After surviving through class, we went to grab some food with some friends and we're feeling a bit Japanese, so we chose Izakaya Issei cause it just opened and I just can't wait to try it! It's located on the street of Senopati, right next to Cacaote, on the 2nd floor, above Chief Barbershop and Appetite. From the entrance, you can already feel the Japanese essence of this place. When you step in, it's gonna be a bit dark and around the stairs there's mirrors all over.
They have 2 sections of the indoor room, one is the bar area which is a bit dark with dim lights and the other is the brighter side of the room which only consist of 1 long table that could fit approximately 8 people. There's also the smoking area which is outdoors so it won't contaminate the non-smoking area. I, of course, chose the brighter area so that I could get better photos, cause lighting matters, seriously!
There's a bell on the table to call the server on the brighter room, because it's in a private room so with the bell you won't have to worry about not getting the staff's attention. It feels like a VIP in there. All the decoration here has extreme Japanese feel to it, from the sake bottles to the Geisha on the walls.
The specials here are the Donburi and Yakitori, so that's exactly what I ordered!
BUTA BARA DON IDR 75K
This dish is not on the menu yet when I visited cause it's new. You can choose the spiciness level of this Donburi to fit your taste, there's mild, spicy, and very spicy. FYI, Buta Bara means Pork Belly. Yes, when there's pork, I won't hesitate to order it! For the Buta Bara Don, I decided to choose the spicy level, which is already a bit too spicy for me. I can't imagine how the very spicy level would taste.
AGEDORI NEGI DON IDR 58,5K
Deep fried chicken thigh with special sauce and rice.
The Donburi here really is tasty. The portion is not too little nor too much, it's just right. It definitely surpasses my expectation! The chicken thigh is easy to chew and the sauce is really nice. I like it when the rice is soaked with the sauce, it's like I could even eat just rice and the sauce and I won't complain.
GYUTAN DON IDR 95K
Wagyu tounge with special sauce and rice.
This is my first time ever trying some gyutan (tongues). I wasn't expecting it to taste this good! I thought that it'll be weird and squishy and I would just eat 1 piece and never touch it again, but it turns out that I'm actually impressed. You can also choose the spiciness for this one and I chose the not spicy (and thank God I did considering how spicy the medium was). So seriously folks! This is super savoury, super yummy, super recommended! You just have to, I repeat HAVE TO try it!
YAKITORI
There are so many choices of Yakitori here. And all of them looks really good too. I wanted to try it all, it was so hard to choose! So I guess I'd just choose the ones that are recommended. All of it were grilled to perfection! It's not tasteless at all, even the ones that has no sauce on it, really well seasoned. If you're looking for snacks, I recommend you check this out ASAP!
BUTA BARA IDR 25K
Pork Belly.
The meat was a bit overcooked so it was a bit though.
BUTABARA NEGI MISO IDR 27K
Pork belly with miso sauce and spring onion.
The difference between this and the Buta Bara is that this one has spring onions on it, other than that it tastes just the same actually.
KAWA IDR 12K
Chicken skin.
This is not crispy like what I expected, but is still splendidly tasty.
ENOKI BUTAMAKI IDR 25K
Enoki mushroom wrapped in slices of pork.
Told ya I would eat anything with pork in it. Well the enoki and pork has a nice balance of flavor and I just can't get enough of it!
WAGYU KARUBI IDR 38K
Wagyu beef with special sauce.
I was expecting this to be harder than the Buta Bara but it turns out that this is sooo tender, it just melts in your mouth! Yum~
TEBA IDR 12K
Chicken wing.
I know it doesn't really look like a chicken wing but that's just because it's already cut so that it'll be easier to eat.
SAKE BERRIES ISSEI IDR 125K
Fresh mix berry, sake, vodka, and strawberry cream.
To match the Japanese feeling, I choose sake to accompany my delicious meal. This unique sake is mixed with berries, so it's a bit sweet even though the alcohol is still strong. The presentation is really cool (no pun intended). The most interesting thing about it is that it's PINK! The sake is enough for 3 people or more, it can be divided into 8 small shot cups more or less.
Since this is a yakitori and sake bar unlike other typical Japanese restaurant, Sushi and sashimi isn't available here. A bit too bad though, maybe they'd consider adding those to the menu later on? Anyways, it was satisfying nonetheless. どうもありがとう, Izakaya Issei!
Izakaya Issei
Jl. Senopati Raya No. 82
2nd floor of Appetite Cafe
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan
021-60796880
Opening Hours :
Monday - Friday : 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Saturday - Sunday : 11:00 am - 1:00 am
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