Itadakimasu Izakaya

Not only can I report it’s gonzo, but the new replacement ‘½ Roll’ or «Half Roll» is opening a soft launch either today or within a few days, according to the nice young Chinese girl a few days ago when I dropped in. I like dropping in, you know?
Obviously, it’ll be a regular sushi place instead of izakaya. They’re just working out the new menu, and may have delivery, which they better, as Ogenki and Sushi Hub down the block offers it.
Different owner, by the way.

My girlfriend and I were really excited to try this place after seeing so many pictures of the sushi balls but we left a little disappointed. The place itself is very small and cute with minimal seating and a small tatami area where a small group takes off their shoes and sits on small mats. The menu was great, lots of choices and tons of original content including pictures of some of their most popular dishes which always helps the decision process.
Of course we ordered the sushi balls ($ 14 for 10 pieces) along with tuna tacos ($ 8 for 3) and the Potato and pumpkin croquette (2 pieces for $ 7)
–The sushi balls were fantastic from beef tataki to tamago with roe to mackerel, every pieces seemed to melt in our mouths as me grinned with pleasure haha.
— The tuna tacos are amazing, small pieces of lightly seared tuna on a bed of veggies and topped with a spicy sauce.
Here’s where the experience soured :
— The pumpkin croquette… NEVER CAME! .I swear we both saw her write it down. we waited 10 — 15 minutes after finishing our first two plates thinking it was cooking before we asked and I guess they just forgot to put it in the system… I understand it was a mistake but we only ordered 3 things… it shouldn’t have been tough to remember.
In the end, the food we did get was extremely good but the prices just felt off. The restaurant doesn’t come off as a finer — dining type of place but the prices on most of the items do. Personally it seemed like there’s a bit of an imbalance between the ambiance and the product that this izakaya delivers, meaning that the food is better and at a higher level than what the feel of the restaurant would make you believe.
Food = 4.5÷5
Ambiance = 2.5÷5
service = ³⁄₅
pricing = ³⁄₅

A friend insisted to come here as he has a great experience the first time around. After reading the reviews, I was really intrigued by them even more.
We came (2 people) for dinner at 7:30pm last night. There was a party of about 20 people on our right and a party of 4 on the left of us.
The servers and bartender focused more on the party of 20 instead of everyone else in the restaurant (it was full).
A table of 3 came and ordered after us, and they got their pitcher before us.
We ordered 5 items and the pitcher. We had to remind them about our beer and that still took another 15mins to arrive. Our food took a long time to come and to top it off, when we reminded them we were still missing an item. The server tells us that they were sold out of it!
They didn’t even bother to try to give us a slight discount for the sold out item.
Overall it didnt seem like they cared about anyone else in the restaurant that night except the big party. I understand that since its a big party they would be expecting a big bill from them. But we, along with the other guests at the restaurant are still paying for our meals and in no way should we be treated differently.

I purchased a Groupon to come here. $ 12 for $ 20 worth of food, so $ 8 savings, which is basically one order of something. Expect to spend more on top of the $ 20 bucks for a party of two. I made a reservation for Friday night at 6:30pm. It wasn’t too busy but by the time we left, the place was full but still no lineup.
I definitely enjoyed the ramen salad as there aren’t many Japanese places which serve it. It’s always refreshing as ramen noodles and fresh lettuce is not usually something we think about when ramen comes to mind. Also the fish is fresh and delicious. The negitoro ooshi sushi melted in my mouth. House roll was great with eel and fried onions. Yum. Fried onions taste good on anything so, why not sushi? It seems like the nigiri balls are more of a novelty and that you don’t get as much fish as a regular rectangle but my wife thought it was cute. Ah, just realized she fell for it! I’m actually surprised other restaurants don’t copy the ball style.

Going back for the daily temari! I love this place. Atmosphere is so pretty, clean and not too loud. Everyone was really friendly too.

