I-naba Brings Back Loaded Japanese Breakfast Sets

Arrays of grilled fish, miso soup, rice, sashimi and sides restore order in a hectic holiday season.

December 12, 2024

Martha Cheng,

Photo: Martha Cheng

Breakfast is back at I-naba. And just in time, for though Japanese breakfast is a year-round delight, there’s something about the holidays that has me turning to it more often. Maybe it has to do with the balance and variety in the full spread, a sense of organized abundance in a season of chaos. Whatever it is, I’m glad it’s back. It joins Fujiyama Texas and Yoshitsune as one of the few places to begin your day with Japanese breakfast.

At I-naba, the sets offer a choice of grilled fish—miso-marinated gindara (black cod); saba; salmon; or hokke, a type of mackerel, which has been dried before grilling and is served bone-in. The fish is flanked by rice, miso soup, three small side dishes, pickles and sashimi. The misoyaki gindara set is $27, the rest are $25.

full japanese Breakfast set with hokke fish

Photo: Martha Cheng

Get the hokke if you’re setting an intention for patience, and you’ll be rewarded with fluffy, savory fish after picking away the bones; if you prefer to skip this particular form of morning meditation, go for the misoyaki gindara, perennially popular. There are also a la carte options if you want something lighter: you could get a tamago kake gohan set ($10) and add on simmered mackerel in miso ($8.50) or natto ($2).