Izakaya Ju

Had the day off today, so Edward and I went for dinner at Izakaya Ju. For those who have never been to an izakaya, it's meant to be a drinking establishment and Japanese tapas restaurant in one. No alcohol for us, but we did order a bunch of different dishes to share. It was Edward's first time trying an izakaya, but I've been here once before, so I made an effort to try different things from last time.
Uni sashimi
Hamachi sashimi
Hotate mentai
Ikura and salmon gohan
They were offering a few specials today, one of which was uni, or sea urchin. I love, love, love uni but a lot of Japanese restaurants don't offer it, so I knew I had to order it when I saw it here. It's fairly expensive at $10 for three pieces, but so worth it. Fresh and creamy smooth, almost melt-in-your-mouth, with a slight sweetness; they're incredibly addictive. It was Edward's first time trying sea urchin, and even he said he could eat a whole plate full on its own. We also got an order of yellowtail sashimi, three pieces for $9, which is also on the expensive end, but they come in thick slabs and are exceptionally fresh and soft and meaty. We ordered another special dish off one of their other separate menus, which was diced scallop sashimi with mentai, which adds a nice spicy kick to the otherwise sweet and fleshy scallops. I thought it was pretty good, but for $8, I thought the portion was quite small and probably wouldn't be inclined to order it again. To round out our "sashimi" dishes, we ordered the ikura and salmon gohan, which is soy marinated salmon roe and salmon sashimi on rice. It's quite similar to chirashi but using only salmon roe and salmon sashimi instead of whatever leftover sashimi the restaurant has. Simple, fresh, tasty, and surprisingly not too heavy despite the amount of rice they use.
Premium Wagyu beef skewer
Beef tongue
Pork belly skewer
The other three dishes we ordered can basically be categorized under "cooked meat." We decided on the premium Wagyu beef skewer, the beef tongue, and the pork belly skewer. If you ever come here and the Wagyu beef is available, order it. It is so good, so tender, and so perfectly marbled with fat. The beef tongue and pork belly are exactly as you'd expect them to be, but there's something very satisfying in eating something that is dependably good. I do wish we had ordered something with more carbs in it, though, like their signature Osaka Cha-Han (octopus fried rice). I thought the ikura and salmon gohan would be enough, but we were just under the border of being full even after all these dishes. So that's my tip to you, if you're actually coming here for a meal and not just a snack.
Rich custard pudding
Digging into the rich custard pudding
We decided to finish off our meal with one of the desserts (which is listed on one of the many posters on the wall), and picked the rich custard pudding. It's like their version of panna cotta: Rich and creamy and flecked with vanilla bean seeds. What was surprising, though, was the espresso at the bottom of the bowl, a positively delightful element to an otherwise predictable dessert. The bittersweet flavour adds a lovely depth to the mild sweetness of the pudding and totally elevates it from being good to fantastic (at least, if you're like me and love coffee). Izakaya Ju is a very small restaurant, but I think the full house on a Tuesday night in January can attest to its popularity. Fair warning, though: Be prepared to spend money here. The dishes add up, and it was $75 for just the two of us tonight. Service was, again, really nice and pleasant and more efficient than last time, but still on the slow side. I guess it doesn't matter what day you go on, because they'll only have two servers for the whole floor and that's it. I suppose, to be fair, there isn't much more space in there to fit a third server, anyway. Guu still reigns supreme in this city, but Ju is a great place to try when you don't want to make the trek downtown. I've actually found I prefer it to the louder, more raucous atmospheres down there, anyway.

Izakaya Ju 3160 Steeles Avenue East Markham, ON L3R 4G9 (905) 474-1058