This restaurant is just a great concept gone terribly wrong. An "izakaya" is to the Japanese what a pub is to the Irish - lots of drinking with affordable, casual bites on the side. The atmosphere is supposed to be relaxed and rowdy with the after work crowd drinking their day's stress away! It should be so crowded, you're constantly rubbing shoulders with the next table. But this restaurant took the casual style of the cuisine and repackaged it into an expensive and way less delicious version of the original. Being Asian, I really take offense at the capitalizing of such eccentric rituals, especially by the food industry. By elevating the izakaya into a posh dining establishment, the essence of the ritual is lost. It's now just a theme park version of the real thing. The noodles, which I looked forward to, was a total disappointment as well - overly salty soup; regular noodles; scant pieces of meat. Guess this is what you get when posh replaces comfort.

The restaurant looks small from the entrance, but the restaurant is very large in of itself. The atmosphere is post-modern chic and the service is good. There food selection is rather limited as well. This is the first japanese restaurant that doesn't serve sushi or raw fish of any kind. Their main courses include japanese curry and soba, udon, and ramen noodles. Their curry dishes were awful - it tasted like curry made from a packet served with a bowl of rice and a chicken cutlet! Sooo bland. I ordered the yaki soba dish - and it was 'just ok'.

Some dishes stood out and tasted very good - but overall, there wasn't anything remotely special about their food (except for the dried fish flakes that looked alive on your platter) . The prices are definitely a little bit more expensive than your average japanese restaurant. I wouldn't go back. Another thing is that they pre-charge tip service on your bill. I don't know of any restaurants that do that, but I don't think that should happen because you can get crap service and still be forced to pay a standard 15%.