If you ever wondered what it would be like to combine Jewish and Japanese culinary traditions into one restaurant menu, you can stop wondering because they’ve long figured it out at Shalom Japan. Comical name aside, this south Williamsburg restaurant has been quietly cooking up a tight but unique menu for over a decade now. First opened in 2013 by partners in life and in business Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi, Shalom Japan has quickly become a neighborhood institution and a low key destination for food people.

They lean heavily into the comforts here: matzo ball soup and ramen come together in a bowl that warms you up from the inside out; Japanese hambagu gets a patty melt treatment with russian dressing, cheese, caramelized onions and pickles, hearty wagyu pastrami gets layered into an okonomiyaki. Nothing is authentic here and that’s the point. It’s about creativity and collaboration and a reimagination of how flavors and forms can be complementary in unexpected ways.