Sushi Roll Double quotation Iki — Restaurant in Osaka

Great spot and great experience!

If you are looking for a quiet place to have some food then this isn’t the place for you. This is more of an interactive sushi experience.

The restaurant itself is tiny - 4 small bar stools and a small table for two, with a couple of seats on the pavement and that’s it.

The owner and chef speaks good English as worked in California as a sushi chef 25 years ago. Since it’s just him in a tiny kitchen area, he prefers that you order the 3 sushi set and let him pick what sushi he makes for you, but you can also order whatever you want if you like - the menu is extensive. Since we were a group of four (all vegetarians) this was absolutely fine by us as it’s a very labour intensive dish to make. We had the green tea, natto and spicy veg rolls which were all great.

The chef is super friendly and chatty, and talks to you about Japan and the local Osaka dialect while preparing your food. We really enjoyed this aspect of the meal as since the place is so small it would have felt awkward without some good chat.

The sushi itself was nicely presented and really tasty and it is genuinely incredible how he manages to produce food of that quality in the space he has.

Super cheap prices compared to the UK, and drinks were very reasonably priced too. There is a 400Y service charge if you don’t order drinks which I think is totally fair enough as given how tiny the place is he’s not making loads off the food alone.

All in all a great fun experience with good food and properly vegan/veggie friendly since he’s worked in the US. Huge variety of meat and fish sushi...

the owner of the store is very nice, he likes to talk. i read on reddit that this place has american-style sushi, which is exactly what i was looking for. just be warned that this place is like a shoebox in size. i wasn’t really expecting that, was looking more at the sushi photos than the actual place.

i have an avocado allergy, and i asked him if he would be able to make the sushi according to my preference, to which he kind of made a big deal out of. he said multiple times how tired he is and how badly he wanted to go home, which made me feel bad for asking him to make me a sushi roll with cooked shrimp and no avocado. i like customizing my rolls, if you do too, i don’t think this is the place for you. he made me feel bad for asking it to be customized. he spent more time talking than he did making the sushi. don’t get me wrong, he was nice and all but we had just come back from a 9 hour day trip and just wanted to eat in peace.

while he was talking and making our sushi, i saw THE BIGGEST ROACH OF MY LIFE, right behind him, on the wall and near the food. i showed my significant other and at that point, we were about to run out of his place. we lost our appetites right then and there.

cleanliness of this place = -10/100 food = 4/10 friendliness of staff = 7/10

do i recommend this place? no not really especially after seeing that...

Found this place when looking for vegetarian sushi, ended up being the best meal I had in Japan. The chef is an incredibly friendly Japanese man who speaks great English and chats with you throughout the whole meal while he prepares your food. Asks you about dietary requirements when you come in (and knows the specific concerns with fish/egg/disguised animal products) and points you to the correct parts of the menu. Despite all that he convinced us to just have a drink and let him decide what we should have! Also gives a great Japanese/specific Osaka dialect lesson! The most friendly, warm and inviting dinner atmosphere I've had in Japan (which is saying something considering how friendly and polite everyone is). Would recommend to all vegetarians/vegans feeling left out of an authentic Japanese dining experience! Will definitely be coming back to see him when I'm...