Izanami Restaurant — Restaurant in Four Corners States

I have never been to a restaurant that appeared so inconvenienced to allow me to eat there.

My husband and I were in Santa Fe for the weekend and decided we wanted sushi. We looked at Open Table and there were tables available here every 15 minutes from 5:00 to the end of the night. Given there was so much availability, we decided we would just head over to the restaurant.

We decided to leave our hotel at 5:45pm. I checked Open Table again to make sure things didn’t book up. They didn’t. Tables were still open every 15 minutes. We head to the restaurant and get there around 6:10.

We check in with the host. There are three of them standing there. When we ask for a table for 2 and tell them we didn’t have a reservation, they were surprised and muttered something about they will check and see what they can do. They tell us they can’t seat us for at least an hour because they “prioritize reservations.” We look around and there were a bunch of empty tables inside the restaurant. I also tell them about Open Table and that there are tables open every 15 minutes. They said 7:15 was the best they could do. I pull Open Table up and show it to them. We were then sat immediately.

They sat us outside, which was fine. Outside had at least 5 tables open. They put us in the middle of the room, directly under a huge outdoor ceiling heater. It was on and blasting hot air. My husband immediately turned beat red and started sweating. I was in a sweater and leggings and started to get pretty uncomfortable.

I flagged a server and asked to move to a table on the side of the room, away from the heater. They grumbled I would need to talk to the host. I found a host and asked her. She muttered she needed to “check” because they were busy and walked away. We asked 2 other people who said they didn’t have the authority to help us. The hostess came back. She offered to move us 2 tables over but still directly under the heater. We said that wouldn’t solve the issue.

Someone else came back and offered to turn the heater off. We said that would work. However, the old couple next to us complained. So they said they would alternate having the heater on and off. Alternating wouldn’t work. This thing was hellfire hot. I’m not sure how anyone could sit under this thing.

They sat another couple at a table that would have worked for us. We asked for the same table next to them. They said they couldn’t do that because they had a 3-top coming. We asked for the same table across the room. They wouldn’t do that because they were combining it with another table to accommodate a larger party.

They said there was nothing they could do. We just had to deal with the heat. And then they just stared at us. We decided that instead of melting under the heater, we would leave. The host, in the most condescending voice I have ever heard and with a huge smile on his face said “sorry, my friends.”

The vibe of this place was awful. The host staff seemed entitled and on a power trip. The entire experience was weird and uncomfortable. Generally, I have liked the food here but I don’t ever want to feel like a place is doing me a favor when I go there to eat or like I’m a bad person because I don’t want to enjoy my meal in an environment hotter than hell. If you do choose to go, make sure you book a table so you won’t be treated like a second class citizen.

Just a note to end - we ended up heading to Geronimo. They were and have been fully booked. We told the hostess we didn’t have a reservation but asked if they could accommodate 2 people. They did. Right away. With a smile.

At the end of our meal, we thanked them for being so accommodating. She told us they understand that booking ahead doesn’t always work for everyone’s lives and schedules and they try to have a few tables to accommodate those individuals. This type of response and accommodation was so kind and...

