Shibuya Izakaya

So... from what I gather, an "Izakaya" is a Japanese drinking establishment that serves tapas style food for sharing. So you pile in with your work buddies, drink some beers or sake, and mow down on tempura, sushi, tataki, BBQ squid, and oysters... or at least, that's what my co-workers do. We frequent Shibuya quite a bit. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are oyster nights (and coincidentally, our days off) so you can get $1.25 oysters in servings of 6. They come with ponzu sauce, sliced green onions, and lemons for squeezing.

Shibuya does have that lounge atmosphere. There is at least somewhat of an open kitchen, sports on the TV and loud tables of families and friends downing sake. Usually there are pop beats playing in the background, but on this particular night the music wavered between Akon and........... Christmas music. We never did figure out why....

The sushi isn't the shining star here, but it's passable. We ordered the Spider Roll, which featured deep fried soft shelled crab, and the Unagi Melody Roll, which has big slices of freshwater eel, topped with avocado and fish roe. Inside is the crispiness that can only be tempura flakes. Pictured here is the Unagi Melody Roll, with some other small roll I can't remember. I didn't get a good picture of the Spider Roll due to lighting issues.

The lighting made it hard to take good pictures, but the biggest obstacle of all was my co-workers trying to stick their hands and fingers and chopsticks into every picture I tried to take! Oh, the plight of the budding food blogger! Nobody understands our compulsive photography and obsessive restaurant selection.... I even got criticized for having an undeveloped palate, of all things! ... because I didn't know the BBQ squid was in a teriyaki sauce. I didn't think I liked teriyaki sauce, but it is so tasty with the BBQ squid at Shibuya. Many people I talk to say the BBQ squid is better at Globefish, but I prefer it at Shibuya.

Another thing we always order at Shibuya is the tataki. They offer salmon, tuna and beef tataki. I opted out of the beef this time, but gladly participated in the tuna.

I had heard that the Black Cod at Shibuya was awesome, so I had to try it this time. Suprizingly, it has sort of a maple syrup taste to it, but it is cooked and flavoured nicely and I would order it again.

 It was fun to capture this restaurant that my co-workers and I frequent so often. It's not the best of the best, if you are looking for sushi, but it is affordable, tasty and fun - highly recommended. Why else would we keep going back?

Shibuya Izakaya
453 16th Ave NW
403-277-8823