Good food, fast. Great service (accommodated a toddler easily!), happy hour pricing made this affordable too!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tiffany Oh
This place was packed on a Friday night with not a lot of waiting area space, so everyone's crammed at the front door. It got pretty noisy, and my hair smelled smoky when I left.
We ordered only from the happy hour menu because they had a ton of good sounding options there. The yakiton came first and was really greasy and black peppery. The yakitori meat was smaller than the chicken skewers I've gotten at Southeast Asian restaurants in the Seattle area, but these ones had a softer texture like teriyaki chicken.
The kalbi beef was inconsistent. One of our plates had large pieces, while the other plate was full of small pieces. The smaller kalbi was drier. The bigger kalbi was chewier. I'd stick to ordering kalbi from Korean restaurants where the meat is more tender and easier to eat.
The best item we ordered was the crispy chicken wings. They really were crispy - nothing like I've had before in terms of crispiness. Next time I would try the JFC to compare. Something that I didn't like was that they put both orders of the wings on the same plate instead of splitting them up. They split up the kalbi plates, but nothing else. It was ok to combine the skewers because they're so tiny, but the wings were almost falling off the plate they were on and very close to being a bad jenga situation with how they were placed.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 5
Xuan Li
I don’t know why their employees have to be so rude to their customers
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Dinali Weeraman
Fantastic!!!!! Best meal I’ve had in quite some time. You can’t go wrong with anything from the menu. The udon is the most flavorful dish I have probably ever had!!
Highly highly recommend. Their HH also very worth it. SO GOOD! Thank you!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brandon F
Omg I loved this place! HH is super good! Prices are reasonable. Staff and service was great.
Patrick Cabbage
ISSIAN was an excellent experience. Before I went here, I had never had real sushi, and this was a great introduction. Staff was very friendly and food was excellent. I recommend the JFC salad and the chicken yakitori. My only note is that the octopus ball had some substance on it (I believe benito flakes) and the air made it look like it was alive, making it look a little weird. Otherwise had a very pleasant experience.
Some dishes were very good and some were okay. I’d go again, I’ve only been once. The restaurant itself is very busy and pretty tight. Hard to bring a stroller in if you have a little one. They made it work but it was def tight. Since the restaurant is small, it gets toasty quick during dinner rush. Overall good, but nothing crazy.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Raymond Grooms
The BEST happy hour in Wallingford! Get there early!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Melissa Li
I’ve never written an unprompted review but this is the best japanese restaurant in seattle at a reasonable walk-in dining price point. Staff were friendly, ingredients fresh and generous.
Our go to spot. Every time we go somewhere else we end up thinking why didn't we go to Issian instead.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Twice
Great place to go, love the chicken heart and thighs skewers.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Na J.
Craving some Asian food last weekend, my daughter recommended this spot, so we made a reservation for our family of four on a Sunday. The person on the phone was very friendly and reminded us about the 1.5-hour weekend dining limit, which was totally fine.
We drove all the way from Lynnwood, so I really wanted to like this place, but the experience ended up being a bit disappointing. I don't mind waiting or getting less attention when it's busy, but the host kept cutting us off whenever we tried to speak. It felt like she was focused on getting through her script instead of listening, and that set the tone for the rest of the visit.
The two servers who helped us afterward were very kind, but even then, we still felt rushed -- almost like we were expected to finish quickly -- even though we had only been seated for about 40 minutes. The food itself was good, but the overall service from the host threw off the entire vibe.
I'm hoping it was just an off day, but the experience definitely affected our mood. I'm not sure I'd come back if I knew I might have the same service experience again.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Judy Wang
We came on a Tuesday and were sitting at the bar and couldn't help noticing that they were stacking dirty dishes right in front of the area where the kitchen staff sends food out. It was pretty gross... I actually saw a server mixing the dirty plates with dishes that were already on the counter.
On top of that, the server poured a draft beer and didn't close the tap properly before walking away, so it was dripping all over the floor. The other lady by the cashier just talked on her phone the whole time.
Overall, the service felt chaotic and unorganized, and it was really hard to get anyone's attention.
