After more than a year of creative pivots due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin area restaurants are returning to normal service and introducing new menus. One of Austin’s most popular spots, Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, has recently reestablished its Izakaya Service.
The all-new menu recently launched to replace the Omakase Club format, although guests looking to leave their selections to the chef can still select the option to do so. Kemuri Tatsu-Ya is refining the Texas-influenced Japanese izakaya concept that brought the restaurant critical acclaim. Highlights of the menu refresh include a focus on thoughtful presentation paired with limiting waste.
Made popular by the Omakase Club service, house-smoked items like Smoked Nasu Eggplant, Brisket and Burnt Ends with miso-pecan rub, and Pork Ribs with carrot-ginger glaze can be made into a bento for an additional cost. Bentos are presented in stacking, custom-built bamboo boxes and served with items like Koshihikari rice, serrano-miso barbecue sauce, nori, house pickles, sansho, local vegetables, garlic confit, and koji hot sauce for a DIY hand roll experience.
Dishes like an updated Chicken Fried Kara-Age served with egg salad and koji hot sauce; Chicken in the Nest chicken meatball skewer served with range-free egg yolk and chicken skin furikake; and Momo, or chicken thigh skewer with garlic-thyme butter, Kemuri pico, traditional house-made tare are crafted with an emphasis on whole-animal butchery use of Jidori heritage breed chickens. The new menu will also feature more options that cater to different dietary styles and restrictions.
Kemuri is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations are available online via Resy or by calling (512) 803-2224. For more information about Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, please visit https://kemuri-tatsuya.com.