As part of our series about pizza in Nagoya, we are excited to say really nice things about Izakaya Ja Nai; am excellent pizza bar in Okazaki, Japan. Izakaya Ja Nai is not in Nagoya, but it’s a short ride away, and worth the effort; they make an amazing Chicago pizza.
We have a great list of pizza restaurants in Nagoya. As we continue to build on that list, we took some time to get on the train and make the trip to Okazaki, just to try Craig’s beer, and more specifically…
Chicago pizzas are rare in Japan. When they are good, they are excellent. If Izakaya Ja Nai could deliver a deep-dish experience, I wanted to try it.
And deliver they did. Take a good look at that pie; classic Chicago pizza style, sauce on top.
I genuinely loved this pizza. It almost hurts to write about it, and not be able to head over there right now to taste it again. If I was closer to Okazaki, I’d go tonight for a couple of pints of Craig’s Hyappa Brews, and another taste of his fantastic pizza.
Let’s take it from the beginning:
If you’re in Okazaki, Izakaya Ja Nai is located downtown, four minutes from Higashi-Okazaki Station. If you’re coming from Nagoya Station (for example), you can take the Meitetsu-Limited Express train in about 35 – 40 minutes, and then walk over from the station.
Inside, Izakaya Ja Nai feels like a mix of a causal Japanese bar (I will not call it an “Izakaya”), with some obvious American pub influences. The owner Craig Morrey is from Chicago, runs Izakaya Ja Nai, and also runs a Hyappa Brews brewery (where his beer is made). Good guy. He has built a great local spot for American-style pizza and beers.
The menu not only has pizza, but also tacos, buffalo wings, and a Philly cheesesteak (I mean, why not?). Sounded like my kind of place, and I was eager to give it a try.
To get the night started (and because I know a good deep-dish pizza takes 20+ minutes to bake), we would of course begin with a beer.
Izakaya Ja Nai had a nice selection; 6 beers on tap, a full compliment of flavors. My first beer of the night was the “Ale Capone” (a little nod to Chicago, right there). That gave me something to sip at while I waited for the pizza.
As for the pizza menu at Okazaki’s Izakaya Ja Nai; there may have been some “suggested pizzas,” but I know I decided to create my own based on the choices.
The bar man and I had a stilted conversation, some bad Japanese mixed with some equally bad English. We decided I needed a large. (Yeah, let’s go for it.) From the list of toppings I selected: Italian sausage, black olives, mushrooms, and (wait for it)… jalapenos. I love jalapenos on almost everything, and they make an excellent cross-culture mashup on a pizza. With my work done, I could sit back and enjoy my beer.
This particular night was a Sunday, and I was there after 9 PM. That is late for some shops in Japan, but had I checked the hours (open until midnight most days, and 3 AM on Fri/Sat). At that time of night on a Sunday, it was just me and one other guy in the bar.
Soon enough, my Chicago pizza was ready and delivered to my table. Let’s take a look at that beauty:
As the pizza arrived it had an unlikely “blonde” crust. There was a browned-red lake of sauce on top. As it had been in the oven for about 30 minutes, when it hit the table it was molten hot. I cut into it, and the knife disappeared into an inch plus of flowing pizza-mess. This was about to turn into a very happy story, but I didn’t know it yet.
I cut the large pizza in half, then cut one half again, making some big, messy, 1/4-pizza slices. I pulled them away from the uncut half and the lake of sauce filled in the gap. If you know pizza, you know those first, few moments after the pizza comes out of the oven it is often way, waaaaay too hot to eat. I knew I should let the whole thing sit, let the pizza cool, let the cheese set-up, and then reform from a dangerously-hot liquid state to something ready to be eaten. I was hungry, and it was torture to wait, but I did.
On this particular day, I had been travelling and I was tired. It was only my dedication – and the call of duty as the (unofficial) Official Pizza Czar of Japan – that motivated me to be out that evening. Even though I had a potentially delicious deep-dish pizza in front of me, to be honest, from the look of it, I didn’t expect that I was going to like it.
Even now – and I’m a huge fan of this pizza, one of the best in Japan – I will continue to state that that crust is not a typical-looking crust. Before I took my first bite, I remember thinking: “Maybe this is another ‘wannabe’ bar that thinks adding pizza to the menu is a good way to run up the bar tab?” At the time, I confess that I thought I might take a few bites, document everything with a few pictures, then kick the stool over and head home for a good night’s sleep. (I have done that before.) But that is not what happened.
As it was, I let that big, hot monster cool off. The cheese and all the rest, it did set-up. That 1/4 slice I had cut was still too big to eat, so I cut it in half again – cut it down to something I could actually pick up. I took my first bite, and…
Hey, this is a fantastic pizza. Very good. My entire mood started to change.
I was right about that crust: I would still call it “strange,” but in a good way. Izakaya Ja Nai’s pizza crust is so “white,” it is unlike other Chicago pizzas I have had; I assumed it was not going to be good. As I cut into it, it had this solid, almost hallow sound to it. In those moments leading up to my first bite, my guess was that the crust was going to be like an over-cooked biscuit; it does look like biscuit-hard dough.
