Friday, January 30, 2009

Drinking Cat Izakaya

Location - next to the Sushi-go-round just outside of Lester gate 1, behind the Urtore building, park in the large lot in front. This is a chain, the mascot is a cat with a headband drinking an alcoholic beverage.
Hours: 1800-
We ended up here on a Monday night, after stopping by several other places in the area, all of which were closed. We were delighted to find that beers were 1/2 off between 1800-2000, bringing them down to very reasonable prices (350-->175 for a lady's size Orion, 450-->225 for a large Orion). You can sit at a table or on tatami. Standard izakaya food was also reasonable priced, with most dishes 350-700Y each. Things we tried:
Tuna-avocado spring rolls - quite a tasty fusion snack
Tekka-maki - fine, nothing flash
Yakisoba - a decent amount of cabbage, but nothing to remember particularly
Fried cheese with strawberry jam - like something you would by frozen in a bag at the supermarket and heat up in a toaster oven
"Chinese" fish and mushroom in sauce - it is probably best to avoid "chinese" food in Japan
Grilled squid - nice portion size, tender, but just not as delicious as the grilled squid we've had in other countries
Gyoza - a little bland, but large
8 drinks and lots of food came to 5400Y, so even if all the food wasn't fantastic you had to leave happy.