This place has great food and a fantastic happy hour. Their onigiri is a huge grilled riceball that pairs perfectly with their meat. Not pictured but we also got the grapefruit chu-hi which was also delicious. If you're craving Japanese barbecue on a budget this is your spot. read more

See all

Great izakaya spot in Wallingford. Decent size skewers. 4:30-6:30 is their happy hour and they've got cheap prices for skewers and drinks! read more

See all

This is probably the 3rd time I have been at Issian. The previous two times I found the place super busy, often needing to wait quite a while before being seated and in addition, the place had a weird smell to it. I returned last night after probably two years, and had a great experience. The weird smell disappeared, and the food here is really good. Issian's special thing is probably the skewers. We ordered the baby octopus, chicken skin and pork belly skewers to start. The baby octopuses are small ones but are delicious. Must eat right when it came out so it's hot. Once it's cold then it starts tasting a bit fishy. I would highly recommend the chicken skin skewers. They are tender and smooth--very good texture. The JFC (Japanese fried chicken) is just the normal fried chicken. Crispy but a bit tasteless. Good but not a must-try. But, we really enjoyed the red dragon rolls. The taste is very balanced. Overall, it's a great place to go on a date or to catch up with your friends while having some yummy food. Happy hour starts from 4:30-6:30 and from 9:00 to closing. Friends warned me that it would be hard to find parking but I had no problem finding a spot on a Tuesday night at 7pm. We made a reservation for 7pm but it didn't seem like it was needed when we walked in. Though occasionally it was hard to get the server's attention. Granted, we were seated in the corner seat. read more

See all

This is a great spot for happy hour and yakitori. Small skewers of meat and veggies stone grilled and served with warm house sake makes for an ideal social and relaxing meal. Issian is located on 45th in the Wallingford neighborhood. Street parking is available so make sure to bring your parallel parking skills. Happy hour is from 4:30PM to 6:30PM and take out order is not offered from that menu. The happy hour prices were surprisingly cheap. The Kushiyaki/Yakitori menu was also cheap however there is a minimum of 2 skewers per order. We tried the following: Yakitori: Tender pieces of chicken thighs basted and grilled in special sauce. Absolutely delicious and we ended up ordering four more skewers. Yakiton: Tender slices of pork belly that seems to melt with every bite. The flavors of grilled meat and pork was delicious and rich. Tsukune: Minced chicken basted in savory sauce with a hint of citrus. This was my favorite amongst all of our selections. Mushroom Bacon: Though a simple process to make, the flavors were wonderful. The bacon was lightly crisp and mushrooms was still juicy. Maguro avocado Tartare: The texture was almost processed. There was not much flavor aside from the avocados. Perhaps a drizzle of sesame oil and a little salt would do the trick. Grilled Kalbi: Grilled to perfection and also melts in your mouth. I wish I had ordered a bowl of rice to accompany this dish. House Sake: I ordered a large House Sake. The serving bottle was enough for 5 sake cups. I thought this was an ideal drink to go with the delicious yakitori. My final thoughts on Issian are excellent selections, affordable, and wonderful place for a group happy hour. read more

See all

This month it's been pretty normal to find me at their sushi bar, enjoying a book and a 1/2 order of omakase sashimi. I don't normally get much attention from the female waitresses, but the sushi chefs always take great care of me. They keep the delicious fish coming, and occasionally get a waitress to come visit me if I'd like to order some sake or a beer. Normally I just stick to water, though. No need to get distracted from the delicious fish! My favorite things to order: 1/2 omakase sashimi and one-type sashimi plates from the board. If I'm really hungry, I get the sashimi over rice. Every once in a while I also get an order of miso soup. They probably have some other delicious things, but I just have a hard time ordering anything that's not raw fish here. My first visit was with a group of Yelpers, and we had what I believe was the tuna collar. It wasn't something I'd normally order or eat (because I normally dislike cooked fish), but it was pretty tasty, huge, and only about $7.50! I still have a few Wallingford sushi spots to try (someday), but so far Issian is definitely my favorite spot for sashimi in the neighborhood. read more

See all

Located in the heart of Wallingford, Issian offers some seriously yummy izakaya, aka Japanese tapas! It's definitely one of the more underrated joints in the area and I intend to return more often in 2019-- NEW YEAR NEW ME. Japanese is arguably my favorite type of food because of how diverse the cuisine is and Issian does an excellent job serving just that. At first glance, the menu seems endless: hot and cold plates, large and small portions, with everything from sushi to noodz to grilled goods. Wish it had more pics. Of the items that I've tried, I highly recommend the grilled tuna collar and creamy mentaiko udon. The tuna is nice n thicc and the udon is deliciously rich. Be sure to also get one of their many imported sakes if you're up for it. There's a ton of options and they're numerically rated from dry to sweet. Food aside, the space and service could be better. Air ventilation is not great with how much grilling goes on in the kitchen and service is good when you're able to get the staff's attention. As sweet and hardworking as the servers are, they seem super rushed and orders are sometimes forgotten or out of order. Itadakimasu! read more

