Izakaya ŕ Suisha [Food/Vendor]

2012 May 22
Hi Foodies,

My name is Liz from C'est Japon ŕ Suisha Traditional Japanese Restaurant in Centretown. We are hosting a special night to showcase Japanese food beyond teriyaki, tempura, and sushi. The event is called Izakaya at Suisha and will be held for one night, Tuesday May 29th. Executive chef, Yamaguchi-san, will be preparing new dishes that reflect the full extent of Japanese cuisine. We will be suspending the regular menu for that night, and serving small plates and drink specials to share. We would love to have you share our event, and come by to give us a review! Please let me know if you'd like to reserve a table or if you have any other questions.
The link is here: www.japaninottawa.com/izakaya/
Thank you!

Liz

C'est Japon ŕ Suisha
208 Slater Street
(613) 236 9602
ottawasuisha@gmail.com

2012 May 22
This sounds amazing!! Real Izakaya instead of that rubbish BS that just opened on Elgin. I'm going to miss this event due to prior engagements. :*(

Is this something you'll be doing monthly?

2012 May 22
We're not sure what the plan is actually. It really depends on the success of the evening, whether there will be a repeat. There is a plan to set up a mailing list for those who wish to be notified if there will be another Izakaya night. Send us an email at ottawasuisha@gmail.com and I'll be happy to put you on the list. We promise and pinky swear that your information will not be used for any other purpose. =)

Liz

2012 May 22
I'd love to try real Izakaya! And I can make sure I'm free that evening.

But if it's all based on sharing small plates, going alone might not be the best idea. Any other Ottawa Foodies interested in joining me and sharing a table?

2012 May 23
It sounds appealing! I'd be interested in joining your table, Isabelle... pending spousal endorsement (which I can almost take for granted).

2012 May 23
Isabelle You can count me in!

2012 May 23
I sent an e-mail directly to the restaurant as I was looking for more details, see below for their reply. Might need that Ottawa foodies pin afterall ... Have to consult spouse re: children's soccer game Tues. night.

Liz from C'est Japon a Suisha Ottawa replied:
" There will be a menu to order off. The menu will have 25-30 sharing plates to choose from, and prices will range from $4-$15.
The menu is not finalized, but here are some items we've decided on:

Oshitashi – Spinach poached in dashi and sweet wine
Oden - Steamed Mix of traditional fish cake, daikon, and other items in a flavourful broth.
Mini Yakitori – Bite size chicken on a skewer grilled in teriyaki sauce
Oshizushi – Osaka style box-pressed sushi. Served with either Saba (Mackerel) or Anago (Sea Eel)
Mini “BAH-GAH” - Japanese Sliders served three ways
Ankimo – Monkfish Foie Gras.

As you can see, a lot of these items are hard to come by in Ottawa.
We are also happy to accommodate and dietary concerns in advance.
We hope to see your reservation soon."

2012 May 23
I got a reservation for 4 at 18:30 (6:30PM), with option of updating it to more if more people confirm.

So far we have :

Isabelle (confirmed)
Fresh Foodie + 1 (maybe)
Pasta lover (confirmed)
flexie (maybe)

Looking forward to an ottawa foodies evening!

2012 May 23
I've never tried izakaya style menu before. Count me in too:)

2012 May 23
Isabelle can you add me + one

2012 May 23
Had to miss the outing with foodies to Zaki chicken spot so i will definitely join you guys for Izakaya.

Add me (Frank) + one


2012 May 23
This sounds fantastic

2012 May 24
I've also been communicating with Liz from Suisha and she said they may be able to come up with a prix fixe menu for us. This would seem like an excellent choice, especially since there's already a large enough group that sharing plates might be kind of weird.

Isabelle, it will just be me. The reference to my wife was for permission rather than attendance. ;-) That said, I invited her but she graciously declined.

So far:

Isabelle
Fresh Foodie
Pasta lover
flexie (maybe)
Little foodista
Yan + 1
Triple D + 1

2012 May 24
Put me down as a maybe - will try and get confirmation tonight. It sounds amazing.

2012 May 24
Tempting, but I'm rather squeamish with regards to seafood and things like foie gras. If things go the prix-fixe route, I'd want to see a menu before committing to anything.

2012 May 24
Don't know if I can make it for 6:30 pm (kids soccer ...). Might have to go ahead without me or I'll join later. I have a friend who's supposed to come as well.

How did Zaki's go?

