934
