NoVa Sushi & Ramen Explorers - Plus International Foods!

Join us for an unforgettable dining experience at Chantilly's own Izakaya Nana, where delightful Japanese pub grun awaits!

WAITLIST:
Meetup does not allow a waitlist for paid events. If this event fills and you are interested in adding your name to the waitlist, please send host a message through the app.

** The small registration fee helps us share the cost associated with the Meet-Up platform ($360/yr) and reduces the likelihood of no-shows, allowing us to better plan our events and accommodate all participants. Meetup charges $0.51 and Paypal charges $0.53 on the $2 registration fee. Thanks in advance for your understanding!**

From Northern Virginia Magazine:

From Modan to Marifuji Japanese Market, Japanese food is gaining ground in our region. Part of that explosion is the recent debut of Izakaya Nana, which serves not only curry but other Japanese-Western fusion dishes, as well as its fair share of unique creations.

The sequel to a Flushing, Queens, location of the same name, the restaurant is an almost-theme-park-perfect representation of a Tokyo street. In fact, a YouTube video of a walk leading up to the Shibuya neighborhood plays on a screen at the front of the restaurant, demonstrating the similarity between Izakaya Nana’s urban-styled interior and the real city.

My server told me that the must-try was the mentaiko cream udon bowl. Fun sushi dishes like sushi tacos and Crazy Nana roll, which features shrimp tempura, spicy lobster, and fried soft-shell crab, were priced too high for the day’s budget. So were the sizzling wagyu, foie gras, uni bowl and Ramen Nana with lobster and wagyu. I’ll consider returning for such unusual indulgences.

Instead, I started with the Bun Nana, a pair of pillowy bao filled with yielding pork belly and crunchy pickles. At $7.99, it was a steal, but not as much as the $8.99 crispy chile wings. The five oversized flats and drumettes crunched impressively despite their sweet, sour, and spicy coating of mango-based glaze.

Curry for the Win
Speaking of Japanese curry, I tried Nana’s in the form of a tornado omurice. The restaurant’s gravy leans sweet with little spice to speak of, but it still made it hard to put down the swirled omelet that covered a chunky portion of chicken fried rice. That dish was my favorite of the day, and return trips will likely feature the katsu curry, too.

And that udon? A beautiful fusion of a sauce, which combines the European-style satisfaction of a creamy pasta dish with pollock roe. It was even better with a dusting of the chile powder, togarashi. Those who adhere to the old-fashioned rule of never mixing seafood and dairy need not apply. But those who don’t will be thoroughly satisfied.

I finished with a cute $3.99 taiyaki (fish-shaped pastry fried crisp ...and sweet red bean paste inside).

Check out the menu here:

https://www.izakayanana.com/menu

To enhance the opportunity for great conversation, we would like to keep the group small. Please feel free to sign-up to meet us along with up to 2 friends.

In the future, we will vary the days of the week, geography and the cost of restaurants so that we can attract many different types of diners.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE COMMITTED TO GO WHEN YOU RSVP FOR THIS EVENT. In the event our group incurs a fee for no-shows / late cancellations, your ability to RSVP for future events will be restricted. Thank you in advance for your understanding.Feel free to make suggestions for future meet locations. All diners will have their own tab to avoid any confusion.

If you are unable to join us in May, we hope you'll stay interested and join us for a meal in the future. Looking forward to dining with you at Izakaya Nana!