Itadakimasu is the place to go for good food and a chill setting! The servers are all Japanese and they have the best service :) It’s a bit pricier compared to other izakayas but they have a really good deal with the groupon! The Tuna Tataki was crusted with shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 chili pepper) so it had a hint of pepperiness and heat. It came with little cubes of ponzu jelly on a spoon. I tried the jelly by itself and it was really strong! It was sour and slightly salty but it actually went very well with the tuna. I liked this dish because I thought the ponzu jelly was interesting.

What an awesome discovery! I really enjoyed my meal here. The menu has much to offer. I tried the tuna tataki, the corn and pumpkin croquette, chicken karaage and the butter udon with roe. All were tasty and well made. The tuna tataki came with gelatin cubes of soy sauce which was different. I loved the corn and pumpkin croquette. It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The butter udon with roe was really good. Not fishy at all. The only negative I would say is the chicken karaage wasn’t as crispy and as well seasoned as some other places make it. Their drinks menu is also good with a wide range of cocktails and beer specials. Service was quick despite the large-​ish group of 10 people. I definitely will be back!

It’s a very quaint little place. I like the interior décor. My food was good, though they were out of the salad I wanted. They don’t offer brown rice, which is a bummer. Get with the times! The menu is quite original. I’d be tempted to go back and try the fries and tempura.

This is another gem I have recently found. Went here on a Tuesday evening around 8PM, wasn’t relatively busy. This place is a authentic izakaya on Main Street next to the Reef. The service was good and all the waitresses are Japanese and were very good at describing unfamiliar items on the menu.
We ordered
— lotus chips ⁴⁄₅ (tasted like lays potatato chip)
–beef tataki ⁴⁄₅ (kinda on the dry side)
–tuna tataki (⁵⁄₅) no complaints here
–nigiri balls (sashimi wrapped in balls of rice) — we got these for the novelty and they were good =) ⁵⁄₅
–Tako Wasabi ⁴⁄₅ although the nori were thinnly sliced making it hard to hold without the tako falling out.
I would definitely recommend going back =)

I was off put initially by the server going to take that came after us first, and taking 15 min to get so us; however the food made up for it. Definitely a contender against Kishimoto as far as high end izakaya goes. The potato Tornado rocked, the mentai butter udon was phenomenal, and the house roll was a great surprise. Cheese chikuwa was also perfect, and not over priced. I’d go again.

I’ve been here twice now and I gotta say it’s pretty good. As far as izakayas go the Guu’s are still my favorite but this is pretty close. It’s a small little place on Main St by King Ed. The servers are nice and polite and the place is clean. We’ve had the negitoro oshi sushi, the smoked salmon oshi and sashimi salad which were ok, but the tuna tacos, beef tataki, yams fries, chicken karaage and geso karaage were really good. Especially the tuna tacos and beef tataki. I also like the fact that it’s not downtown cuz I hate going downtown these days with parking and stuff. This is a pretty cool place… check it out :)

Love love love it!
This is a great place for an izakaya (as opposed to the ones gathered downtown). Love the service, the quality of food, the menu items! It was really busy with many «reserved» signs on tables when we arrived at just passed 6.
We got the dragon roll, the saba oshi sushi, the mentaiko udon, the geso karaage, and the takowasa. Everything was delicious. The rolls at first glance seem pricier than normal, however they are big rolls! My husband and I barely finished everything on the table; we were super full.
Will definitely come again!

Some of the best sushi we’ve had since visiting Japan. Great prices… Try the beef tongue and the seafood fried rice. My favorite is the spicy negitoro oishi sushi
The servers are friendly, but when we went with a group they refused to separate our bill, a bit of a nightmare when trying to pay.
Will go back for sure!

