Searching for Japanese street food? Anaya Sushi & Ramen in New Haven may have you covered.
We originally came here for the sushi, with its inventive rolls.
But then we came across some of the other offerings here, where we found the bao.
Overall, the food here is good enough to come back to if you are in the area to try more of the small plates.
Sunset Roll
The eel here tastes like dirt, which is off-putting.
Not in a normal earthy eel flavor, but like actual dirt.
The tempura in the roll is not good either, being mushy and not overly flavorful.
The best part of the sushi here is the fish, which has a nicer fresh flavor.
In this roll, where you can try all three, you miss out on the fish.
Simpler, fish-forward rolls are better here.
The Rating: Sunset roll
5.5/10
The Rating: Sunset roll
5.5/10
But there is more than just fish at Anaya.
The bao, in Japanese a soft flat bun filled with meat and toppings, are particularly nice here.
Brisket Bao
The brisket is not the best quality and, surprisingly, doesn’t add much flavor.
First, the brisket is slow cooked but sliced with the grain, making it stringy and tough.
Second, the dominant flavors are the seaweed and spicy mayo.
Even though is a lot of meat, the flavor is mostly spicy mayo seaweed.
The proportions are good, and overall this is very nice.
The Rating: Brisket Bao
7/10
KFC Bao
But that isn’t their only bao.
Another one is the KFC bao, with (you guessed it) fried chicken.
Interestingly, this bao almsot suffers from the opposite problem.
The chicken is very nice and adds a nice textural crunch to the bao.
The problem is there isn’t a lot of it.
So while more flavorful with fried chicken, it needs more of it to be truly great.
Until then, it’s still damn good.
The Rating: KFC Bao
7.5/10
Address: 1150 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06511
Hours: Open everyday 11:30am – 9:15pm