Izu Authentic Japanese Restaurant

After a morning of pampering at a coffee spa day morning at Levo spalon, the girls and I headed next door to run a few errands at South Point. While there we decided to grab a bite from somewhere different and headed over to a little Japanese place we'd seen hiding in plain sight on the 2^nd floor. It’s definitely an unassuming hole in the wall, but, like its name claims, it’s authentic from the seating to the food. There’s not much in the way of ambiance, it actually reminded me of quite a few hidden Ethiopian gems from Nairobi with its mounted flat screen showing terrible soap operas.

Photo credit

Trying to keep ordering to a minimum when there is sushi available is a feat which I regularly fail and this time was no different. I ended up with two sushi rolls

Red Dragon salmon and tuna roll

Philly roll with green roe topping

I was a bit surprised to see the non-traditional Philadelphia roll with cream cheese and salmon on the menu as it is to authentic Japanese food as fortune cookies are to traditional Chinese cuisine. The green roe topping was also unexpected, but a pleasant addition. The Red Dragon roll was a different than I have had in the past, with an unanticipated layer of cream cheese and alternating salmon and tuna toppings. In this case, change was good and, despite the plans to pack some for takeaway, I quickly scarfed down both rolls. 

Happy diner!

The girls ordered a salmon butter fry bento box, vegetable croquettes, and a spinach sesame salad, all to rave reviews and expressive finger kisses. The bento box came with a salmon cutlet, salad, and miso soup and is highly recommended by our hungry Russian. She loved the sweet sauce and suggests mixing the rice and other veggies with its remnants post ravaging of the salmon cutlet. 

Veggie croquettes

Our only complaint would be that there is not a lot of options in the way of drinks, they don’t serve fresh juices or alcohol but you can get fresh lime soda, tea, and canned drinks. Regardless, we will most definitely be back; signs throughout the restaurant boosted a 10% discount on sushi and sushi bento boxes on Sundays, giving us a good excuse to return and try something different. See you there!