Japanese/sushi: i recommend I-SUSHI

I-SUSHI
No. 173, ZhongXiao E. Road, Sec. 5
(02) 2749-5951

MRT: Taipei City Hall

hours: 11AM - 10PM

website: i-sushi.com.tw and I-Sushi's Facebook page

$-$$

kid friendliness: high chairs available. first floor mainly sushi bar with 2nd floor additional seating.

visit reviewed: 4/28/2011

Walking around the 101 area, I was looking for somewhere new to try. Located on the busy ZhongXiao E. Road near Crown Bakery, I-Sushi is a solid choice for affordable, decent Japanese food in a family and group friendly environment. I was hesitant to go in at first because from the entrance it looks like there is only sushi bar seating and a few tables for couples on the side, but actually they have a second floor that has a ton of seating available for large groups.

One of the main negatives about I-Sushi is that the menu is only in Chinese with not a lot of pictures, so you have to bring someone who can read the menu, or quiz the fairly friendly waiters about what's available. The Chinese only menu is quite extensive beyond sashimi and only with advance reservations they have some sort of all-you-can-eat sashimi deal (NT$500 for 90 minutes?!) that I didn't quite understand. If anyone has tried it, explain to me how it works! Since we walked in without advance booking, we weren't allowed to try it. 

So instead, I got the I-Sushi chirashi bowl set (NT$380), loaded with raw goodies including uni, sweet shrimp, ikura, tobiko and slices of sashimi. Many of the sashimi bowls here come with a raw egg which I'm not crazy about, but I kind of went with it and put in a lot of wasabi. Everything tasted fresh, so I breathed a sigh of relief. The set also came with soup, salad, steamed egg and small appetizers.

My friend ordered the unagi over rice (NT$250).

I wasn't crazy about the soy sauce broth for the tempura udon (NT$160), but the udon itself and the tempura was good and came with big prawns. I also saw another large group and most of them ordered some sort of sukiyaki that came on a large ceramic mini hotpot.

I wasn't crazy about the soft shell crab roll (NT$200) as the rice was quite mushy and the soft shell crab was not crispy.

One of the best deals was the bowl of steamed rice with salmon and ikura (NT$50).

And a complimentary panna cotta for dessert. 

Opened over a year ago, I had never even noticed I-Sushi until I walked around this area (though after eating here I think there used to be a branch near Burger Stop?). It's always great to find another Japanese place, even better that it's not crazy expensive and a great option for a casual night out.