I wanted to try Japanese cuisine for a long time. And just before the quarantine, I learned about the existence of Izumi izakai bar. I even planned a visit, but a pandemic began and catering establishments in Moscow were quarantined.
During the quarantine, I figured out what izakai was, and even managed to cook a couple of desserts from Japanese cuisine. But in order to understand if I am cooking correctly, I decided to go to a tasting. Fortunately, the quarantine is over.
Izakai bar Is a place in Japan where people gather after a day of work to drink and relax. We have beer bars suitable for this format.
Izumi interested me primarily because Japanese Kobayashi Katsuhiko works there as brand chef. This means that he is definitely familiar with the real tastes of Japanese desserts. He worked for over 10 years in French restaurants and then moved to Moscow. I suggest we go to the bar.
From the outside, the bar looks, at first glance, inconspicuous. The sign with the name is located quite high, and it is difficult to see it if you are not looking for this place. But if you look through the glass door, you immediately realize that this is a place with something Japanese.
There is a huge red hieroglyph. I'm not good at Japanese, but thanks to my readers in Instagram, I learned that this is the name of the bar in Japanese Izumi. The bar itself is located in the basement, I suggest you go down and see what's inside.
The room is not very large. I counted only 2 halls. Right at the entrance there is a large area where mostly Asians ate. I got a seat in the second hall next to the entrance to the karaoke zone. Red Japanese lanterns hang along the walls, and false windows on the opposite wall. It is always inconvenient for me to photograph the space of restaurants, I am afraid to disturb the guests, so I have a few interior photos. Let's show you what I ordered.
I was very hungry and could not choose for a long time. Took a sample of rice with smoked eel in teriyaki sauce and aloe-mojito lemonade. Both are very tasty, however, I suffered for a long time, trying to eat rice with chopsticks, a fork is much more convenient for me. But I'm more interested in desserts, let's show what they cook here.
At the beginning there was an incident with desserts. I saw the inscription SAKE and decided that it was a menu of cakes: CAKE in English means cake. Imagine my surprise when there were only alcoholic drinks inside. If you are a sake lover, then there is a large selection of this drink. Let's go back to desserts.
The dessert menu is quite large, and there are many dishes that I have not tried before. I ordered tiramisu with matcha tea to compare its taste with the classic one. And so that nothing would stick together, I took rice tea.
The tea was brought on a special tray in a tiny teapot and with even tinier cups. The taste did not surprise me, although I had not tried this before. But rice was actually floating inside the teapot. What about dessert?
I don't really like desserts from matches, but I liked this tiramisu. It is very, very gentle. On top, instead of cocoa, the cream is sprinkled with powdered green matches, and biscuit cookies are also prepared with the addition of matches. Tiramisu is served in a paper jar, which means you can easily take the dessert with you.
Time did not allow me to try all the desserts on the spot, so I ordered almost the entire dessert menu to be taken away and will soon make a separate review (subscribe so as not to miss). It's time to take stock.
I liked the place. The atmosphere here is very pleasant, and you can see that the owner put his soul into the establishment. I liked everything that I tried, however, rice tea was not the most understandable drink for me.
To understand the rest of the flavors, you will need to visit here again when there is enough time to enjoy your meal at your own pace.
Have you tried Japanese cuisine? How do you like it?
The address Izumi bar - Moscow, Myasnitskaya street 38s1