I am very glad that I found Ichiza, based upon the recommendations of my friends. I only eat here very late at night, just before they are closing. I usually walk in somewhere between 1:30 and 2am. I am consistently impressed with the uniqueness and freshness of their food. I like to order from the haphazardly posted "specials" all over the walls. Every thing I have eaten here was a tasty and near-perfect little morsel.
The menu items are VERY eclectic, and things which I have never seen at other restaurants. Surprising choices like broiled eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella; and British sausages with chips, (which have no place on a Japanese menu) are absolutely simple and delicious. Nonetheless they are simply prepared, with delicious and fresh ingredients which make the flavors "pop".
More traditional but still difficult to obtain menu options like grilled salmon collar, monkfish pate, stir-fried beef tongue, and wild mushrooms "en papillote", are similarly delicious. I have eaten so many different things from the "specials" menu that I don't even eat the sushi here all that often.
Even their deserts are unique and delicious. Things like coffee jello are great because the coffee jello is strong flavored, but without a grain of sugar, while the fresh whipped cream on top has plenty of sweetness to carry through the entire desert. The soymilk mousse sounds bizzare, but tastes light and heavenly. The best desert has to be the block of white bread which is buttered and toasted and filled with a cold scoop of ice cream and drizzled with honey. Simple and decadent.
Since I eat here fairly frequently, I have signed up for their special discount card, which allows you to take 5% then 10% and (perhaps 15%?) off the entire bill, as you return to the restaurant more and more.
Pros: OPEN LATE!!!! Eclectic and delicious menu specials. Kirin Ichiban ON TAP! Loyalty discount card.
Cons: In a strip mall in Chinatown, stuck up on the second floor. Seems popular with younger crowd (if that's a turn off for you).
Ichiza Sake House