2012 May 24
Hi all,

Thank you so much for supporting our event!
I have revised Isabelle's reservation to accommodate 8 people.
Please note that if you do want a prix fixe menu, we will need all the details by Saturday noon.
That is, we will need to know the exact number of people, budget ($35-$50 is recommended),
and any dietary restrictions.
Again, I can answer questions on the forum, or by email: ottawasuisha@gmail.com

Thanks,
Liz

2012 May 24
Also,

For those who wish to make a separate reservation from the Ottawa Foodies group will have to choose to come at 5pm or after 8pm. We are all booked up for reservations between 6:30-8pm. I have arranged an area that will fit up to 15 people for Isabelle's group at 6:30pm, though you do not need to fill it up. Just let us know the number as soon as possible.

Thanks,
Liz

2012 May 24
flexie I think it's safe to say we all enjoyed our visit to Zaki. Comments are posted here: Forum - Anyone up for an OF meetup at Zaki Broasted Chicken and Grill? So far I have been to this one event and both potlucks and have had a great time so far. This izakaya sounds like a great experience - hope you can make it.

2012 May 24
It seems the little group has grown fast, that's great! Thanks for jumping in Fresh Foodie, I'm happy to defer organization to the leader of Ottawa Foodies ;-)

I'm a bit hesitant about the prix fixe menu, because those kinds of things tend to avoid the really adventurous options and stay in safe territory. I'll probably want to try the weirdest things on the menu, and would be sad to miss out on some things because they are not on our special menu. I want to try the monkfish liver, for example. And if there is anything with uni, I want it ;-)

Even if it ends up being many people in our group, nothing is stopping people from forming "sub-groups" with similar tastes for sharing plates. So 2 vegetarians could share plates together, 3 "nothing too weird" could share, and 4 "I'll try anything" could share. We still get to all chat together and see what the others are trying (and then maybe decide to order some of that too). I think it would work well.

2012 May 24
Yeah I'd be a fan of breaking out into smaller subgroups or even tables. I think plate-sharing -- like good conversation -- works best with 2 to 4 people.

OK, so let's plan to use subgroups instead of prix-fixe menus!

2012 May 24
Thanks to Isabelle and Fresh Foodie for your planning! I fall into the "I'll try anything" category and am willing to try anything once...

2012 May 24
Apologies if this shows up twice - not sure if my original post went through. I'm definitely in thanks to my wife's gracious hall pass. I will eat/try anything - the monk fish liver sounds awesome. I have no dietary restrictions, and hope I will suitable addition to any subgroup/table. I'm really looking forward to this. I think its one of the most interesting culinary events since cobra.

2012 May 24
I am a definitely maybe verging on a yes. will confirm by Sat.

I will eat / try almost anything.. not a huge fan of liver but have tried them on occassion. Think the only one I passed on is maybe brain.

I think when I was in nagoya for expo we went to a local restaurant off the beaten track where very little is spoken and we did not speak japanese. Had chicken 3 ways/types on a skewer and I think it was gizzard, chicken butt and something else... They were delicious.

2012 May 24
I am in favor of subgroups however i think that most of us are going to be open to anything. I am another if it sounds weird ill try it...going to Vietnam in December so i need to get used to everything. lol

See you all Tuesday!

2012 May 25
MEEEE!!! And while I won't try everything (ama ebi is still something I can't get myself to put in my mouth) I'll give it a fair go, trusting the chef.

And as I know the selection, I would be happy to share costs in a good bottle of junmai daiginjo saké. :)

Oh, this will be an expensive week, but I will NOT miss this!

2012 May 25
Foodies, looks like I can make it after all. As far as I can tell we're about 12-13 people. The list so far is:

Isabelle
Fresh Foodie
Pasta lover
flexie + 2
Little foodista
Yan + 1
Triple D + 1
Niall
Food Travel (will confirm on Sat.)


2012 May 25
Don't forget ME sourdough - in - rare night out - super excited - don't take me off the list - I'll be good ....

2012 May 25
Hi Foodies,

Just wanted to let you know that we are no longer taking reservations,
so please use the 15 seats reserved for you!
Please finalize the number through email by tomorrow noon.

I'd like to remind you that we do have a mailing list for those who want to be notified next time there is such an event. We promise not to use it for anything else!

Thanks,
Liz
ottawasuisha@gmail.com

2012 May 25
Okay, we're up to a total of 14. Room for maybe one more!

Isabelle
Fresh Foodie
Pasta lover
flexie + 2
Little foodista
Yan + 1
Triple D + 1
Niall
sourdough
FoodTravel (will confirm on Sat.)