Pretty good yakatori and beer. If you are hankering for skewers, from chicken to pork belly to octopus, the goods here are super salty and pair well with beer. The food here ranges from good to average depending on what you order. We had a mixed poke dish with salmon, avocado, tuna and yellowtail with some nice tang. Other items included some heavy tasting agadashi tofu, two orders of inexpensive, just-okay maki. The beef happy hour side was salty and bone-in. They mistakenly brought a big tempura order to our table, which was staggering in size. The smaller order we got later was still substantial. The server at our table was inexperienced, but others came to check in on us who knew their stuff. I appreciate all the greetings and goodbyes here announcing customer comings and goings. This is a decent option for Japanese bar food in Seattle, keeping in mind its a-okay. read more

Issian - Issian wall art. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

Really good food. A very busy restaurant. Wait time is little bit long but definitely worth it. read more

Issian - Agedashi Tofu. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My overall rating is for the entire dining experience. I wanted to love this place. When I drive by there is always a line of people waiting outside. But unfortunately their ventilation was terrible that it ruined my dining experience. When I arrived the restaurant was about a third full. I ordered a selection of items from the menu. The food was all very good (4/5) Small portions, but everything had great flavor and tasted fresh. Unfortunately by the time I was done with my meal the restaurant was very smoky. My clothes and hair smelled like cooked food. If they could improve their ventilation, this place would be awesome! read more

Really good authentic Japanese. You know it's the real deal when they specify "Osaka style okonomiyaki." (It differs greatly by regions in Japan. Osaka style is considered the birthplace of okonomi, and, while I'm mostly partial to hiroshima style, I love that they specified.) Stone grill gives good flavor. Uni cream udon here is fantastic. So are oysters, tenpura, seared saba sushi (so fluffy!), shishamo, geso, beef tongue were also all really tasty. read more

See all

Loved the grilled tuna belly really incredible. Never had anything like it before very juicy and tasty. read more

Issian - Grilled tuna belly. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

My dining experience recently at Kingyo, a great Japanese izakaya in Vancouver inspired me to try out izakayas in Seattle. This led me to visit Issian in Wallingford for happy hour. Issian's menu offerings is quite varied. They have robatayaki, sushi, sashimi and izakaya fare. Issian offers a daily happy hour from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. The happy hour menu is quite lengthy and it is reasonably priced. There are many offerings on it that are $5 or less. They also offer pints of Sapporo and Pike Brewing's Kilt Lifter for $3. Sake and wine are also on special. Upon arriving, you need to wait to be seated. The interior is quite spacious with high ceilings. I was seated at the sushi bar and would recommend this. What is cool about sitting here is that the staff brings you the food by placing it on a big serving paddle which you then grab your dish off of. The regular menu has quite a number of interesting dishes. If it is happy hour time, you might want to order some happy hour items with a few from the regular menu. On this visit, I ordered strictly from the happy hour menu. Tried the Japanese Fried Chicken (JFC) salad ($5 HH), an order of takoyaki ($4 HH), yakitori ($1 HH), yakiton ($1 HH) and a pint of Sapporo to wash it down. The JFC salad is really large for a happy hour eat. In fact, it comes on a big plate. The salad consists of JFC on top of spinach leaves covered with a creamy dressing. The chicken is nicely fried and doesn't taste oily which was good. If you are dining alone here and order this, don't order too many other things otherwise you won't be able eat everything. The takoyaki here is great. The dish was full of bonito flakes on top. The takoyaki has a nice gooey on the inside texture. And most importantly, they tasted fresh. Not like they were premade/previously frozen. For those who don't know what yakitori and yakiton are, they are barbecue skewers. Yakitori is chicken and yakiton is pork belly. Both were really good. I like the the preparation that they used on the skewers. And they give you this special salt on the side to dip the skewers in. Since they are only $1 each, it is worthwhile to order several since they are inexpensive. If you are looking for a reasonably priced happy hour in Wallingford with a nice selection of Japanese food offerings and a cool dining experience, I would recommend Issian. read more

