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Isao (Japanese)


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Ms Vampy and I have been ordering from here for quite some time (Chef's Xpress), but have never made the trek to actually eat there.

 

Big mistake. Only maybe 10% of the menu is on there. And not even the good 10%.

 

My #2 Tiger Cub is in town, on break from her nursing school studies in the States. She loves Japanesefood -- almost as much as I -- so we decided to hit it.

 

Isao is a homage to the famous Green Tea Sushi Bar in Chicago; and the namesake of the owner of said establishment. I'm told three Thai expat students, who also worked there, so fell in love with the man and his restaurant that they wanted to recreate it back home.

 

You can deffo tell this is a labour of love. Great decor, friendly staff, awesome menu -- tho' not 100% authentic Japanese, more American Sushi Japanese. And that's completely OK. No, it's great. Japanese chefs in America tend to be more creative and artsy IME.

 

Anyway, you're saying quit yappin' and get on with the food already. OK

 

We started off by celebrating the Cub's recent 20th b-day (picture me trying not to cry cuz that means I'm getting O-L-D-old :( )with oyster shooters: raw oyster with quail egg yolk and some spices swimming in cold sake (B220). Yummy!

 

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We proceeded with the Volcano, a scallop appetizer. It is baked in the shell, with so many flavours (chili, sesame, hoi-sin, sugar, salt, +++) as to make it indescribable. A must do dish. Yes, it really does look like a mini-volcano. B250

 

They have the normal sushi-ya menu of all the normal rolls, nigiri and sashami (serve of *very* nice salmon nigiri, B150). But the delight is the special rolls, like the Dragon (eel, avacado, cucumber, B390)

 

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and the Jackie (prawn and more prawn, B390),

 

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all artfully done.

 

We also had the Chicago Crazy Spicy roll (kind of a deluxe spicy tuna, B295), a seaweed Salad (B100), Edamame (B50), and a Kani Cream Korokke (cheesy krab croquette, B140). All were very good and well presented. And way more than we could eat LOL!

 

For drinks I had Singha (B85/ea) and the Cub had iced green tea (B50 for unlimited supply).

 

This is the kind of place I've been missing here. I used to love going into a nice shshi place in the States and ask the chef to "make me something pretty!" (If you're in Vegas, find Chef Michael at Osaka and ask him that -- you won't be disappointed!) Next time I come to Isao, I'll do just that and see what they come up with. Should be fun!

 

Isao is on Suk soi 31, just past Bella Napoli on the same side of the street. Very small, so I'd recommend reservations for more than two on weekends anyway.

 

Cheers,

SD

 

PS -- this is a bit of a hiso-ish place, so you'll not want to bring a "non-citified" gal here.

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All the prices were there, if you could add...I thought it was only spelling you had trouble with :neener: !

 

B2275 plus tip -- we ordered waaaayyy to much, at least enough for three, so figure ~B700-800/head in reality and worth every satang. BTW, this is one of the few places anymore that does NOT include the 10% service charge (I like that).

 

AM: a normal serve of nigiri sushi (that's the slice of fish on top of rice, not a roll) is two pieces.

 

Cheers,

SD

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