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| - i really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately it didn't impress or even satisfy. i came with 3 friends, one of whom suggested we try. he learned that ichi rock was opened by the same owner as the don day restaurant on 7th ave and 8th st. i enjoy the pork neck potato stew from don day (their specialty) so i had hopes this new place would be as good for the food (as an izakaya). sadly, it was not.
the waitress that helped us was very friendly, but didn't seem very knowledgeable on izakaya food or what ichi rock's recommended dishes were. i asked if there was any yakitori or kushiyaki, which she replied there were only teba wings... but she did recommend the flaming chicken, which she said was very good. so we went with that (suicide hotness level), beef tataki, seafood okonomiyaki, takoyaki, bacon yakisoba, grilled mackerel as well as another tuna sashimi dish that i forgot how they described.
the beef tataki came first and it was pretty terrible. the pieces weren't very thinly sliced and tasted like previously frozen meat. i realize that most beef tataki will be frozen, but never should it taste like it. ginger was placed on top of each slice, i wondered if to help mask the freezer taste.
second up was the takoyaki, which wasn't bad - but wasn't anything special either. not sure if they were or not, but it tasted like they were pre-packaged frozen store bought takoyaki. not bad, but nothing special, same with the seafood okonomiyaki: neither good nor bad. it tasted like pre-packaged store bought okonomiyaki powder mix was used, with frozen mixed seafood added to the batter prior to cooking. i have eaten a lot of takoyaki in tokyo and okonomiyaki in hiroshima, so perhaps this is an unfair comparison.. but i don't go out to eat food that tastes like what you can buy and make yourself at home.
the crowning glory that resulted in the 1 star rating: the chicken arrived. for a dish that was 13.95 or 14.95 (can't remember which it was) - it was basically the size of a small plate. there were small morsels of chicken served with onions and green peppers, drenched in a thick sauce. i doubt all four of us were able to have more than a single tiny piece of chicken. ARE YOU FOR REAL?!? 14 bucks for a tiny plate of chicken morsels doused in sauce, with more onions and green peppers than meat? not everyone is that gullible homie.
the bacon yakisoba followed and was pretty standard fare (read - it's hard to fuck up), but rather light in terms of portion. nothing really else to say about it.
the only dish that everyone enjoyed was the grilled mackerel, which was the simplest of all the dishes: grilled and served with a light citrus soy. it was because of this dish that we ended up additionally ordering the tuna dish, thinking perhaps we could find another good dish to salvage a mediocre meal.
the tuna mystery dish (forgot the dish name) is best described as a mystery.. the combination of whatever they used to season made it seem like the chef was trying to be creative, without tasting the end result first. the sauce tasted funky; it was sweet, it was sour and it was savory - all at the same time, but not in a good way while leaving a weird after-taste. it way overpowered the taste of the fish and soundly ruined the dish.
we were served frozen grapes which were nice, when we asked for the check. again to be fair, the waitress was very friendly and attentive to us whenever we needed her. but overall, the food was really disappointing. i didn't think the quality of the dishes warranted the prices they were charging. my personal observation is that this is a corean run joint trying masquerade as a japanese izakaya, which is the latest soup du jour in calgary. still, there are better (non japanese) izakayas, which offer better value for your money.
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