See all

Sooooo good! I wish I had a bigger stomach that could carry more food. I wanted to try more broil fish next time. Agdashi tofu was just so so, but not bad. Everything else I ordered was very delicious. I would highly recommend broil items and yakitori paired with sake. Definitely will visit this place again:) read more

See all

This is what I've been looking for, I lived in Seattle for 3 years now, and didn't even know that seattle has a place like this. Their kushiyaki is really affordable, atmosphere is really amazing. I feel like I will be their regular soon read more

My recommendations: -Yakiton (pork belly) only $1 per skewer during happy hour! -Maguro Kama (tuna collar) less than $8 for a HUGE portion!!! -Shumai (fried) $3 during happy hour I also had the maguro avocado tartar which was OK and the tekka maki and hamachi maki which were both good too. We had reservations for 6 people on a Sunday at 5pm and it was empty upon arrival. Happy Hour was until 6:30pm so we had a lot of time to order a lot of yummy food! Service was good although they kept bringing over plates of stuff we didn't order. Also they could only split our checks into 2 so that was a little bit of a hassle. Bring cash if you plan on splitting the bill with friends! Side note: We parked around the block for free and also grabbed Molly Moons since it was right next door :) read more

Small plates, yakitori, and sushi - highly recommended. Delicious grilled meat on a stick - especially the pork belly and chicken! For the first time, kiddo and I sat at the sushi counter area during this visit on 6/12/15 and it was great to see the food prep action up close. The yellowtail and scallop were delicious! read more

One of the places where I think you should research your menu before ordering! My taste were AMBUSHED by the pungent pickled ginger and bonito flakes and couldn't taste the bland dough or the sparse bits of squid in my Squid Okonomiyaki. Also the Spicy Tuna Roll was nothing special but really you can't mess that up. Overall food is mediocre. My friends did really enjoy their creamy (Mentaiko?) udon and their kalbi ribs. However my personal experience felt otherwise. The servers were incredibly nice with accommodating for my friend's birthday and the homemade cheesecake so that's definitely a +1 star for good service! Thank you so much to the servers for making my experience a lot better than it could have been! read more

See all

Issian was one of the first restaurants I visited after moving to Seattle, and had since become one of my favorite spots for almost any occasion. The wait time can be a little on the longer side depending on what you order especially if you're ready to eat, but the wait is ALWAYS worth it. The menu has a lot to choose from, like skewers, sushi, noodles, and whole grilled fish that come out perfectly. It's a great place to come and grab a beer with friends or share a meal with family! read more

Japanese American with the scales leaning towards Japanese! Great happy hour menu and great sushi and more. The Venue is pretty homey with its dark wood. Our round table was kinda in the way and not the best but the booths around the restaurant look really nice. The decorations are all Japanese inspired and the staff seem to be of Japanese descent or Japanese enthusiasts (yes I'm stereotyping but it helps). The happy hour menu was great. A handful of selections for 3$,4$,5$. We ordered a bunch of apps on the happy menu and then a sushi roll as meals. The takoyaki and gyoza were pretty standard. Their croquette was just one big croquette and tasted like ketchup which was weird but still good. The shumai wasn't my favorite since it didn't have pork but the table liked it. The sushi rolls themselves were a little disappointing. They were cheap volcano 7$ but it wasn't much more than a spicy tuna Maki with a spray of spicy mayo and sriracha. I guess my pallet is too American now but I like the sushi with a little crunch and a little extra pizazz! read more

Ordered here recently for takeout and most of the fish wasn't very fresh. We ordered sashimi for albacore, yellowfin, salmon, and another fish (can't remember) and also a rainbow roll and veggie roll. Other than the salmon (which I feel like HAS to be fresh since we're in WA), all the other fish disappointed. There are much better places that consistently deliver good quality fish that tastes fresh, so for the price, it was kinda a bummer. The veggie roll was fine, but since this is a sushi place, I don't place much weight on that. read more

Good sushi at a good price. They have a solid happy hour menu - we really enjoyed the yakitori and croquette. Great service!

