As you walk into Chomp Chomp, you’re greeted by a wall of wooden shelves stacked two stories high with whiskey and other spirits. This wall stands out even more during this time when bar stools and tables have been removed. It’s clear that you have walked into more than a restaurant.

At its heart, Chomp Chomp (945 NW Bond St.) is a whiskey bar.

A couple of years ago, Steve Singley and his partner, Doug Spencer, decided to open a whiskey bar. Chef Sonny Mills lived in Japan for 10 years and brought the idea of serving Japanese street food, and together they opened Chomp Chomp only a couple of months before the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.

While the menu is not entirely back up to speed, nor is the bustling bar ambiance one hopes will eventually return, Chomp Chomp’s limited menu has many satisfying dishes, excellent drinks, good service and plenty of outdoor seating set back and on the sidewalk.

When Chomp Chomp opened at 11 a.m., I was in the mood for a more brunch-lunch meal on my first visit. I started with the deep-fried, hard-boiled Kushi Eggs. Lightly breaded on the outside, each egg is cut in half and sprinkled with Togarashi Seven Spice. This spice looks like a red salt and is sprinkled atop most dishes. It’s described as a “toasty sweet spice,” as the seaweed, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds hint at umami. Orange zest adds sweetness. Red chili pepper, Sangho (Japanese pepper) and ginger bring a kick.

The Kushi Eggs are served with a generous pile of house-made kimchi. While some kimchi preparations are a sour or spicy attack on the tongue, this was mild. When eaten together, the kimchi added tang that enlivened the deep-fried eggs.

Next came Logan’s Hiroshima-fuu. This is Chomp Chomp’s take on traditional Okonomiyaki (a Japanese wheat pancake). Ingredients are piled high on the fluffy crepe-like savory pancake as it is made in Hiroshima, Japan. Soft noodles are mixed with crispy pork belly and topped with a fried egg. A pile of shaved fresh cabbage added crunch to the dish. Thinking about the mixture of salty, savory “secret sauce” and special mayonnaise that pulled together the pancake, noodles and egg makes my mouth water. It’s worth every pancake and noodle carb.

I order the Karaage (pronounced with a hard “g”—“Kara Gee”) to go for a later lunch. Small chunks of chicken are lightly dusted with a fine coating and fried. On the inside, juicy meat is surrounded by a crispy crust and served with their house-made “fry sauce.” Singley explained that it’s basically Tonkatsu sauce — a sweet, savory Japanese dipping sauce. It was a little creamier than the Tonkatsu sauce I’ve had before. Our family decided that we would have preferred a different dipping sauce for the tasty chicken bites.

On my second trip to Chomp Chomp, I sampled many of their tasty sauces (that I might have enjoyed with the fried chicken). A friend and I went for dinner. We started with a couple of signature cocktails. The Cherry Blossom was a refreshing mix of house-infused strawberry gin, lemon, cardamom, and bubbles. It was served with a smoldering rosemary twig.

The skewers were the perfect accompaniment to start the meal. Yakitori (grilled skewers) or Kushiage (fried skewers) are served with five different dipping sauces: red chili; avocado, cilantro, and wasabi; black garlic aioli with sesame seeds; teriyaki sauce, and wasabi lime aioli.

Yakatori skewer choices include salted pork belly, shrimp, chicken breast, steak, tofu, or bacon-wrapped asparagus grilled on Chomp Chomp’s yakitori grill imported from Japan. We chose the perfectly-cooked bacon, wrapped around a tender asparagus spear with a smokey taste from the charcoal burned on the grill. The smokey flavor went well with the creamy dips—the avocado wasabi, and the wasabi lime aioli—which both added a little wasabi kick.

The Portobello mushroom Kushiage was lightly breaded in panko and deep-fried. The mushrooms retained their moisture and meaty flavor. Red chili and teriyaki sauces added a little bite that cut through the frying oils and dense mushrooms.

We followed the skewers with a generous bowl of ramen. The rich broth was loaded with garlic fried cabbage, nori (seaweed), oyster mushrooms, fresh bok choy, and a soft-boiled egg. We substituted chicken for pork belly. Ramen noodles complete this traditional Japanese dish. My companion particularly liked it when she added some of the chili dip.

On the Pacific Northwest side of the menu, we tried the Chef’s Wontacos. Instead of a Mexican tortilla, it starts with a deep-fried wonton “taco shell.” These light, deep-fried wontons are stuffed with meat (we chose shrimp), then Asian slaw, scallions, sesame seeds, and drizzled with the avocado and wasabi lime sauces. The sweet wonton and shrimp played against the creamy sauces. Three, hand-sized wontacos come with the order. It’s another flavor-filled small meal that would go well with your choice of whiskey drink.

To round it out, we finished with the Watermelon Summer Salad. A hint of soy sauce gave it an Asian flavor in the creamy Balsamic vinegar dressing. The dressing was savory and tangy, which played well against the nutty almonds, peppery arugula and sweet fresh chunks of watermelon. The pepper bites the tongue with the vinegar. The nutty walnuts soothe, and a squirt of watermelon refreshes with sweetness as you bite into it. I loved the arugula but might have also enjoyed a small amount of spring mix to lighten up the arugula’s spiciness.

Chomp Chomp is a great place to meet up with friends for some tasty drinks and a bite of Japanese street food. And it’s also a solid choice for some Asian flavors if you want a small meal.