Momo Sushi Shack

Organic pork belly (“Pork Betty”) arrives in a ring of bite-sized slices, tender and cooked in a soy, sake, ginger, and garlic sauce. Fried chicken emerges heavily breaded and delicious, with ponzu dipping sauce and chile oil on the side. On the sushi menu, the “bombs” reign supreme, slightly larger than a normal roll and lacking the seaweed wrap. Meanwhile, unusual combinations, like the Mc Low bomb (toro, avocado, wasabi cream) and the salmon guacamole roll (salmon, homemade guacamole) mingle with a vegetarian lineup of tofu and vegetable options.

The pork betty ($10) deserves to be celebrated, its name carved into stone structures and sung from rooftops. Slices of pork belly bobbed in a sake-and-soy sauce mixture, each slice boasting a polka dot of wasabi cream and a burst of pure porcine flavor, a holy union of bacon and umami. We would have drunk the dregs.

Understated but “definitely not a shack”, this Bushwick Japanese “go-to” serves “interesting, delicious” small plates and “unconventional” sushi (including lots of veggie options); its wooden communal tables “fill up fast” at prime times, so regulars “get there early.”