Japanese Restaurant Near Me in Williamsburg: Okonomi's Twelve-Seat Breakfast Set

Okonomi serves one meal, and it costs $30. At 150 Ainslie Street in Williamsburg, between Lorimer and Leonard Streets, the twelve-seat room builds every plate around ichiju sansai, the Japanese home pattern of one soup and three sides: roast fish, white rice, miso soup, tamagoyaki, pickles and a seasonal vegetable. If you typed japanese restaurant near me from the L train platform, this is a two-minute walk, and the same set now runs at breakfast and at dinner.

Okonomi opened in May 2014 as the joint project of two chefs, Yuji Haraguchi and Tara Norvell, according to a 2016 Edible Brooklyn profile. Haraguchi was already known in Brooklyn for YUJI Ramen, which for years shared the address in the evening. That ramen service has since ended. Resy now notes that YUJI Ramen is no longer served in Williamsburg and that the Okonomi breakfast menu is offered during both breakfast and dinner hours.

The kitchen describes its cooking as mottainai cuisine, the Japanese idea of letting nothing go to waste. In practice it means a short daily menu built from whatever fish and vegetables came in, rather than a long list of options. You do not choose a dish so much as choose a size. That narrow focus is the reason to come, and also the reason not to bring a friend who wants sushi rolls.

The Ichiju Sansai Standard Set is $30 on the official menu. It brings a roast fish, a bowl of white rice, miso soup, a slice of rolled tamagoyaki omelet, house tsukemono pickles and one additional seasonal vegetable dish. The fish depends on what the kitchen bought that day, and the server will name it when you sit down. Everything arrives at once on a single tray, which is how a Japanese family breakfast is served at home.

The Ichiju Gosai Large Set is $38 and adds three seasonal vegetable dishes instead of one. If you are hungry or sharing tastes, the extra $8 is the better value on the menu, because the vegetable sides are where the kitchen shows the most range. Add-ons are priced individually: ikura salmon roe for $5, an onsen egg for $2.50, and seasonal uni for $8.

An honest call: skip the uni unless you love it. The set is built to be balanced and quiet, and a spoon of sea urchin on top pulls it toward luxury it does not need. The onsen egg is the smarter add-on, since it turns the rice into something closer to tamago kake gohan for less than three dollars. For drinks, Orion lager from Okinawa is $8 and a Kato Sake Works Kappu can is $19.

With only twelve seats split between tables and a counter, timing decides your morning. Resy lists Okonomi as venue 59622 and opens reservations up to two weeks ahead, closing each service eight hours before it starts. On a sample check for Sunday, October 25, open slots appeared at 1:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 6:45 pm and 8:15 pm, which suggests the late breakfast and early dinner turns are the easiest to land.

Parties of four or fewer fit best. The restaurant says a fifth guest can squeeze in, but there is no table for six, so larger groups should split up or go somewhere else. An October 2025 version of the official site said a few counter seats were held for walk-ins on a first-come basis. Treat that as a bonus, not a plan, and book if you are coming on a weekend.

The official menu page lists two services seven days a week: 9 am to 3 pm with last seating around 2 pm, and 5:30 pm to 10 pm with last seating around 9:15 pm. The breakfast window is the classic way to eat this food, with daylight on the counter and a slower pace. The one-tray format suits solo diners and pairs, and the counter seats are the natural place for one or two guests.

Dinner is the newer option, added after the ramen service ended. The menu is the same set, so come at night only if your schedule demands it, or if you want the Kato sake can with your fish. Either way, plan on about an hour at the table. The format is not built for lingering over several rounds of drinks.

If Resy shows nothing and the counter has no spare seat, do not wait outside for long. Twelve seats turn slowly when each guest is working through six small dishes. The closest alternative with a similar spirit is Rule of Thirds at 171 Banker Street in Greenpoint, about a twenty-minute walk north, where the weekend brunch menu lists a Japanese curry for $21 and walk-in waits are quoted in person at the door.

From Ainslie Street, walk north on Lorimer Street and you reach McCarren Park in a few minutes. The park's lawns, running track and ball fields are busiest on weekend mornings, which pairs well with a 9 am breakfast here. Keep going north past the park and you are in Greenpoint, the same direction as the Rule of Thirds fallback.

Whichever way you walk, keeps you close to the Lorimer Street L station and the Metropolitan Avenue G platform below it, which share one transfer complex, so getting back to Manhattan or north Brooklyn after the meal takes no planning.

Address: Okonomi, 150 Ainslie Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211, between Lorimer and Leonard Streets in Williamsburg. Subway: Lorimer Street on the L or Metropolitan Avenue on the G, both about 200 meters away. Hours: breakfast 9 am to 3 pm, dinner 5:30 pm to 10 pm, daily, with last seatings around 2 pm and 9:15 pm.

Prices from the official menu: Standard Set $30, Large Set $38, ikura $5, onsen egg $2.50, uni $8, Orion lager $8. Reservations: Resy, up to two weeks in advance, closing eight hours before each service. Party size: four is ideal, five is a squeeze. Expect a set menu only, with no à la carte list and no ramen. Ask the Karpo APP for a coffee stop or a park loop near Lorimer Street before you go.