Japans restaurant ISSHIN — Restaurant in Amsterdam

FABULOUS Japanese spot. Cute and small and cozy, sort of takes you out of Amsterdam and puts you in an illusion that you’re in one of the many small foodspots in Japan. Staff were incredibly nice and patient when we had issues with payment. Great selection of Japanese beers. Food-wise they focus on fried foods with rice and side dishes - so in my experience no ramens or sushi - which is good because it means they specialize. What they do serve, they serve well. Gyozas were okay, but the takoyaki were delicious with generous octopus filling and a nice creamy oozy center. I would recommend getting one of the set menus with pork or shrimp cutlet or karaage, as the fried goods were of good quality, perfectly crispy and flavourful, and is good value with the side dishes. Would not recommend the seafood rice bowl as for 18 euros you only get a rice and a blob of mixed fried seafood that is not even close to the size of the cutlets in the set menus. Be sure to make a...

Underwhelming. I ordered chicken katsu curry, which tasted overly sweet and flat. The chicken katsu itself lacked seasoning and was bland. My husband ordered unagi don with miso soup, and the sauce used to cook the eel was also too sweet. The miso soup wasn’t even hot, just lukewarm.

We don’t understand the 5-star reviews for this place. Is it because people don’t know what good food tastes like, they can’t cook at home, or they’re just extremely hungry after exploring Amsterdam? For the price, quality, and overall experience, especially being crammed into a tiny old space where diners at nearby tables keep coughing nonstop, we don’t think it’s justified.

To make things worse, I got food poisoning from their food. We really don’t understand what’s wrong with some...

NOT Recommending. For 30-40 eur per person, there are much better options around the district. The Tofu we orderred is way too salty, all the umami is coverred by the saltiness. The Iberico pork cutlet is a thicker pieces than their normal fried pork cutlet which should thereotically contain more juice and "easier" to cook, but unfortunately this is not the case. It is terribly dry. The fried chicken I straight away can tell it is ready-made food cooked by a air frier which I have no problem with. But the crust is still soggy... and does not come with mayo which is an extra charge of 1 euro...okay... Everthing on the menu are more or less homestyle food which is quite basic and ofc can be complicated if aim for it. Yet, they still fail to make the...