After last weeks foray into ramen, our appetites were piqued to try something asian and new so we went to Miso Izakaya. I’m a little slow on the uptake here as this place has been on the map as a go-to for a while…like over seven years a while. My coworker years ago used to rave about it and there looked to be enough veg options so good ’nuff for me! We hopped in the car to check this one off the list of a million restaurants we should have tried already.
We had decided to do this on a Friday night but luckily a tad early at around 7:45 and I think we were just in front of the dinner rush. With no reservations we were expecting a bit of a wait, the hostess told us about an hour (always strange to have such a long wait when half the restaurant is empty, I get it, it’s just weird), we asked about the sushi bar also around 45mins to an hour, then we asked about the bar, the hostess obviously didn’t seem particularly keen on us loitering around for a bar seat however she said it was up to us. 10 mins later we were seated in what I believe to be the best seat in the house. Big window overlooking the Atlanta trees, quick service, intimate. I’ve wondered about it before, but now I’m convinced, opting for the bar at any restaurant is probably a good idea.
I was happily surprised to see a nice pinot option for $5.75 and Kelly (Nicks apple-tini drinkin’ dainty alter ego), ordered the rosé which he was smitten with. We are always on the hunt for restaurants with a good cheap wine option, $6-8 and not saccharine and gross.
Earlier we had chatted with another waiting couple and they told us we HAD to get the shoyu tamago – soy sauce soft boiled egg over a crispy rice cake. Though I do eat dairy products I don’t really eat eggs, they can be included on the |weird consistency, no thanks| list along with anything meat, and mushrooms and poorly cooked eggplant. BUT I don’t like to be picky and when there is an extra-special dish including egg, I will try it.
- This may be a good time for the general disclaimer of how I approach food. I don’t eat meat or fish, I do eat dairy (mainly copious amounts of cheese). Nick eats fish and eggs. I’m not a purist though and this isn’t that kind of blog. If a restaurant adds a splash of fish sauce or something to their ‘vegetarian’ dish I’ll sometimes try it. You should know that A.) it usually sucks at that point. (so many greens ruined by the bacon craze…it took me once to realize that nope, greens can’t be good to me after doused in fatty meat juices, I must be a bad southerner) B.) I will always make mention of it and C.) I will never personally do that with my cookin’.
In this case, I can absolutely see why this is a signature item for Miso Izakaya. The creamy egg was expertly cooked, the crispy rice, the drizzly salty sauce, it felt like the perfect way to start a meal. Even though I can’t fully indulge and pig out because egg still gives me the weirds, I could see how lovely it was and we were so excited about what was to come at that point. We ordered vegetable gyoza, agedashi tofu, a ‘vegetable roll’ which in this case meant asparagus tempura, carrot and zucchini and a salmon nigiri for Nick’s fish fix.
I was excited to try their agedashi tofu. Though I was warned it includes a fishy broth, this dish seems to be a mainstay at so many restaurants I wanted to try it. Though the tofu seemed to be nice quality, the dashi broth or bonito flakes did end up being just a little too fishy for me. When I was a young’un mum used to bonito-flake it up but I guess since then I have grown more and more detached from not only fish but anything too fishy flavoured. If you are a pesca- though, fish quality was on point according to Nick. His single salmon nigiri (with a nice artful slice of lemon on top) was so tender and delicious he ordered another despite the projected 15min wait. The gyozas (god do I appreciate anything remotely vegetarian and dumpling-y) were good, not great, good. The vegetable sushi was also ok. I liked that it was a different assortment of veg though after years of having vegetarian sushi I have developed a taste for the super simple kappa maki (just plain cucumber) or the weirder stuff like the pickled garlic and this just lived somewhere in between – not awfully refined or classic yet also not novelty, but still quite tasty with its crispy tempura bits.
We were informed that one of the ramen bowls could be made vegetarian so we will most definitely be back. All in all, a lovely experience and though the eating is still somewhat limited for a vegetarian who doesn’t eat fish, the way this blog should serve is to expose restaurants that provide interesting, properly cooked options for the vegetarian first and foremost, quality over quantity, leaving Miso Izakaya a nice solid option.
