Ryu Izakaya — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

Alrighty local people, I have been waiting for an izakaya (Japanese bar) like this to open up for quite some time now! I've been back quite a few times since they were in soft opening, and I can say with confidence that the menu and service has only improved!

Onto the food 🤤

-[BUCK-A-SHUCK OYSTERS] $1/OYSTER ON TUESDAYS/WEDNESDAYS 🦪 Choice of east or west coast oysters! 🦪 Comes with the standard cocktail sauce but also their house made vinaigrette that has citrus in it - highly recommend you give it a try

-[SCALLOP CARPACCIO] $16 🥭 Hokkaido scallop, mango, ponzu 🥭 When I realized there was mango in the dish, I was a bit skeptical but goodness me, it actually made such a refreshing dish when paired with the scallop and ponzu 🥭 highly recommend!

-[HIDDEN LEAF // 3 pcs] $30 🌿 Tempura shiso leaf, smoked otoro, uni, truffle paste 🌿 Wow! Never could have imagined that a few bites of something could be so packed full of flavor! 🌿 The shiso leaf stayed crunchy until I made my way to it half an hour later so koodos to the chef who fried it

-[BEEF TONGUE SKEWER - 2 pcs] $8 👅 Might not be something you'll try but I love a good beef tongue when it's done properly and THIS was done properly 👅 Very tender slices of meat, and the sauce was like a sticky and sweet teriyaki one

-[CHICKEN SKIN SWEWER - 2 pcs] $6 🍗 This was fried properly! Crispy bits on each piece of skin which is the way a well made one is done

-[IKA YAKI] $16 🦑 Whole squid in butter sauce 🦑 Whoever cooked this did a great job because the squid was very tender! Sauce was also not too heavy

-[KARAAGE] $12 🍗 Boneless chicken thigh, roasted garlic oil 🧄 You can even see tiny pieces of garlic on the karaage pieces too! 🍗 Portion size is pretty good for the price, and because the thigh is the cut of meat, each piece retained its moisture very well

-[PIRI PIRI FRIES] $11 🍟 Thick cut fries, house spicy masago chili mayo 🌶️ The mayo is actually decently spicy, and every fry was perfectly seasoned, and fried to perfection 🍟 Honestly I could have been happy with another five orders of these too 😂

-[TUNA TARTARE] $15 🌮 Ahi tuna, fried nori shell, chili miso 🌮 Each bite of this was packed with flavor! Delicious haha 🌮 The nori shell was still crispy even after I left it to sit for over half an hour 😯

-[HAMACHI DON] $18 🍚 Hamachi, egg drop broth 🍚 was also topped with finely chopped green onions, and ikura (salmon roe) 🍚 a pretty hearty dish that resembled congee!

-[BAKED OYSTER] $10 🦪 Jumbo oyster, mushroom cream 🦪 I found that there was also a very much enjoyed edition of spinach in the sauce as well! 🦪 Very delicious, and something I would definitely order again 😁

✖️ WHAT I WOULDN'T GET AGAIN + WHY ✖️ •[pork belly - 2 pcs] $7 - theoretically, pork belly should be tender but the meat on these two skewers was anything but tender 😅 I compared it to gum at one point and basically had to spit out the pieces I ate because no matter how much I chewed, the meat did not give •[ryu sliders - 3 pcs] $14 - all the components of this slider were great except for the angus beef that made up the beef patty. I have not a clue why it was so dry but I saw another table slather their sliders with a different sauce to give it some moisture

📝 Make a reservation through their website to avoid disappointment! I sat at the bar with my friend because we just walked in on a Friday night, and it was a different experience in a good way, but I think with more people, a table would be preferred 😁

I already have plans to come back later this month because I only tried a fraction of their menu, and I genuinely cannot wait to try out the rest 🎉 Highly recommend you give this...

Heard a lot of good things about this place from multiple friends so decided to take my gf here for dinner to celebrate a 1 yr anni. Making reservations online was a breeze (you get a choice between patio and indoor dining).

The decor is really modern inside. The booths are MASSIVE. We got a booth near the back of the resto and the table could've easily fit 4-6 ppl in my estimation.

Chicken karaage: The batter instantly reminded me of Hay Sushi on Spring Garden in North York. The seasoning was on point but I think Hay Sushi made a better karaage as they cooked the chicken perfectly (it was still juicy). I think this resto overcooked the chicken slightly. It wasn't dry at all but could've been juicier.

Wagyu tacos: I really liked these. The meat was really tender (obviously) cuz it was wagyu beef but there definitely needs to be a disclaimer on the menu that these are spicy! The hot sauce definitely has a nice kick. I can handle spicy food but my noob gf was chugging coke furiously after eating one hahaha.

Otoro sashimi (3pc): The presentation for this dish was insane. A whole ice bed with floral arrangements AND a toonie mound size of REAL wasabi?? They didn't have to go so hard for 3 pcs of sashimi but I was very impressed with the look AND the taste. The tuna was nice and thick cut and also melted like meat butter. I think some chefs slice off the skin end while some choose to leave a bit on for a bit of texture. Our chef decided to leave some skin on one side of the fish pieces.

Bakudan roll: Tempura shrimp filling with torched salmon and scallops on top. Pretty solid sushi. Presentation was pretty. Idk if I would say the sushi blew me away but it did taste very good. I think for the price, the roll could've been slightly bigger.

Creamy uni udon: High umami from this dish. Super rich sauce and the ikuras added even more sea flavour in each bite. I think this was my gf's fave dish of the night. Would definitely order this again in the future.

The service was prompt and quick. Obviously it was an expensive meal but for a special occasion, I'd say the fare was very good. Wouldn't come here on a regular basis but the menu is expansive and definitely wanna try some of the other things on there...

It's honestly so disappointing. I was so excited for this new izakaya seen all over IG & TikTok.

I went for dinner as a group of 5 - dine in.

First impression, the restaurant has a lot of vibes, very modern, great lighting & a beautiful photo worthy tree sculpture. All the staff were nice and helpful.

I ordered 8 items as seen in attached photos. They all range approx 15-25 per item, typical pricing for Izakaya. However - their food was definitely overpriced for what it is. Taste is mediocre and some was beyond disappointing.

Oden - Broth came warm, borderline cool with the fishcake ice cold in the centre. It was so cold that I had to question if this was served like this on purpose. The waitress was nice and told me she will take it off the bill. It was just disappointing to have my oden served this way

Karaage - exactly 5 pcs for $16....but taste is not special at all

Sliders - probably the best tasting thing on the table, but unfortunately, it was also not special, it tasted like any other mini burger (beef, tomatos, onions, lettuce and sauce) the only thing that was customized was probably the sauce - maybe mayo and wasabi? I don't know - but definitely not worth the price.

Udons - both udons were super salty

Sushi - It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either, there was so much sauce in everything - you can barely taste what you are eating.

Wagyu Tacos - When i read Wagyu tacos on the menu, i assumed the meat would come as sliced steak in my taco or strips...It came like ground beef..similar to my sliders, can't even tell if its wagyu. Whole thing was cold. I don't know if this was on purpose, but even the meat was cold....i was not a fan.

My overall experience - It's a one time visit. Everything is so overpriced, feels like I'm paying for their renovations rather than their food. In the end - this bill was $140 for 5 people and we walked out as if we walked a full round of costco and just ate samples - not even a hot dog. $28 per person for samples that tasted...