Iru Izakaya

via Libro

5.0

Excellent service & nourriture incroyable!
Design très réussi

via Libro

5.0

Ambiance extraordinaire...bonne bouffe & service impeccable. À découvrir !

via Libro

5.0

Adore ma première visite. Menu très varié. Le saumon à la torche est délicieux. Belle ambiance. J'y retournerai dans faute.

via Libro

1.5

I went on opening night. Some hiccups were expected, but this experience was barely acceptable.

I reserved for 9pm & arrived promptly at that time. I was seated ahead of another couple who was there before me. My brother was late & arrived at 9:15. No one had yet come to see me to offer water or otherwise. At 9:20, I considered calling the restaurant as we were unable to flag any waiter or waitress down (not for lack of trying).

My brother finally caught someone's attention. We advised her that we had not received any sign of a waiter till this point, not even water. She apologized & indicated she would get us water & asked if we were ready to order.

We ordered age tofu, takoyaki & karaage to start, as well 1L of beer to share. The waitress confirmed the order & asked if the beer was to be split. I confirmed. She brought water.

By 9:45, we still had not gotten any beer. Our food arrived. The couple seated after me left. We flagged another employee to ask about our beer. Our waitress returned at 9:55 with a large 1L tankard of beer. She belatedly brought 2 glasses & tried to pour from the tankard to the glasses, spilling most of the beer on the floor. She said she would return with a new glass. She never returned.

The tofu was firm, not soft as it should be. Either overcooked or they used hard tofu. It was not good. It was severely overpriced at 12$ for 5 pieces of about 1.5x2x2cm.

The karaage (12$) was underwhelming, not juicy, seemed like something you could buy at the supermarket.

The takoyaki was good, but contained very little meat & was overpriced (13$ before tax & tip for 5 pieces).

At this point, around 10:10 someone finally came to see us to ask us about our experience without us having to flag anyone down. It was the only highlight up till then.

We provided feedback as above. She told us that the couple who left had similar complaints to us & asked for our understanding as it was opening night, that it wasn't their intention for us to be neglected. She asked if there was anything she could do to make our visit more pleasant. We requested for beer as our beer was on the ground. She removed the beer com our bill & gave us 2 pints for the trouble.

My brother wanted to try more items on the menu to better judge the food. While waiting for our waitress to return, we received a tuna tartare plate that we did not order, & that did not seem on the menu. The head chef, Van, came to see us to describe the plate as it we not on the menu & was on the house. The vinaigrette was good. The tuna was tasty, but still had freezer taste as though not having been defrosted for long enough. Still good though.

The room was less crowded when we placed our next order, consisting of yakiniku & ikayaki. The chicken was a good portion & was at a good price point at 10$ for 2 large skewers. It was decently tasty. The ika was delicious, the outside perfectly cooked. The inside was undercooked, but understandable for the opening night with tweaks to be made. It was still the best dish till then, but pricy at 15$.

We were offered a yuzu verrine for dessert to make up for our experience. It was delicious.

We waited for our bill, but ended up having to flag someone down again to get it done. We left at 11:45.

I would have given a 1-star review after our first round of orders, but the second round was redeeming enough for 3 stars. However, did the service become better because we complained? It seemed that other tables were being adequately served by the staff.

Regardless of my initial misgivings, given that one of the managers was receptive to our feedback, I am open to returning in a few weeks or months to try it again. I may change my rating then.