This place is very quaint but the location is sorta hard to get to, especially by transit. Anyways, I came here for the ball sushi and they were interesting to eat but nothing special. The quality of the fish was quite good though so I would come back sometime if I wanted to show a friend something unique!
The agedashi tofu was quite good too as it came with three flavours I believe. The make your own sushi set was decent but I prefer the one at SUIKA, but I believe that SUIKA has stopped serving their DIY sushi set… Anyways, the food is fairly decent and affordable so I would probably come back if somebody were to drive haha.

I’ve come here a few times and even though it has the name ‘Izakaya’ in it’s name, it doesn’t have a lively feel everytime I’ve been here. It’s a very basic restaurant once you enter, everything is in dark colors, from the tables to the chairs, if your here at night, the place can put a snooze to you due to the lighting as well. As for menu and food, this is your standard izakaya thinking, small items to be shared amongst your table, and maybe some drinks to go along with that food. So the story of my eating here begins.
The last time I was here, we ended up ordering a bowl of oden and their in-​house bi-​bim-​bap, these two dishes were pretty good, nothing overly amazing, but very satisfying on the palate. The bi-​bim-​bap was a little wait, if you want a good crisp on the bottom, but the presentation was there, coming to our table in a tiny stone bowl, and the wattress mixing it up in front of our faces, while the smoke rises from this dish, be patient people, let it cook in a bit more before you go nuts tearing this up. The oden itself was average, the star of the oden was the wrapped mochi pocket, cause anything mochi for my dear, and she will crumble like goo… as this is her comfort food! You did good on this day.
The last time I was here, prior to the most recent visit, my party ended up ordering the tako-​wasabi, and this was not as good, or what I was expecting as places I have been to. The octopus pieces where cut in big pieces, and the whole sauce part was off, with only a hint of wasabi flavour, it was — fishy, maybe from the freshness (or un) of the octopus used. The edamame was a little oversteamed, where most of them were soft, tasting like something you would do at home with a bag of frozen ones from the fridge, and overcooking them. The bi-​bim-​bap was still the star of the show, as we ordered one, also, didn’t want to leave too hungry, we had a dish of the assorted sashimi. The sashimi dish wasn’t a wow dish, a little pricier than what I expected for what we got, as others that have reviewed this place have said, it’s an izakaya, don’t come for the sushi! We also ordered a grilled fish on this day, which went down quite well.
Out of both my experiences, I would average this place a 3.5 stars. If your looking for something different, please come here, as you won’t have to deal with the crowds at Zakkushi across the street, and you can probably carry a conversation better here than there. In some ways there is a generic nature to this place, not really having an identity does not help this place. The service was a little slow on both occasions, but there is really only one person up front on both times this place was pretty quiet. Something as a go to item, some specialty might help them define themselves, as for now it’s just an izakaya with not much identity.
At least this place has some good beer specials, and a tv that is playing sports… a plus in terms of izakaya’s on Main street!

I’ve only been here once and plan on going back. This place is relatively new I believe. The waitresses were all super cute, super friendly and Japanese — that’s a pretty good sign in a Japanese restaurant.
The food is what I would expect from Izakaya — smallish (like tapas) delicious food to go along with whatever you’re drinking. I didn’t feel up for a drink but got a Japanese style pizza (deep fried rice with sashimi on top) for about $ 8. It was actually a bit bigger and more loaded with fish than I expected, a nice surprise.
I also got a couple toro nigiri, as this is my «test» at sushi restaurants to see how well the fish quality is. Itadakimasu definitely passed! The fish was fresh, and melted in my mouth just as it should.
Next time I’ll come back with more friends, more money and a bigger appetite.