But, I am pleased to report: I was wrong. That first bite of that crust; it was crispy on the outside, even thicker than I thought it would be, with a soft, chewy, breadiness on the inside. And it was good, very good. Yes, unusual – in a winning way. In fact, at the end of the night, I was cutting off chunks of that crust and eating it all on its own. Strange, or maybe… unique? And tasty. A winning crust.
I was just a few bites in when this big white guy walks into the bar, carrying some kind of pony keg (maybe more than one). He definitely seemed like he might own the place. We made eye contact and he says hello. He does turn out to be the owner. After taking care of a few few chores around the bar, he comes over, says a few words, sits down. I was glad to meet him.
Over the next half an hour or so, Craig shared some of the story of his place, about the previous owner, about how he came to Japan, about what he is up to now. Yes, he is actually from Chicago, and he coaches me a bit about the “sauce on top” tradition of pizza from his town.
If being Pizza Czar is a “job” (?), then getting face time with some of the pizza masters of Japan is one of the best parts of the assignment. I am a real pizza lover, and I could have talked pizza with him all night.
As we talked I got to hear his take on Izakaya Ja Nai’s pizza process; his special dough (see that crispy brown on the bottom?), the toppings (you can see them in that profile view of the slice), then the cheese locking the toppings into the crust, then the sauce.
Beautiful. That pizza was delicious, and I was excited to sit with Craig and learn, and hear about what he is trying to do in his part of Japan. It was a privilege.
I took a shot of my patented “pizza test”: you’ll have to wait until the cheese cools, but you can pick this pizza up to eat it. It could be “knife and fork” pizza, but is not necessarily so. I like that.
Izakaya Ja Nai is not in Nagoya, but if we’re casual about it, we can include it as one of Nagoya-area pizza restaurants. With that said; it is easily one of the best pizzas in Nagoya, and earns a spot in one of the most interesting pizzas in Japan. I mean that. I loved that pizza, and would be excited to have the chance to eat there again.
As I said earlier in this review, deep-dish pizzas in Japan are rare. When you can find them, there are no guarantees the pizza is going to be any good. As I have personally eaten at more pizza restaurants than almost anyone in Japan, I’m happy to say where I think Izakaya Ja Nai sits in the current landscape of Chicago-pizza in Japan:
I absolutely love the Chicago pizza at Devil Craft Kanda in Tokyo (which makes an incredible “Abe Froman” deep-dish pizza), but then had a bad experience at their Devil Craft Gotanda. Recently, I had the chance to try the Chicago pizza at BrewPub Starboard in Kobe; a surprisingly good deep dish pizza (with vegetable-based sauce). I would drop Izakaya Ja Nai’s Chicago pizza in as the third best Chicago pizza in Japan (which is saying a lot, as those first two were some of my favorite pizza experiences in Japan). After that, the quality falls off significantly. The Chicago pizza at Drunk Bears in Osaka is good, but an unexceptional pizza (cannot compete with the top of this list at all). We should stop there, but to go on: the Chicago pizza at Butcher Republic in Ebisu, Tokyo, is pretty bad pizza (don’t bother). And the “Chicago pizza” at The Craft in Sapporo rounds out the bottom of the list, with disappointing-but-edible (and almost amusing) attempt at real American-style, deep-dish pizza in Japan.
Chicago pizza belongs in it’s own category; it’s own “type” of pizza. While most of Japan cranks out very average, and life-less Napoletana pizzas, if you can find a good Chicago pizza, you should probably try it; it’s bound to be more original and interesting than another shop offering yet another margherita thin-crust copy of a copy. In this case, Izakaya Ja Nai’s pizza is completely original (took me by surprise), and was entirely memorable.
Bravo.
As that night continued, I know I had a second pint. Craig and I were talking about his brewery, and then I realized it was after 11:30. I was staying in Nagoya, and I had to catch the last train back to my hotel. I rushed through my goodbyes and literally ran all the way back to the station, jumped on the last train, and limped back to my hotel room – tired, but very satisfied.
Not only would I like to do pizza and beer there again, but I am curious about Okazaki as a city. The only thing I know about it is Craig’s place. On my way from the station to Izakaya Ja Nai that night, I liked the little downtown area. I was also surprised that almost everyone on the street was foreign; French accents in one group, other white guys. I assume it was a coincidence, but it left me curious about the rest of the town.
If you find yourself in Okazaki, you have to give this spot a try. And if you’re in Nagoya, Izakaya Ja Nai is a perfect destination for an afternoon adventure for pizza and beer. You’re guaranteed to get a good beer, as well as some of the best pizza in the country.
Highly recommended.
For more Nagoya Pizza see:
— Pizzeria Quarantuno 41 in Higashi-ku, Nagoya
— Another excellent Neapolitan style pizza at Pizzeria and Steakhouse Tratt in Naka-ku, Nagoya
— One of the best pizza slice places in Japan at Dookie’s Pizza, between the Sakae and Osu area of Naka-ku, Nagoya
— The sometimes open Cesari Pizza in Osu, Naka-ku, Nagoya
— Call first before you try Pizzeria Vacanze Nagone in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya
— Gold Caravan Pizza in Sakae Naka-ku, Nagoya
— Pizza and Burrata Vespa in Naka-ku, Nagoya
— Old Forge “Pennsylvania-style” pizza at Tony Tony in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya
— See our scathing review of Solo Pizza in Osu in Naka-ku, Nagoya