The Dens: A Face Off

So, two weeks ago, I visited the recently opened Izakaya Den on Pearl Street. I had been once before, and while I had been impressed, some of the dishes ordered that night would not have been my first choices so I was eager to return. My mom and I went on a Saturday night, arriving at the very uncool hour of 6:30 pm. We figured this was early enough to avoid a wait. We were wrong. Thankfully, we found two seats near the door immediately and waited patiently for an hour.

We were eventually seated at the sushi bar and given a delicious Amuse Bouche of Japanese Cucumber in Rice Vinegar. Great start to the meal. For dinner, we ordered a selection of different dishes. We started with the Japanese Miso Eggplant. I had tried this the first time and really liked it. Once again, I enjoyed it, though my mom was not quite a fan. From there, we moved onto the Japanese Mediterranean side of the menu. That's the thing with this restaurant that makes it different from it's famous sister, Sushi Den- it's a fusion between Japanese and Mediterranean food. Sounds weird? It can be! Our first venture onto this side of the menu proved to be the highlight. The Sweet Pea Soup with Lobster and Chili Aoli was heaven. It was perfect in taste, temperature and texture. Unreal. I didn't want it to end. Next, and I might add, rapidly, we were served the Kombucha and Sake Marinated Chicken salad with lettuce mélange, avocado, cucumber, and orange, with a honey-scallion vinaigrette. The chicken was warm over the greens, heating them slightly, and making the salad delicious in a very different way than expected. We both really enjoyed this, and were ever hopeful that the rest of the meal would continue to be just as good. We didn't have to wait long to find out. The service was so speedy, not spaced out as the waiter had promised, and we were getting quite the build up of dishes between us. Inconvenient in that the space was limited and we did want some time to pace ourselves. Oh well! We ordered a bit of sushi, just to switch up the temperatures and tastes of the foods we were eating, and were passed a piece each of Yellowtail and Salmon Roe. Both were incredible. The Yellowtail almost felt like it was melting in my mouth. We also ordered the Red Dragon Roll. I didn't ask what was on it, and that was completely my fault. It was so spicy I thought my mouth was on fire. I now know why it's called Red- FIRE!! We finished the meal with the most disappointing part of the night, the Den Tapas Trio with Hoisin Duck Crostini, Salmon Roulade and Tenderloin with Edamame and Watermelon salad. The Hoisin Duck was sticky sweet on a ridiculously sized piece of stale bread. The Salmon Roulade was almost inedible, drowning in so much cream and goo that you couldn't even taste the fish. As for the Tenderloin, it was a dry piece of grilled meat with absolutely no spice added to it. To say we were disappointed in this dish would be an understatement.

We left full, but definitely not overwhelmingly excited about the meal. Parts were good, namely the heavenly soup. I'd go back just for that- and the sushi.

Which brings me to the faceoff between the two Dens. This past Saturday, I went with a group of friends to Sushi Den. When we arrived on Pearl Street, I picked up buzzers from both Sushi and Izakaya Den, secretly praying that the Sushi one would go off first. Hallelujah, it did! We had just finished the most incredible Calamari available anywhere at Black Pearl (a write-up for another day!), and the black disk started going crazy. I ran over to the restaurant to secure our table. While waiting for the rest of the group, I did tell the host about the awful Tapas Trio I had sampled the week before. Someone needed to know! Anyway, he was wonderful about the feedback, thanked me, and then took us to our table upstairs.

I didn't do the ordering that night, so my kudos must go out to Kristen. She picked some incredible dishes. We started with the Miso marinated broiled Black Cod, and it was sweet and delicious and wonderful. Next, Dynamite followed, and unlike some that are so creamy you can't handle it, this was just the right balance. I ordered a Miso soup since I've always thought theirs was the best in town, what with all the wonderful mushrooms added. Then it was onto the sushi. We had Tuna, Salmon, and Yellowtail. The boring basics some might say. But each piece was so very fresh and delicious, they almost taste like a different fish from other places. Now, I have to admit- at this point in the meal, the massive amount of alcohol I had been consuming since 11 in the morning kicked in, and I can't for the life of me tell you what rolls we had. But they were good, really good, I do know that. It was the Kentucky Derby. Bourbon kills the memory.

After leaving the restaurant full and satisfied, I decided that while Izakaya is beautiful inside and different in concept from any other restaurant I've been to, I'll stick with what I know is heavenly and top of the town for a reason. Sushi Den wins! Now, I can only hope they will start serving the Sweet Pea soup and save me the walk across the street!