P.S. I'm relatively squeamish compared to hardcore foodies. I won't eat things that are moving and never enjoy organ meats much so if some of you are less adventurous you aren't alone. That said, it seems like the offerings here will be fairly mainstream...

2012 May 25
K I am confirmed for Tuesday..

Looking forward to it.


2012 May 26
I think I'll chicken out this time, but I very much look forward to reading your reviews :)

2012 May 27
Gah! I wish we could go. Let's hope it's the first step towards getting an actual izakaya in Ottawa, rather than just one that is an izakaya in name only.

2012 May 27
Wish I could attend, but I will be with you in spirit as I lead an Ikebana class on Tuesday night.

2012 May 28
Final details for tomorrow (Tuesday) night!

Time: 6:30pm
Locn: 208 Slater
Resv: Ottawa Foodies

We have 3 tables, so 5 + 5 + 4 people. Drinks can be billed per person but the food cost will be shared equally with others at your table of 5 or 4.

Isabelle
Fresh Foodie
Pasta lover
flexie + 2
Little foodista
Yan + 1
Triple D + 1
Niall
sourdough
FoodTravel

See you tomorrow! :-)

2012 May 28
Sounds good...Ŕ demain!

2012 May 29
In case anyone else is interested, I should mention that we just had a seat free up.

2012 May 29
If anybody still wants a reservation for this, I'm about to email the restaurant and cancel my reservation for 5 people at 7pm due to the fact that three of us are currently throwing up. (Sorry Liz!)

2012 May 29
looking forward to it...

2012 May 30
That was fun! Sampling sakes and tasting tiny treats turned out terrifically!

Comment posted here: Izakaya

Thanks for coming out everyone!!

2012 May 30
Fun doesn't begin to describe it. I'm very glad to have been able to sample this. Our table, all francophones by sheer chance, shared 12 plates (we didn't have a knife, didn't know we could ask for one) and 2 desserts, for a total before tax and tip of $38.50 each. I was already extremely happy and had my fill, but for that price, the quality is a steal.

I think the maguro tartar, the squid sashimi white dragon roll and the okonomiyaki were the table's highlights, with the inari, gobo and oshitashi happy surprises. I personally highly enjoyed the anago oshizushi (having heard of Osaka-style sushi for a while) and the salmon sampler, with toroooo.... num.

A bottle of excellent junmai ginjo saké and some lovely conversations, and it was a most enjoyable evening. Major kudos to Liz for taking care of us splendidly.

2012 May 30
Hi all!

Thank you so much for coming!
It was a pleasure to serve such an adventurous and open-minded group.
I've passed on your comments to Mike-san (owner) and Yama-san (head chef).
Hopefully we'll do this again.

For the foodies that have missed out,
We have a special izakaya menu for the week for the items that we've over-prepped.
We still have a limited amount of that salmon toro Niall has so articulately described as "num" =).

Liz

2012 May 30
I second Niall, me and my gf really enjoyed our evening and first Izakaya experience.

Thanks to Niall for sharing his great knowledge about Japanese Sake and foods...made our experience even better.

Thank you Liz and Martin for organising this event.

Couple of pictures from the dishes we sampled:

Potato Croquette & Oshitashi

2012 May 30
White Dragon Roll

2012 May 30
Yakisoba

2012 May 30
Salmon sampler...Yummm! & Shiromi Sampler

2012 May 30
and...the Anago Oshizushi (Osaka style Sea Eal) & Maguro Tartar (My favorite!!!)

2012 May 30
I was a fun evening with good food and drinks. Also good to put some faces to names..

I was a tad late so was the last of the group to sit down and the others had their sake already. Had my sake sampler without the tray but it is the contents that are important ;) Only had tha sake since I was driving.

Service was very good all evening and they started cutting some things into 5s for us after noticing that we were cutting stuff to 5. The only thing they forget to do was give me a hot towel which everyone else got already. FreshFoodie and Isabelle did a great job cutting the others creatively.

A lot of the plates not commonly on typical menus were interesting and tasty.
The only one I was so-so about was the Oden which had fishcake, egg and daikon. I like fishcakes in general but those were somewhat standard and easier to get.

For dessert I wanted something cool so went for ice cream. Went conservative with the mango and more adventurous with the ginger. The ginger wins hands down being good vanilla ice cream with little pieces of candied ginger. Considering I was finishing off the candied ginger off the sushi plates, I do like ginger. Had a taste of freshfoodies special japanese desert and it was interesting. They also had black sesame ice cream which I had not seen before.

Now suggestions for the next OF dinner ?