Well... it was my first time and I don't know that it was great or lived up to my expectations based on what people had told me. To me, the higher the price, the higher my elitism increases and the demands for a great experience. My girlfriend and I fight all the time when I tell her there are no great restaurants in Santa Fe and she points at all the awards they win - that may be so, but in reality, the food is not up to par with the price or what I love most: "The Experience". Izunami started with two clearly unqualified hostess at the front that are not welcoming or elegant at all. They showed me to my table in the same way the Denny's host would do it. "Here you go". The place is pretty, but again, not "wow" like people make it up to be. I was surprised at how casual people were dressed - shabby in most instances - sorry, that is my elitism increasing equivalently to the quality and price. The room we were sat in is very unimpressive. It doesn't provide intimacy for a date night like we were in. The lamps hanging above you make you feel you are out in the open, little table lamps are much more private and romantic. The booth cushions were not only lose, but very grimmy. The floors are not clean and the table a little sticky. Table settings were not fabulous - paper napkins, not cloth and a tray with salt, pepper and soy sauce placed on the table without any style. Waitress came over and asked "How we are feeling" one of the ten same questions during the night. She is a nice girl but her and the rest of the staff all dressed in wrinkled clothes and all different tones of black - you would think the restaurant would have custom clothing and a uniform service ensuring everyone looks crisp and professional. All very nice, but all clearly not trained in the art of Japanese cousine and service. Waitress had a bit of a superior attitude and failed to lure us into some great drinks, suggest an appetizer or create an ice breaker. In the tiny booth we were given, the three of us felt crowded. She finally suggested a beer that we thougth was Japanese, turned out it was as the drinks server put it: "A combination between Blue Moon and Modelo" - very dissapointing. We orderded several things - first came the sushi rolls. It is my understanding that because of the methods used to build these beautiful treats, they are supposed to stay put together as you pick them up with chopsticks... all of these fell apart at the first sign of pressure that we had to pick them up with our fork - dissapointing. The flavors were not flavorful - at all. The sake presentation also not traditional, a flsk of sake thrown in an ice bucket. The paper thin beef slices to cook on the 500 degree rock at the table, the beef was of very low quality and hard to manage, they were so thin. Sauces had no flavor at all! The caesar salad was very delicious - but not really a japanese dish, and how do you screw up salad? Waitress stopped coming by and we had to keep calling her over to her response: "How are we feeling?" Weird. Desert - hazelnut sponge cake was SENSATIONAL. Final bill - $200. Our sushi place downtown Santa Fe is so much better presented and served and twice the quality would be around $120. I don't mean to be critical - but this place should be impeccable and an experience you won't forget - it hasn't been 12 hours, I have already forgotten it. Besides, it was my girlfriend's birthday and what I expected her to experience wasn't great. She has been there many times and she too was dissapointed. A LOT OF ROOM FOR...

Food: although their website claims to be innovative fusion, I found the innovative part to be lacking. I’ll go into depth about each dish below.

Sake: the sake menu did not disappoint. Many of the selection are very hard to get from any liquor store in the states. If you’re like me and can’t decide which one to get, try their sake flight.

Service: either the server misheard me or I misheard them when I asked about what’s in a sake flight. Whatever came out was different than what they pointed out. Apart from that, the service was unpeccable.

Udon: this is essentially cooked and seasoned in a way that a pasta dish would be cooked, but with udon noodles instead of pasta. There is no soup to speak of, but a thick creamy sauce. It’s not a very innovative dish. The taste is ok. It’s very filling though, I’d get it to compensate for their other food portion. Just note there isn’t a lot of protein in this one. 4/5 recommend.

Ahi tuna tostada: it may look avant-garde but honestly this is just 5 really thin slices of tuna slapped on top of some sliced veggies slapped on top of one crunchy piece of tortilla. It’s so bulky it won’t fit into your mouth when you bite. I don’t really understand the avocado addition (it’s also not very ripe) because it’s such a different flavor from the tuna. It’s a bland dish without any kind of seasoning. 0/5 recommend.

Beef carpaccio: not on the regular menu, but the beef is really fresh. I like how they mince it with onions. Small portion. Not the most exciting flavors but it tastes good. For the price at $26 it’s not really worth it. 3.5/5 recommend.

Chocolate tart: It’s good, just not special. The chocolate is not overwhelmingly sweet.

Hojicha pannacotta: this is my favorite dish of the night, which is funny because it’s not even an actual meal. The pannacotta has a faint tea taste and the consistency is so good. They have hojicha syrup to top it(homemade I presume) which pairs really nice with the milk flavor. Not very sweet which is nice. I’ve never had anything like this before. 5/5 recommend.

Overall the food isn’t atrocious, but for the price point and the marketing of how luxurious the resort is I’m honestly expecting WAY better. The small food portion also is a turn off. One cannot be pricey and small and bland all at the same time. If half of what I order is hit or miss, I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend people to try this place. While the plating looks good, it’s not like I can’t get that elsewhere. Maybe other dishes are better, but I just cannot recommend some of the dishes I mentioned above. I don’t really understand the hype around this restaurant. They either need to make the food better or lower the price. I feel like there is so much to work with with Japanese and Latin American flavors, but most of the plates just seem like a substituting game where instead of pasta you use udon noodles and instead of whatever you put in a tostada you use avocados. There isn’t really a pairing of flavors and a true immersion of cultures. It is quite disappointing. If I come back it’ll be for the sake.

Seating: there was not a lot of people at around 9pm. They have those tatami seats that you need to take off shoes for, but we weren’t seated there. Not sure if you can...