Itadakimasu round two! Looking for shelter on a rainy Saturday night, my SO and I spotted Itadakimasu and thought we’d give it a second try. The place was packed so we sat at the bar, where we were presented with 4 menus each (regular menu, house specials, daily specials, and drinks) — they had definitely expanded their selections since our first visit!
We narrowed down our options to the Tuna Tacos, Pork Belly Bao Buns, Sukiyaki with Udon, and Okonomiyaki. The tuna tacos were PERFECTION. Crispy taco shells, fresh tuna tataki, slaw, and a mayo-​based sauce — this one was a winner. Pork belly buns were another hit, with delicate buns and crispy pork, om nom nom. Sukiyaki came out piping hot, a mixture of beef, vegetables, udon and broth, while it did not blow me away it was just the comfort food I was craving. Finally the okonomiyaki was a bit of a miss for both of us — slightly undercooked, and topped with too much sauce, mayo, and bonito for our liking — I’d skip this one next time.
Accompanying my meal I enjoyed a really tasty gin fizz. I might have even had a second one (or dessert for that matter) if the waiter ever came back to my table to ask, but sadly he did not. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity I finally flagged him down and asked for the bill instead. Up until this point the service had been friendly though.
Overall the hits far outweighed the misses. I’ll be back to try some of their other dishes, and perhaps another order of the kimchi udon that I enjoyed so much on my first visit.

Good izakaya place off Main x King Ed. Nice option to have in this neighbourhood.
Everything that I ate was good, it’s new enough to not require a reservation and they had lots of drink specials.
My favourite item was probably the mentaiko butter udon. Sooo creamy, if only it had just a bit more mentaiko flavour.
The bi-​bim-​bomb came smoking hot, it actually almost burned the rice and rendered the beef into sort of a jerky-​like texture. Tasty, a bit spicy.
The tuna tataki tacos were über messy to eat, but it was fresh & bursting with flavours & textures. Crunchy, spicy, coleslaw, citrusy.
I liked the chikuwa cheese with bacon. Four big tubes of fried fish cake stuffed with melty cheese & chewy bacon bits. Yum.
Couldn’t resist the Cute Temaki Sushi set — 10 for $ 12, ours came with smoked salmon, wild salmon, tako, ebi, 2 tunas, tamago, beef tataki and a hamachi. Cute little balls of sushi, it’s photo-​worthy!
The accoustics are such that you will be able to hear many conversations around you in this room. They also have a shoes-​off tatami section at the front of the restaurant.

Cute tongue twister Izakaya that will continue to improve.
They’ve only been open for a month so kinks are still being worked out. Servers were all friendly Japanese gals.
Menu was pretty similar to Suika’s with a few twists. Here’s what we had:
Japanese Caesar salad — wicked texture mix with the seaweed and puffed rice
Tuna Tacos — Though I liked the crispy fried shell, it made it hard to eat and the sauce needed more zing
Takoyaki Balls — Average. Too doughy tasting
Corn & Veggie Kakiage — Wee bit soggy and doughy
Tuna Tataki — Generous portion of tuna, but more work needs to be done on the sauce
Not a bad start. I’ll let them season a bit but will return.

Another new restaurant opened on Main Street. I found all 6 Unilocalers review are rated 5-​star, therefore, I really want to try it. When we walked in, the impression was clean and modern cozy Japanese Restro. Wall picture is nice and décor is simple.
We took some time to check out the menu as well on Unilocal pictures, we really want to try everything. Service was excellent and the staffs were friendly. The waiter briefly explained to us most popular items on the menu and waiting for us to decide what to order.
Finally, we ordered few things to share:
Pork belly bao buns — Just like a mini bun, pork belly so tender and juicy. Delicious.
Tuna Tacos — Very creative and presentable! Taste good.
Ebi Mayo — Crispy prawns with crunchy pop rice and chili mayo! Amazing!
Tuna Tataki — Crusted tuna with ponzu jelly! Taste fresh and perfect matched with ponzu jelly.
Beef Tataki — they used AAA beef for tataki, yummy!
Cute Temari sushi box — 10 kinds of sushi in ball shape. All sushi are cute, but, the ball just a bit too big.
Matcha and chocolate mousse — Soft and smooth. Must try if you still have room for dessert.
I’m glad to have a tapas place in the area, and I’ll definitely be back. I would suggest to call for rsvn and make sure there’s seating available on weekend.