Great chicken and okonomiyaki!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good food, fast. Great service (accommodated a toddler easily!), happy hour pricing made this affordable too!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This place was packed on a Friday night with not a lot of waiting area space, so everyone's crammed at the front door. It got pretty noisy, and my hair smelled smoky when I left.
We ordered only from the happy hour menu because they had a ton of good sounding options there. The yakiton came first and was really greasy and black peppery. The yakitori meat was smaller than the chicken skewers I've gotten at Southeast Asian restaurants in the Seattle area, but these ones had a softer texture like teriyaki chicken.
The kalbi beef was inconsistent. One of our plates had large pieces, while the other plate was full of small pieces. The smaller kalbi was drier. The bigger kalbi was chewier. I'd stick to ordering kalbi from Korean restaurants where the meat is more tender and easier to eat.
The best item we ordered was the crispy chicken wings. They really were crispy - nothing like I've had before in terms of crispiness. Next time I would try the JFC to compare. Something that I didn't like was that they put both orders of the wings on the same plate instead of splitting them up. They split up the kalbi plates, but nothing else. It was ok to combine the skewers because they're so tiny, but the wings were almost falling off the plate they were on and very close to being a bad jenga situation with how they were placed.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 5
I don’t know why their employees have to be so rude to their customers
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Fantastic!!!!! Best meal I’ve had in quite some time. You can’t go wrong with anything from the menu. The udon is the most flavorful dish I have probably ever had!!
Highly highly recommend. Their HH also very worth it. SO GOOD! Thank you!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Omg I loved this place! HH is super good! Prices are reasonable. Staff and service was great.
ISSIAN was an excellent experience. Before I went here, I had never had real sushi, and this was a great introduction. Staff was very friendly and food was excellent. I recommend the JFC salad and the chicken yakitori. My only note is that the octopus ball had some substance on it (I believe benito flakes) and the air made it look like it was alive, making it look a little weird. Otherwise had a very pleasant experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Yakitori, Pork Kushikatsu Chicken Kushikatsu Fried Potato
Some dishes were very good and some were okay. I’d go again, I’ve only been once. The restaurant itself is very busy and pretty tight. Hard to bring a stroller in if you have a little one. They made it work but it was def tight. Since the restaurant is small, it gets toasty quick during dinner rush. Overall good, but nothing crazy.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
The BEST happy hour in Wallingford! Get there early!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I’ve never written an unprompted review but this is the best japanese restaurant in seattle at a reasonable walk-in dining price point. Staff were friendly, ingredients fresh and generous.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Our go to spot. Every time we go somewhere else we end up thinking why didn't we go to Issian instead.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great place to go, love the chicken heart and thighs skewers.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Craving some Asian food last weekend, my daughter recommended this spot, so we made a reservation for our family of four on a Sunday. The person on the phone was very friendly and reminded us about the 1.5-hour weekend dining limit, which was totally fine.
We drove all the way from Lynnwood, so I really wanted to like this place, but the experience ended up being a bit disappointing. I don't mind waiting or getting less attention when it's busy, but the host kept cutting us off whenever we tried to speak. It felt like she was focused on getting through her script instead of listening, and that set the tone for the rest of the visit.
The two servers who helped us afterward were very kind, but even then, we still felt rushed -- almost like we were expected to finish quickly -- even though we had only been seated for about 40 minutes. The food itself was good, but the overall service from the host threw off the entire vibe.
I'm hoping it was just an off day, but the experience definitely affected our mood. I'm not sure I'd come back if I knew I might have the same service experience again.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
We came on a Tuesday and were sitting at the bar and couldn't help noticing that they were stacking dirty dishes right in front of the area where the kitchen staff sends food out. It was pretty gross... I actually saw a server mixing the dirty plates with dishes that were already on the counter.
On top of that, the server poured a draft beer and didn't close the tap properly before walking away, so it was dripping all over the floor. The other lady by the cashier just talked on her phone the whole time.
Overall, the service felt chaotic and unorganized, and it was really hard to get anyone's attention.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 2
Best authentic izakaya in the state!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Loading...