The Dishes You’ll Want to Order at JaBä
If you ask JaBä chef-owner Tony Inn how he thinks stinky tofu might be received by uninitiated diners at his new Taiwanese restaurant, he replies, “We’d probably [have caught flack] 10 or 15 years ago.” Then he pauses. “But now … especially what’s going on with China and Taiwan, that has actually brought [our cuisine] to the surface.”
Inn left Taiwan at age nine when his family settled in Queens. At 16, he was expelled from school and became a busboy at a Chinese Japanese restaurant. When one of the line cooks didn’t show up for work, Inn subbed in, and found his calling in the kitchen. He graduated to P.F. Chang’s, went back to school (culinary, this time), staged at Nobu, and ultimately became chef de cuisine at three-Michelin-starred Masa. He later moved on to Morimoto New York, then opened another Morimoto in Waikiki, Hawaii.
Decades passed before Inn returned to Taiwan, and he’d become a veteran of high-end Japanese kitchens in the meantime. Visiting home, in his thirties, he realized how much Taiwanese food had in common with Japanese food — from shared ingredients and dishes to colonial influences from Portugal. When Inn finally began cooking Taiwanese food, it reminded him of making family meals for his team in Japanese restaurants. Now, he understood why.
Fast forward to today: Inn has just opened JaBä, his first solo venture, ready to center the flavors of his childhood homeland. “Japanese food to me is all ingredients, knife skills, technique,” he says. “This version of Taiwanese food is a little more technique driven.” And although the chef oversees each of the menu’s 24 dishes, he wants diners to know that everything is an homage to the “uncle and aunties who have never really had a system, never went to culinary school.”
Don’t let the sophisticated simplicity of the dining room fool you — the scene is set for heady, savory family recipes and vibrant street food. Here are five dishes not to miss at JaBä.
The Resy Rundown
JaBä
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Why We Like It
The riches of Taipei’s night markets and comfort foods perfected by Taiwan’s home cooks are given center stage at JaBä, where they’re executed upon by a chef who’s been practicing his Japanese knife skills for 26 years and counting, to be precise. -
Essential Dishes
Grilled sweet sausage; beef noodle soup; lo ba beng; salt-cured whole mackerel with miso mayo. -
Must-Order Drinks
JaBä has yet to receive their liquor license, so for now, sate yourself with a tropical, puckery coconut pineapple Yakult mocktail, or a Hey Song Sarsaparilla, which tastes like a cross between root beer and cola.
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Who and What It’s For
Anyone who wants a taste of Taiwan without departing from Manhattan, or the borough’s favorite dining format: a long, minimalist room replete with concrete, recessed lighting, and vibey music that’s not too loud to talk over. -
How to Get In
Reservations drop 30 days in advance at noon. Walk-ins are always welcome, and you have the best chance of nabbing a bar seat if you arrive at opening around 5 p.m. -
Pro Tip
Here’s what the chef would order for himself: “If I were to come in here, I would probably get a sausage with the LBB [lo ba beng] and if I’m really, like, hungry hungry, I’d probably throw in a meatball.”
1. Oyster Omelet
Aside from one decadent update, this starter looks a lot like what you might order at a night market in Taipei. “Except,” says Inn, “the oysters are giant. You gotta be able to see ‘em. Traditionally, it’s made with real tiny oysters.” Beyond those five guaranteed mouthfuls of briny, meaty bivalve, each bite is different. A mixture of chewy rice-batter pancake and egg surrounds each oyster, with spinach and chrysanthemum leaves strewn throughout. Sweet chile ketchup sauce soaks every buttery-crisp edge of the pancake, and fresh cilantro scatters the top.
2. Stinky Tofu
Rather than try to downplay Taiwan’s most fabled ferment, Inn hams it up. “You’re basically just letting it rot,” he says of the tofu’s brine-aging process. Once strained from its proprietary bath (the brine uses amaranth greens and rice water, among other undivulged ingredients), it’s fried and plated over a savory brown sauce, then topped with cilantro, and served with pickled cabbage and carrots. In its final form, the tofu’s aroma floats by intermittently, each wedge imbued with a spice and minerality not unlike offal. Inn notes that this dish is sometimes served with a thick soy sauce, which he doesn’t prefer, then smiles and adds, “but you see it later in one of the desserts.”
3. Salt & Pepper Chicken
Inn has a dark-meat-only rule when it comes to this crowd-pleaser, but there’s another reason the finished product has an extra-rich quality to it: “Pork fat,” he explains. “Everything in here, in this restaurant, is made with lard. I don’t use butter. I don’t use oil.” On his formative trip back to Taiwan, Inn had a revelation that cooking with spice-infused pork lard is essential to the cuisine. But before each ample hunk of meat is fried, it’s marinated in rice wine, five spice, and soy sauce. The craggy morsels arrive topped with basil and crispy chicken skin jutting out at odd angles, inviting diners to rip them off and eat them like chips. No one-bite pieces here; this is popcorn chicken with the intensity of a bone-in thigh.
4. Beef Noodle Soup
If there’s one thing you must order at JaBä, it’s this. Inn describes it as such: “You have the shank, the tendon, and the noodles from Chinatown. Fresh noodles from Wing Heung. This is an eight-hour beef stock.” He rattles off stats as he delivers a bowl piled with meat that’s practically melting. Star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and licorice waft from the broth, which is glossy and unctuous enough to leave your lips sticky. Tender carrots, crisp bok choy, and pickled cabbage brighten each bite. “When you talk about Taiwanese food, it’s beef noodle soup and stinky tofu,” he says. The country’s national dish is beef noodle soup, even though it’s actually Sichuan [in origin], he adds, “but Taiwan claimed it as their own.” And luckily for New Yorkers, JaBä seems to have perfected it.
5. Tomato Granita
Tomatoes and soy sauce, it’s what’s for dessert. This tangy treat isn’t here for novelty’s sake (but, also, have you ever had a tomato granita?). Rather, it’s a reimagining of a childhood snack — tomatoes sprinkled with sugar. “Growing up in Taiwan, tomato was always a fruit,” says Inn. While the tomato, technically speaking, is a fruit everywhere, this stack of thick heirloom tomatoes covered in a gingery, plum-powdered tomato granita is proof of concept. And there you’ll find the thick soy sauce that sometimes accompanies stinky tofu — salty and sweet, drizzled right on top. “JaBä” translates to “eat until full,” but don’t let already being incredibly full get in the way of ordering this frozen delight.
JaBä is open from 5 to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Rachel Rummel co-wrote the New York Times-bestselling Gastro Obscura book and was a founding member of Atlas Obscura’s James Beard Award-winning food vertical. She has spent over a decade exploring and covering restaurant scenes and is now a Resy contributing editor. Follow her on Instagram. Follow Resy, too.
