Senbazuru Izakaya — Restaurant in Dublin

HEADLINE: lovely staff, tasty food, fun concept ❤️

STAFF: i had two different servers tonight, both of them were very friendly and very warm. i took a while looking at their menu because it all looked so good and they patiently waited.

FOOD: let me preface — i am no food critic. i commit the great sushi crime of mixing wasabi directly with soy sauce. it’s my greatest flaw! so no, i’m not a distinguished food critic, but i’m a big foodie so i hope you can trust me.

i had the spicy salmon and avocado norimaki roll and the teriyaki chicken wings (and a coke).

my usual sushi order is salmon avocado so this was my first time having spicy salmon. it was lovely; i like heat but the level of spice was mild enough & very pleasant, even to those who are spice intolerant. there was a lovely attention to detail in the presentation — i’ve added a photo showing how they put the wasabi.

there are about 8-9 wings in one serving of teriyaki wings. you’re gonna wanna slow down with these just so you can really take it in. the chicken is so tender and almost falls off the bone, the sauce is very delicate, not overly salty like some teriyaki. the only real suggestion i have is maybe it would be nice to get one of those little wipes to clean your hands after dealing with wings.

the coke was also lovely. 😆 it was served cold in a can, with a cooled glass (nice touch) filled with ice.

VENUE: senbazuru izakaya is a very welcome addition to marino mart/fairview. it’s brilliant to have japanese cuisine on our doorstep. decor here is very colourful, and i mean it in the best way. i’ve added an image of the decor around the bar. what i didn’t snap a pic of was the two entire walls that had videos of undersea creatures projected onto it. and who could forget the robot server? when i first saw it i laughed because i hadn’t seen anything like it. later, when new customers arrived in, i saw them have the same reaction, and it put me in a good mood. it was nice to have this shared experience of “is that robot REALLY carrying my food? 😱”

ACCESSIBILITY: the restaurant floor is wheelchair accessible though i didn’t check the bathroom so it would be something to enquire about. when senbazuru describes themselves as a 5D experience, music bar, etc., — believe them! it’s what makes this place so unique. however, if you do have autism or have sensory issues, this might not be the place for you.

to summarise - you should dine in at senbazuru izakaya. it’s not just the food, it’s an experience. read the introduction on their menu - they started this place during a difficult time for us all, as a show of good faith and of hope.

and the...

Since moving to Dublin 3 years ago from NYC, I feel like good Japanese food here is hard to come by. This restaurant just further reinforces that belief for me. I ordered the Original Tonkatsu Ramen and it was honestly below average imo. The broth had very little flavor and they used spaghetti noodles instead of actual ramen noodles (that were also mushy and overcooked), that also should have been cooked al dente. A good ramen noodle always has a little bounce to it. The pork was probably the best bit of the soup and that's because Ireland has incredibly good quality pork products. My wife ordered the eel rice and it was cooked kind of weird compared to what we're used to. Usually when you get an eel bowl in the states or even in certain places in Japan, it should be crunchy and also sweet, but this bowl was mushy and didn't have a ton of flavor either. I think the best thing we ordered was probably the Korokke because how can you go wrong with a deep fried croquette? All in all we felt this was a disappointing and below average dining experience and we will not be returning here. They were super busy so I'm not going to get into service and atmosphere, but it was mostly fine. Honestly, how this place has a 4.5 is beyond me, but I guess when Irish people aren't exposed to a plethora of really good Japanese restaurants then you get an inflated...

as a frequent customer both myself and daugther return this afternoon for a bite to eat. all was delicious. I asked for the bill and a member of staff brought it to me table stood behind me as i got the money from my purse which i found quite inappropriate anyways she ask was I paying cash or card - I told her cash my bill came to 53euro I left 60 euro 50 and ten euro in two.

myself and my young daugther left the restaurant and as we were walking up the road to our car. I could hear someone shouting as I turned around one of the staff members was running toward us saying we didn't pay the total bill. explained the situation and how much I left including tip- was very embarrassing for us as people walking by were staring! she just said ok and left!

we have dined in this restaurant many times and recommend to friend but not sure if we would return again...