2012 May 30
I did not even bother considering that event since I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Tokyo a week ago (didn't try an Izakaya this time, did that last year during a previous trip and even had the little baby octopus that explode in your mouth when you chew them.. let's just say I only had one) but I have to say that it looked like a great event and I'll definitely consider it next time.

Now if it was a kushiage with the deep-fryer at your table, I'd be lining up already. Out of 5 dinners in Japan, we had that twice in the "all you can eat / all you can drink" for something like 4000JPY (~ $50). Let's just say we got our money's worth even though the next morning it was "what the hell did we do to our bodies"...

note: picture is from a previous trip with the wife. This time it was a business trip and there were a lot of beer glasses on the table..

2012 May 31
I'll add to what the others have said, it was a very enjoyable meal and night out. Company was great, and nice to put pseudo names to faces. I had the pleasure of sitting with flexie and two friends, and I think we all enjoyed what to the table. I'd recommend attending if they do this again. Our table ate a bit more than Niall's (probably my fault ...) but the bill with two drinks came out to around $60. Good value and excellent food.

2012 May 31
Agree with others, it was an enjoyable evening. All in all there was a good range of menu items as one of the people at our table was less adventurous than the rest of us. The menu sure brought out food stories - what we do (and don't like to eat) - i.e., eel, monkfish foie gras. I think we did say that the menu appeared to offer a lot more than you would normally see however there was room for a bit more "pub like" Japanese fare - perhaps more grilled items.

We ordered a few "tame" items like chicken skewers and noodles. The pancake type item was served with fish flakes that had a strong odor but the dish tasted quite good. The Maguro Tartar (Red Tuna) was a hit at our table as well; as was a salmon dish - I would describe the salmon as "gravalox style" served on a beg of finely chopped raw onions and watercrest. In additional to all the pleasant flavours, some dishes also had good contrasting texture like the deep fried avocado - avocado was perfectly ripe and soft and this went well with the crunch of the outer breading. The riceless dragon roll was also very nice, the outer wrapping was squid/octopus if I remember correctly. Yes, our bill was more in the $60 range including a few beers, but we did decided to consult the other tables and try some of their favourites. A big thank you to Sourdough for being such a good sport and putting up with some of our "girl talk"; I would have liked to have a chance to chat more with some of the other foodies. Let's hope other restaurants take note give the foodies a head's up next time they plan a special evening.

2012 Jun 1
So happy to hear that this event went well. I was so close to putting in a request to join the group but I am up to my eyeballs in thesis (I submit today - oh eeek) so it would not have been the responsible thing to do. Izakaya is my favourite treat in Vancouver and Japan (specifically Hokkaido) is on my food-ventures list. Thrilled that there's a chance the restaurant might do this again and definitely pleased that OF was notified specially. Super awesome!

2012 Dec 11
So, Suisha announced they're doing another izakaya night for New Year's Eve. Who's in? We should see if we want to do another group reservation. It will certainly sell out too.

I'm fairly sure I can attend.

2012 Dec 12
I would be interested.

2012 Dec 12
Please don't think this is a stupid question, but I'd really like to invite a friend of mine who never gets out because of his wife's restricted diet. I completely understand which is why I ask.

Would this meal (or parts of it) be GF? I don't know about the separation of preparation or if that would be possible in a busy kitchen preparing dozens of different dishes.

2012 Dec 13
I might be interested in going back for more izakaya, I enjoyed their first attempt. I'd need a bit more information on the schedule and the price (New Year's eve events often being particularly expensive)

I haven't been able to access their website in the last couple of days. Maybe they are updating it to add the info about this event?

Rizak, it's usually possible to get many gluten free dishes in japanese restaurants, including most of the sushi menu (and gluten free soy sauce is often available). But totally avoiding the risk of minute amounts of cross-contamination is nearly impossible in a normal restaurant if there is any gluten in the kitchen, and there is. I think that's when it's important to distinguish between food intolerances (don't put that in my plate or I'll be sick) and extreme allergy (don't touch me after eating that, or I'll die). I'd suggest asking your friend how severe the issue is, or asking him to call the restaurant directly...


2012 Dec 19
Thanks Niall, for being more on top of things than I am!

@Rizak, It would be best if you let us know about the Gluten-free allergy when you make the reservation so that we have time to accomodate you. I can't guarantee that we will be able to, but the least we can do is mark off which dishes are GF on the night. Again, giving us enough time is the most important =)

@Isabelle, Our website was hacked, but thankfully it's back up again in time for our event! I've replied to your questions in the newer thread.