Ikura Asian House — Restaurant in East Longmeadow

Atmosphere was nice, quiet, dimly lit for an intimate dinner experience. The place was clean and decorated nicely.

Service was subpar. Our server did not leave any memorable impression on us and gave poor recommendations that she admitted were based on her experience at another restaurant.

Ordered: Chicken Lettuce wraps Ginger salad Sushi deluxe Rainbow Roll Thai Drunken Spicy Noodles (per recommendation)

The Lettuce wraps were on the sweeter side but overall bland. It was not seasoned well and seemed like the chicken and veggies were tossed with a store bought jar of teriyaki sauce.

The ginger salad was unique, never tasted any version like this. It was on the salty side. Didn't love it but didn't hate it. Seems like a pretty standard menu item for a sushi restaurant to not do right though.

The dinner portion of our experience was where the low rating comes in. The sushi looked appealing to the eye with the exception of the mackerel being cut extremely large and having a large piece of skin remaining.

With the exception of roe or some other flavorless garnish, I've never had any sushi topped with anything that could manipulate the flavor of my fish until coming here. The mackerel seemed to have almost a cooked taste to it, semi smokey and the red snapper seemed to have had lime added to it. Every piece had something on it that would, in my opinion, skew it's natural flavor profile.

The rainbow roll looked appealing but upon tasting it, it felt overencumbered by avocado.

Finally, the Thai spicy drunken noodles, let me just say, they should remove the word spicy from the menu; it was not spicy in the least. Additionally, it was sweet and bland, almost as if the same sauce that had been used for the Lettuce wraps was the same disappointing sauce used with this dish. My wife and I had one bite each and unfortunately pushed it aside. When the server asked how it was we expressed not liking it. We said it was on the sweeter side and lacked any heat at all. The server then admitted her recommendation was based on another restaurant's drunken noodles and that she had never experienced these.

It was an unfortunate experience considering it came highly recommended by someone. My rated is reflective of the...

I LOVE Ikura!

Ok, so let me tell you about this amazing place so that if you're wondering whether or not you should try it, maybe I can convince YOU to discover the wonderful culinary delights of Ikura.

First off, the owners and their wait staff are extremely accommodating, friendly, efficient, and personable.

The ambiance is refined, and the sound-absorbing acoustics are perfect, making it the perfect place for a first date, an anniversary celebration, getting together with friends, etc.

That alone tells you that you have found the right place.

Their sushi bar is five star and is both capable and well-staffed.

The appetizers, soups and side salads are second to none, as are their bar offerings.

And finally, the entrees: everything they make at Ikura is made with only the freshest ingredients, from the vegetables to the produce and the proteins, such that every bite absolutely POPS with flavor, each bite inviting yet another bite.

It's one of those places where time passes way too quickly and you find yourself wishing that it could go on forever.

There's always a good crowd when I go there, so the word is definitely out about this place, but for those of you who have not yet heard, you're missing out!

So grab your honey, call your buddy, or make a date with some friends and head to Ikura for some of the best Asian cuisine that you'll ever know.

And then maybe YOU'LL be inspired to write a review of...

Star deducted for atmosphere and some food. Overall decent experience. Decent server, good sashimi. We ordered 2 Thai teas, Spicy mango chicken, Bulgogi, Japchae

Philly roll Monkey monkey roll

Sashimi: Hamachi White tuna Unagi Tako Ika Tobiko Fluke 2 o toro

Iced tea tased like Lipton with sweet cream. Spicy mango chicken had a lot of bread for the ratio of chicken but the sauce was good. The Korean dishes were phenomenal. The Philly roll was about half cream cheese, which was a bit much texturally given the sliver of smoked salmon. The flavor on the smoked salmon was amazing, however. The monkey roll was worth trying, but will never get that again. Depicted online with a flavor infusion, but apparently that was “just for the photo”. I was a fan of the octopus despite its appearance. I’m used to baba with more thickly cut, more watery, salty, and chewy texture and flavor. The thin cut octopus and milder flavor was appreciated by myself. The white tuna was great in both flavor and texture, I was not prepared for that one to be cooked! Unfortunately, they were out of o toro and fluke. The people who make the rolls and prepare the fish were eager to see our reactions with our large order, but I was not very pleased having two people stare as we ate (odd, dated layout). Overall, very fresh and reasonably priced. I would return for a quick, more local meal (especially the entrees) with different seats, to try...