Review: Shunjuu Izakaya

The Riverwalk area has always been a vibrant location for F&B.  Shunjuu Izakaya has been one of the few original outlets that has held up through the years and I could see why.  What's not to like about a casual izakaya, plenty of drinks and tasty, salty skewers of food to fill the tummy?  Even though the restaurant has been around for a while, it was only until this weekend both the Imp and I got around to giving it a try.

The menu is small, not as varied as Kazu (which is also one of my favorite sumiyaki-ya) but what we had was done quite well.  We had almost all the vegetable selection - Japanese leek (the pungency is muted after grilling, but not dry), Japanese eggplant with miso and ginger sauce (tender and soaked in the sauces; really good), gingko (a bit dry; will pass next time), shiitake (juicy) and onigiri (decent).  For the protein, I chose to have a grilled fishhead and here, Shunjuu offered a selection of different fishes - salmon, yellowtail and one other type.  We got the yellowtail.  A bit small, but totally delicious.

Out of the grilled section, we tried the cold tofu in lieu of the momotaro (not available).  Good call by the Imp because the sauce was a thick soy & sesame sauce (wonderful combination that would be oh-so-good with steamed rice) and the interesting thing was that in addition to the usual bonito topping, fried ebi (baby shrimp) was added on, lending a crispy texture and a salty umami addition. Understanding our limited stomach capacity, I noted the Imp's approving nod when I ordered only one onigiri-yaki. 

We were absolutely satisfied after this meal, even though the greedy me wished another fish head could magically appear.Heehee. 

Despite being packed on the Friday night but service was still prompt.  Definitely an easy place to hangout for a relaxing dinner with drinks.