Izakaya Shingen
201 Bank St., 613-680-0802, izakayashingen.com
Open: Sunday to Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m.
Prices: small plates up to $13.50
Access: one step to front door
With so many flattering photos of meaty morsels displayed on the menu at Izakaya Shingen, some of my dining companions have found it hard to get excited about ordering the grilled rice balls.
And yet, as humble as they may sound, yaki onigiri, as they’re known in Japan, have an impressive history that dates back a millennium. Samurai were said to have packed onigiri in bamboo leaves for their travels. Today’s yaki onigiri are tucked into Japanese lunch boxes, taken to picnics, sold in convenience stores. They’re also a staple snack at izakayas — Japanese watering holes — where they help relaxing off-shift workers absorb their beer.
Grilled rice balls at Izakaya Shingen
On Ottawa’s dining scene, the history of yaki onigiri has been negligible. That’s not surprising, given that the area’s few izakayas have tended to offer Asian-fusion fare, or tacked on izakaya dishes to menus filled with tricked-out sushi and ramen, rather than aspire to serving what you’d eat in an unassuming bar in Tokyo. (Hint: Any izakaya that offers seafood poutine, as I’ve seen while on my rounds, plays fast and loose with its designation.)
But Izakaya Shingen, which opened last fall in Centretown, happily keeps things much more traditional. Along with the yaki onigiri — which were nicely crusted and flecked with bits of salmon in their yielding interiors — the rustically decorated restaurant also serves assorted grilled goods, deep-fried treats, a few raw-fish items, steamed and simmered items and more, including such dishes rarely seen in Ottawa as mentaiko udon (noodles in creamy spicy cod roe sauce) and dashi chazuke (rice with dashi broth, topped with octopus, salmon or Japanese plum).
Open only in the evening, Izakaya Shingen shares its space and kitchen with the more lunch-hour-oriented eatery Burrito Sensei, which opened almost a year ago and specializes in sushi burritos and rice bowls topped with raw fish and other ingredients. Burrito Sensei’s fare is also available when Shingen is open, if raw fish dishes are a must. But during my two recent visits I opted solely for the izakaya’s small plates, and wasn’t at all disappointed.
Yakitori skewers — pieces of thigh, ground chicken meatball, bits of heart and liver — all appealed with their tenderness, clean flavour and light kiss of charcoal, and at $2.20 a stick, they feel like a steal.
Charcoal-grilled chicken skewers (ground chicken, heart, liver, regular) at Izakaya Shingen
Ginger-tinged sake-steamed clams ($9) were delicious — I could easily and gluttonously have downed a second helping. Slow-braised pork belly (buta no kakuni, $9) held bits of tasty, tender meat between its layers of fat. Almost as unctuous, and much sweeter thanks to its slathering of sauce, was an impressive chunk of roasted eel on rice ($10.80).
Sake-simmered clams at Izakaya Shingen
Braised pork belly and egg at Izakaya Shingen
Roasted eel on rice at Izakaya Shingen
Slabs of grilled beef short ribs ($9.80) were toothsome and sweetly sauced, but not overly so. Salt-cured salmon ($6.80) was texturally on point but too salty for some of us, while miso-marinated black cod ($12.60) was more mellow and widely appreciated.
Kalbi (beef short ribs) at Izakaya Shingen
Salt-cured salmon at Izakaya Shingen
Miso-marinated black cod at Izakaya Shingen
The kitchen’s deep-frying items were, for the most part, crisp and not oily. Among them, octopus balls (tako yaki, $6.90) with molten interiors were a standout. Boneless chicken karaage ($7.40) were a touch over-cooked on one occasion, but that gateway dish was still gobbled up by less adventurous eaters.
Tako yaki at Izakaya Shingen
Chicken Karaage at Izakaya Shingen
If you want to be comforted with carbohydrates, I can recommend those rice balls, or even better, the single-serving, porridge-like dashi chazuke dishes. Mentaiko udon ($12.20), a dish of thick udon noodles in a cream sauce topped with a dollop of spicy, crunchy, salty cod fish roe, was an Asian funhouse version of carbonara and a taste worth acquiring.
Salmon with rice in dashi broth at Izakaya Shingen
Udon noodles in cream sauce with cod roe at Izakaya Shingen
The last time I had okonomiyaki in Ottawa, that savoury Japanese pancake was a gloppy, over-sauced mess. While you couldn’t call Izakaya Shingen’s version ($13.50) refined — okonomiyaki, at its best, is filling, student fare — its components (pancake, cabbage, bacon, sweet sauce and more) were well-balanced in terms of flavour and texture and we dug into it with gusto.
Okonomiyaki at Izakaya Shingen
The dessert choices here are limited to three kinds of ice cream (black sesame, ginger and mango, up to $4.50 for a bowl), none of which is made in house, or the spin-it-yourself cotton candy, which you can make using a machine near the doorway.
ice creams at Izakaya Shingen
If such sugary frivolity is not your thing, the greater sophistication of about 10 sakes and four Japanese beers are options.
The izakaya’s decor is woody and casual. The dining room side, which seats about 40 on wooden stools, benches and softer banquettes, is more evocative with Japanese wall hangings, banners and sake containers. Service has been fast in terms of delivering dishes, but a little lax in terms of check-ins and water refills.
For almost six years, since I reviewed a now-closed Elgin Street restaurant that was named Izakaya but wasn’t really one, I’ve groused repeatedly about the lack of Japanese bar food arriving in town. It had seemed like the trend had arrived here, but the quality and consistency had lagged. No longer. With dishes that were well chosen, well made and reasonably priced, Izakaya Shingen at last scratches Ottawa’s izakaya itch.
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