Tokidoki is a new-ish casual sandwich counter featuring Japanese-inspired sandos and onigiri. The restaurant comes from the married couple behind Shalom Japan, another restaurant I’ve enjoyed that fuses Japanese and Brooklyn Jewish cuisine.

Shalom Japan opened back in 2013, and has remained a steady favorite delivering a flavorful and well crafted menu. Chefs Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi are behind both restaurants, sharing a wall and possibly kitchen.

In an interview with Greenpointers, Israel explained the couple’s original concept came to them while reading through an old travel guide of the lower east side, where another restaurant named shalom Japan had operated in the 1980s. The couple also released a cookbook two years ago, Love Japan.

The new project opened in the fall of last year only serving food on weekdays at first. The term Tokidoki is the phonetic of a Japanese phrase meaning “sometimes.” The sandwich counter operated sometimes when it first opened , only during the week for lunch. It now offers weekend lunch, evening cocktails, and functions as a private event space for shalom japan.

Tokidoki transformed the side retail space adjacent to Shalom Japan into a small counter restaurant with five tables plus a few window counter seats. In good weather, a couple of sidewalk tables are available too, but the space is tight nevertheless. Just east of the sunken portion of the BQE, the location is close to by distinctly from the popular Bedford Avenue area that attracts tourists and plenty of foot traffic.

We showed up late on a Saturday afternoon and pushed two tables together to accommodate three of us. Luckily for us it wasn’t too crowded.

We ordered Furikake fries for the four-year-old. They came with ketchup or kewpie mayonnaise, but we also worried the seasoning might throw him off. Furikake is a japanese condiment often sprinkled on top of rice. He was unphased, and snacked on the fries with ketchup.

We each had a combination that came with miso soup. This was a thick, complex soup broth, filled with mushrooms and tofu and pickled lemons. It had a rich umami punch and we even convinced the four-year-old to taste the broth. He was not as impressed.

My sandwich arrived, a simple katsu with light sauce. It was cut into thirds which actually makes it great for sharing. The breading separated easily from the meat making it more difficult to eat but the flavor was good.

My wife had the spicy Salmon onigiri. It was a plump wrapped rice sandwich. It wasn’t that spicy, but did have a hefty amount of avocado.

Tokidoki is a great addition to the neighborhood, a quirky little sandwich shop. It wasn’t a cheap lunch, but otherwise it was a pleasant place to grab a casual Japanese-inspired sandwich.

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