The Sushi at Icho Izakaya made me forget I was in Phoenix.
The fish is fresh and prepared by a masterful artist. While a little more expensive compared to other places they make up for it with the flavor, freshness, and quality. My wife and I have loved eating at Icho and will go 1 - 3 times a week. I really enjoyed their grilled food, their curry udon, and their tuna and tuna belly. My wife enjoys the different type of soup "specials" (Like clam, fish, vegetable soup, etc) and all of the varieties of fish and ramen they have. Overall Icho is hands down the best Sushi restaurant I have had in Phoenix.
This place has been on my radar for a while. The menu looks like the typical Phoenix izakaya-but-not-actually-an-izakaya hodgepodge of Japanese dishes popular with Americans, but yeah, I got the sense that these waters might run a little deeper. Need to get over there and check it out. Thanks for the heads up, Cohkin!
Yea it's typical but not typical at the same time. The owner (Shaun) has lots of specials that pop up. (Like squid or oyster yakitori) or sweet shrimp (still crawling when we got there!) and the sushi chef (also Shaun) is well versed in Japanese and Chinese cuisine. So he often will have secret specials of things he can make (my wife loves his clam soup, which is very Asian in its hearty broth and simple ingredients) that you can ask about. I would love to hear your thoughts if you get to go! My wife and I are probably going to be there again tonight!
I'm going to have to give this another try at some point, Cohkin.
Sounds like Nikki Buchanan had an experience similar to yours. She just gave Icho a rather glowing review in the latest issue of Phx Mag.
When I went about a month ago, I got ovoid lumps of rice compressed to the density of a neutron star (hyperbole) and bones in my sashimi (not hyperbole).
Literally, bones.
I'll be very curious to hear how others' experience is. They were pretty slammed and I'm open to the possibility that it was a very, very (very) rough night.
