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| - Despite the categorization, I don't really consider Yuzu to be an izakaya. An izakaya isn't merely a bar serving Japanese food, as there are many bars in Japan that serve food and aren't considered izakayas. An izakaya is more akin to a Japanese TAPAS bar, which has a wide variety of appetizers and small bites to choose from. Yuzu has a small sampling of appetizers, but the menu items are mostly standard and so I'd consider it more just an Asian fusion bar.
The atmosphere was nice, and the staff were very friendly and accommodating. The food was ok - my friend got the Korean beef rice bowl, which the menu admits to using "cheater" bulgogi. The beef was ground up, whereas bulgogi is more in thin slices. The flavor was not too bad, though it was the type of dish I could get at almost any restaurant.
I personally got the ahi tuna poke, because poke has been on the rise in the States and I have been trying to sample poke everywhere. While the colors and presentation were solid, the flavor was not to par. The tuna was very tough to chew and did not taste particularly fresh. When I have poke, I typically anticipate that the tuna has been marinated in various sauces for a fairly long time, but this dish tasted like the sauce was recently added on. I also felt like there was not enough sauce in general. Additionally, the mangoes and avocado seemed to stand in contrast to the fish rather than complement it.
I do enjoy the atmosphere at Yuzu, and the staff were extraordinarily friendly. However, I think the food could use some work in terms of flavor.
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