If you’ve been to Japan, you’re probably familiar with izakayas — rowdy bars filled with (mostly) men blowing off steam after a hard day’s work, and for some, oftentimes, conducting business deals fuelled by sake and whisky long into the night. Small plates of food are on offer to counterbalance the overindulgence of libations; the rooms are loud, smoky, and in some cases, like the Golden Gai izakayas in the Shinjuku district, so small they hold only four to six people. The food is…interesting.
Portion of a menu from an izakaya in Tokyo.
In Edmonton, we now have two izakayas, and both greatly differ from each other. Izakaya Tomo was the first to open (on 99 Street) and now Ikki Izakaya recently opened on Jasper and 119 Street. Ikki is half the size and offers half the amount of food and drink. The space is slightly industrial with enough modern touches to make it a classy and comfortable—except for the whicker stools that are not comfortable in the least. If you go, fight for a seat on the padded bench.
There is a respectable offering of sake, and a small amount of shochu (a distilled spirit) and cocktails. Beer fans will find the ho-hum Asahi and Sapporo ($7 each) as well as the more interesting and more expensive Hitachino white ale and Hitachino espresso ($9.95). If you focus on the sake, you may well find yourself long into the night— doors close at 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 p.m. Sunday and midnight, Tuesday to Thursday.
As far as the food goes, we found the dishes either hit or miss the mark.
The hits:
Tuna Tartar – chopped tuna, avocado & apple served w/ spring roll chips $9.99. Diced and seasoned tuna with avocado and surprising little pieces of crispy apple. Nice touch. You’ll need to spoon the tartar on to those chips, though, because one poke into the tuna pile and your chip shatters.
Beef Tataki – thinly sliced mid-rare beef w/ citrus ponzu sauce $12.75 The rare beef is sliced a little on the thick side, topped with pickled onions and rests in a mild ponzu. Beautiful presentation.
Spicy Chicken Wings with honey sriracha sauce $7.80. Unlike other bars where chicken wings usually come deep-fried, these are baked, judging by the texture.
Takoyaki – grilled octopus dumplings $6.99 Not so much a dumpling, as a deep fried ball that resembles the Italian arancini. The bonito flakes add a touch of flare and a hit of smokiness. The dish could benefit from less sauce.
The misses:
Each sushi roll comes with a one ounce sake pour for $15. (Top) Crispy Spicy Tuna Roll – spicy tuna, crispy onion, jalapeno, shichimi spices, and (bottom) Ultimate Shrimp Roll – tempura shrimp, avocado, shrimp, tobiko. Both suffered from overcooked rice and overpowering sauces.
Motsuni stew – the menu states this is “one of the most authentic izakaya foods in Japan”. It is slow cooked pork shocho with silky tofu, leek and ginger stewed in sweet mixed miso $7.75. The pork in this dish is intestine and try as I might, I just couldn’t get past the texture. The flavour was all there, but the last time I had intestine was in Paris, and that didn’t go over so well either. Sorry, intestines, it’s not me, it’s you.
Takowasabi – wasabi marinated octopus with wasabi stems $4.15. Octopus can be great, or, it can be miserably tough and chewy, and in this case, also muculent (there’s your million-dollar word for the day).
Shrimp Spring Roll – fresh veggies & shrimp served w/ creamy sesame sauce $6.85. These rolls are encased in a soft, rice paper wrapper (not deep-fried) and should be called “lettuce rolls with shrimp-in-there-somewhere”. Lovely sesame sauce, though.
Edamame $5.50. Again, a problem with over-saucing the food. What should be a satisfying snack both texturally and flavour-wise, these beans, instead, got lost in a bath of garlic and soy sauce.
I haven’t looked a gift horse in the mouth for a long time, and I’m embarrassed to do it now, but the yakitori chicken skewers brought to us as a bonus, failed to garner the compliments that may have been expected. I don’t know what they’re doing to their chicken behind that curtain, but both the wings and these pieces had an unexpectedly soft (more squishy than tender) texture, and yes, more saucy sauce.
And finally, the deep-fried creamy corn croquettes $8.25. Half of us didn’t mind the soft consistency (it did say “creamy” after all), half of us did. The slaw was a nice addition, but that sauce under and on the croquettes…someone in the kitchen has a sauce fetish.
The best part about this izakaya is the sake; the food needs improvement. So, if you go, order some tuna tartar to go with a shot or six of rice wine, try some shochu, get loud, come up with some crazy business idea, and take a cab home.
Check Ikki’s Facebook page for specials. More details about the food can be heard here on CBC Edmonton AM.