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| - I was quite sad to hear my beloved lunch time staple Tokyo Gardens was going out of business. When they said a new sushi restaurant would open in their stead, I was skeptical, but was willing to have an open mind. Tokyo Gardens had a great lunch menu and a very affordable price. Many a times I forgoed my packed leftover lunch for their lunch bento, it was that good!
Well enter Izumi Sushi. The decor was pretty much kept the same as it was when the resto was Tokyo Gardens. The servers were quite friendly and actually Japanese. I was excited to see that they also offered lunch bentos, at exactly the same or close enough price as Tokyo Gardens. I had the bento c which was quite large for around $13. it came with soup, salad, and a choice of main (I chose sashimi) and california rolls.
Here's where Izumi actually surpassed Tokyo Gardens for me, their california rolls were made with real sweet crab meat. Not that "imitation crab" which was what Tokyo was using and the reason why I never ordered their cali rolls. The salad was made of mixed greens which was a pleasant surprise, many sushi places usually have the good ole romaine or iceberg. The dressing was not the tasty creamy dressing as Tokyo but more of a vinaigrette, which was just as good. My sashimi was fresh and very tasty.
My one colleague had the teriyaki chicken bento (bento a) and gave her enthused approval at around $8.95. The bento was huge and came with soup & salad as well. Another colleague had bento c which was pick 2 cooked items (around $12.99), she had tempura & ginger chicken and was very satisfied.
Izumi's menu is defintely bigger with more fusion type sushi than Tokyo G's. one of my colleagues who actually doesn't eat that much actual sushi, only the cooked stuff, was quite intrigued by the different sushi rolls pictured on the menu. She said that she would actually try some of them since they look so deelish on the pics! I am excited to try them out for dinner soon!
All in all, although I will miss the food,the service, and the value I got at Tokyo G., Izumi Sushi is a worthy replacement. Great food, reasonably priced, and very good service. In fact, i might even like them better than Tokyo Gardens!
Til next time,
Jules
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