Izakaya Den Restaurant Review
1518 S. Pearl St. (Iowa St.) 
Send to Phone
Denver, CO 80210
303-777-0691 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
Tweet
Cuisine
Open
Lunch Sat.-Sun., Dinner Tues.-Sun.Features
- Private room(s)
- Full bar
- Reservations suggested
- Outdoor dining
- Open late Fri.-Sat.
- Valet parking
- Chic
* Click here for rating key
 Named for the lively after-work pubs in Japan that dole out both saké and sustenance, Izakaya Den is a simultaneously comfortable and beautiful Japanese restaurant. It parades a rollicking sushi bar, an upstairs lounge, a spacious bar and a serene patio bedecked with botanicals and bamboo accents. Unlike its Sushi Den sibling, however, which coincidentally sits directly across the street, Izakaya is not all about the raw stuff. Yes, you can slide up to the sushi bar to witness the slicing and dicing of tuna, salmon and snapper, but the globally enterprising menu is a whirlwind around-the-world ticket strutting a slew of sharable dishes. Try the hand roll sampler, a three-pronged combination of spicy tuna, crab and beef that’s a do-it-yourself wrap and roll affair, or the roasted halibut, dusted with saffron and paired with white asparagus, akatosaka (seaweed) and a yellow tomato gazpacho. The number of bottled bubblies poured here is longer than some restaurants’ wine lists, and the saké selection, including wooden box saké and several high-end options, is impressive. Service, however, can mar an otherwise pleasant evening, thanks to the staff's pomposity and a seemingly endless wave of turnover.
|
RESTAURANT AWARDS
We just published the 2012 edition of our annual restaurant issue, featuring the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. and much more. Check it out!