Their happy hour menu is amaaazing one of the best! Some of the skewers were a bit dry but other than that everything on fbe HH menu was delicious. read more

Issian - Happy hour - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

To start with, the Asahi lager beer did not have any foam on the top and lacked the carbonation that the beer should have had. We ordered several items. The edamame was undercooked and still hard. The agedashi tofu was not even hot inside, the chicken wings were way too salty, the takoyaki tasted liked there was mashed potatoes inside and the outside was over fried. One good thing was their yakitori, though the size was much smaller than ones I'm used to. I know things cannot be compared to food from Japan but with chefs who were obviously Japanese, I would expect higher quality in their foods, or at least give me good beer. Will not be going back there. read more

Truly a gem! Amazing, authentic Japanese food. They're always busy though so you need to arrive early

Walking into this place, I was immediately greeted with enthusiastic Japanese "Welcome!" and with the delicious smell of yakiniku (grilled meat). The decor itself is nothing special but the open kitchen where you can see the food being grilled as well as the many Japanese servers and chefs, and Japanese words of menu items written on a board on a wall add an ambience of authenticity. There is no parking lot but plenty of easy parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. We ordered Creamy Mentaiko Udon (flavorful, creamy, al dente noodles - must try!), large Japanese beef bowl (sweet flavorful meat, well-sauced rice), and some things from the Happy Hour menu - shrimp tempura roll (yummy but nothing incredible, wish there was more filling than rice), pork belly skewer (delicious, cooked perfectly, has grilled flavor seeped perfectly into it, a bit small). Overall I recommend coming here for the Happy Hour and the Udon. Next time I'll try the Creamy Uni Udon! read more

See all

Fried potato's look is deceiving for something so delicious. A carb addicts dream come true! Use that sauce! Bacon wrapped quail egg is like breakfast on a stick, so good! Veggie roll has the right crunch that lets you know the veggies are fresh and justifies your diet plans--makes you feel better after all those potatoes and bacon. Orange roll has that juicy appeal, especially with those salmon eggs! Again, tastes fresh! Potato salad consists of cold noodle-like potatoes with sesame sauce and green onions. Crisp and tasty! Despite the frantic rush of orders the staff are polite. Give those guys a pat on the back! Wait time is a bit long during busy hours (30-40minutes Friday night at 7pm) but the food is worth the wait! read more

See all

Overall, the restaurant was about average. The wait time was long and the tables small for this restaurant, and the servers not particularly attentive in terms of the bill, which was odd. However, even with small portion sizes for a lot of items, the food was good, especially the tempura don and skewers. Although I likely wouldn't jump at the chance to go again, the food is decent and the servers did their best to fit our group in and bring orders promptly. read more

See all

My SO & I have been coming here for years as our date night spot. Okay, to be exact, we've been going here for 7 years! Here are our go-tos: - Yakatori: must order in pairs & even our picky 3 year old can't resist. Bacon wrapped asparagus? YESS - Tuna belly or any of their grilled fish: we love the tuna belly. The tuna collar used to be our go to order but they've stopped offering this :( - Hot Sake: we always order this mainly because they let you choose your own sake glass! The server will come to your table with a big basket that filled with different sake cups for you to choose. I like this cute detail so we always order sake so we can choose the cups! read more

Came here on a Friday night for Happy Hour. Ordered a bunch of grill items, all of which were absolutely delicious. (We got pork, chicken, baby octopus and mushroom wrapped in bacon) The mushroom wrapped in bacon is probably the only one I'd skip next time. Also got the tuna tar tar, octopus carpaccio, takoyaki and koroke. Honestly everything was really good and the price was decent due to happy hour. The only thing that erks me here is the service. Every time I come here I am astonished by how bad the service is. So overall the food is great (4 star) but the service is consistently bad (3 star). read more

See all

We came across Issian unintentionally as another restaurant was closed. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ESTABLISHMENT! Wonderful service.. our waitress Kuniko was attentive, thorough and very pleasant! She deserves a raise~ The food was exceptional. I loved the mentaiko udon and the seasoned chicken wings (very savory). I hope to come back here!~ read more

See all

I so wanted to love Issian! Japanese grilling is my jam, and whenever I stumble across a restaurant that offers food on a stick, I'm in. But after my first dinner at Issian, my experience was left with something to be desired. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it. I guess you could say I was just a lil disappointed! Their omakase was okay - nothing to go home and rave about. Same could be said for their oysters. It wasn't as fresh as oysters that I've had previously so maybe my standards were just too high! The octopus and chicken thigh on a stick was probably the highlight of our meal! BUT ON THE REAL, what I wanted this review to be about was the uni cream udon. I love uni, I love creamy soups, and I love udon, so what could go wrong? The answer to that would be the bitter aftertaste of the soup. It was just weird and not at all how I expected it to be. But the kitchen was really nice about sending it back, so that was super cool of them! To wrap up, I'll probably won't be back any time soon when there's so many other Japanese restaurants in the area. But hey, if you're like me and into food on sticks, this would totally be your place! read more

Issian is one of my favorite Izakaya restaurants in Seattle! Affordable, great staff, tasty food and hip vibe - makes me feel like I'm in Tokyo! Everything in the menu is great (they also have HH and late night HH) but my must orders are always fries with wasabi mayo, yakitori, pork belly yakitori, crispy chicken wings (you'll want at least two orders), hamachi or salmon kama, Issian roll, omakase for two. Right now they are also offering takeout of bento boxes and bowls which are both amazing. read more

This is a recent update. It's hard to explain, but I expect Thai restaurants to be more authentic than they probably can be, and stay in business around here. I'll hush about authentic. I'm only somewhat familiar with two regions anyway. One Thai restaurant owner in Houston was getting tired of me asking if he had this and that that I'd had in Thailand. He sighs and says, "Good food in Thailand, yes?" It was a rhetorical question. Shut up and take another trip to Thailand already, was his basic jist. So Issarn has the concept of serving regional Thai dishes, including from Issarn, you won't find anywhere else, and a few familiar noodle dishes. They do that as well as can be done here. The servers are very attentive, and fun. I encourage joking with them to provoke the same easy smiles and banter you might get in Thailand. We sat at the bar this time. The bartender was super busy mixing/pouring drinks, but if I asked for something she practically dropped everything to run get it. The last time, I finally told her it was OK to wait till she had a breather. I ordered their red snapper dish. It was fantastic. A whole Fish filleted, cut in pieces and deep fried. Served in a bowl made out the bones and head, fried into a circle. Next time I may order that as a shareable dish. That's enough fish for two. Served with a tangy ginger and sweet sauce. The corn, onions, arugula, and cabbage salad was awesome as was the minced mushroom appetizer. All washed down one of my most favorite lager beers, Singha. read more

We decided to order take out but next time we will try dining in. We ordered quite a few things.... we got two side salads with the sesame dressing, chicken karage, fried tofu, and the beef with onions. It was all so good considering we ate about 30 min laters. The food kept really well. Great place to get your Japanese food craving. read more

Issian - Entry waiting area - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

LOOOVE ISSIAN. Yes, it gets busy but that's what happens when word about good food gets around. :)

Went with a group of friends for happy hour, and three out of four of us got food poisoning. The only thing the three of us ate in common were the grilled chicken and pork skewers. Perhaps they were undercooked, or handled improperly? The three of us had debilitating abdominal pain/cramping for 1-2 days and one of us had to go to the ER :( read more

overall good food to share with friends though the indoors does get very smokey as there's not a lot of ventilation.

Izakaya, Izakaya, Izakaya! Ok, now that I have your attention: Issian is an izakaya-style restaurant in the heart of Wallingford. This area has quite a variety of restaurants and places for quick eats. We came here today on MLK Day right at 4:30pm, which is when it opens, as well as when Happy Hour starts and goes until 6:30pm. The Happy Hour menu is decent: we got the Seaweed Salad, Fries with Wasabi Mayo, Yakitori (fried bird on a stick), Yakiton (pork belly on a stick), Drunk Clams, Grilled Onigiri (NOT on Happy Hour Menu), and Sapporo Draft Beer. Seaweed Salad = nothing special, so skip it Fries with Wasabi Mayo = the fries were missing something; perhaps some nori sprinkled on top. Also, the wasabi mayo had zero wasabi flavor. Long story short, skip it Yakitori = very juicy chicken, I approve of this Yakiton = this was perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper; very simple ingredients for marinating, but the flavor was oh-so-good! Drunk Clams = not enough clams, but the sauce, as hinted by the name of the dish, has sake in it and is really flavorful Grilled Onigiri = great crunchy texture and good break from the typical un-grilled rice ball Issian is also well-known for its Tuna Collar and Salmon Collar. Unfortunately, the place ran out of collar when I tried to order it today. However, the other times I ordered the collar the dish was pretty flawless. Flavorful, fall-off-the-bone tender meat and the large portion just makes that $7.50 (I think) price so worth it!! Finally, the employees here are super friendly and eager to please. If you are ever in the area and are craving some izakaya food, Issian can help you out. read more

Their happy hour menu is so good! We got all of this food pictured (plus seaweed salad, and beer) for $25 each! Everything was but I'd have to say that the grilled salmon belly would have to be the of the night! That much salmon belly for $10 only! I loved it so much I put pictures of it twice . It was a daily special item so make sure you check the specials and not just the regular menu! My close second favorites would have to be the takoyaki and meat skewers. . Let me know what you end up getting! I want to try new things for the next time! read more

went day after new year? January 2, 2017 very long wait time happy hour got Pike kilt lifter scotch ale - amber hazy big off white foam that disappear slowly not a lot of aroma very bitter long follow through bitter aftertaste overall very good red wine read more

See all