Royal Izakaya -Spirited Away to the Bar Snacks of My Dreams
Izakaya comes from the combination of two Japanese words -- i, meaning "to stay," and sakaya, meaning "sake shop." They are meant to be casual places for people to hang out, get drunk, and eat delicious Japanese bar food. Royal Izakaya does not take reservations and doesn't really have seating to accommodate groups larger than about 6, so plan accordingly. Walking down a quiet street in Queen Village, Royal Izakaya is an unmarked blue door with a red lantern hanging in front of it. Open the door, and you're in a cozy dimly lit room mostly dominated by a bar with tables along the wall of the left side. If you glance up at the right corner of the ceiling, you'll find Japanese anime playing. I've seen everything there from Hayao Miyazaki's acclaimed Spirited Away to Dragonball Z. The candle holders on the table are up-cycled halves of sake bottles -- very cute.
In the back of the space, Royal Sushi, one of the few high level omakase sushi experiences in Philly, is hidden behind a curtain. Seats are reservation only (using Resy) and fill up fast. Given how much A and I love raw fish and rice, the omakase experience is definitely on our bucket list, but we haven't been able to get a reservation that works for us yet.
Not sure how authentic the menu is compared to izakaya restaurants in Japan, there's one page of food specials and a list of the drafts available. I'm not sure how often the food specials rotate, but on the two separate occasions we were there, about 80% of the specials were different.
The first time we went we were starving and forgot to take photos, but the one thing I did snag a photo of was a special innocuously labeled Fried Fish Heads ($15). Not sure what I was expecting, but I'm always up for a food adventure, and when my mom fries up flounder at home, I love eating the fins that turn into crunchy fish chips. For the low price of $15, we got four enormous deep fried fish heads. Everything towards the front had been fried to a crisp and easily eaten, and towards the back, there was a lot of meat left, which was hefty and delicious with a dip in the accompanying sauce. The handful of fried shishito peppers that came on top were also a very nice surprise. It's hard to tell from the photo, but each of the heads was at least as big as my hand, so four was a ton of food. If I ever come back and this is on the menu, this is a definite must-order.
The second time we went, we were a little less ravenous and I managed to snag photos of the food. A pitcher of Kirin Ichiban went great with dinner and was extremely reasonably priced at $14 for about 4 beers. Their sake list is also extensive, so sake lovers should definitely check this place out, however, I'm not much of a sake drinker.
We ordered 3 items off the specials menu: Uni-Tekkadon, Kara-age, and the Yaki Soba, and off the regular menu, we got the grilled squid, the fried oysters, and the pork jowl.
The Uni-Tekkadon ($17) came first, which was uni and tuna over rice. When I first saw it I was a little disappointed with the portion size, but that was quickly forgotten when I took a bite. The uni was so delicious and fresh tasting, the tuna was melt in your mouth amazing, and the sushi rice was perfect. I realized at that moment that it's not that I didn't like tuna in sushi, but that I didn't like the cheap take-out sushi grade tuna that I normally eat. It was hard sharing this dish with two other people, and I confess that I might have sneaked more uni than my fair share. Would order this again in a heartbeat despite a little bit of a higher price tag.
The grilled squid was good. Nothing to write home about, but I love squid in any form so I was happy with this. Was also a pretty big portion which was nice. The Yaki Soba was also similarly good but not ground breaking. We ordered it mainly because we had a long bike ride the next day and wanted to carbo-load a bit.
The fried oysters didn't really leave an impression on me. I love my fried oysters hot and crispy on the outside and still raw on the inside, and this wasn't that. I think this was a miss for me more because of personal taste issues rather than restaurant execution.
The other two winners of the night were the pork jowl and the kara-age. The pork jowl was so tender and tasted like a charred, well seasoned bite of pork perfection. Seriously good on its own and with rice. In fact it was so good, I totally forgot to take a photo of it, oops! The Kara-age was also done well. The regular menu has a version of kara-age with bone-in chicken wings, but I liked the daily special with boneless thigh meat better. Great with a squeeze of lemon and dipped in the accompanying spicy aioli.
Overall, an incredibly satisfying and well done meal. I love Japanese food, casual bar food, and casual drinking atmospheres, so Royal Izakaya really checks all my boxes. The only thing I'm sad about is their no reservation policy and large group unfriendly seating. Would love to take my family here but not sure I'd want to chance the wait. But A and I will definitely be back.
TL;DR - Great unique food you won't find elsewhere in Philly. Come with an adventurous palate and a couple of friends to eat well and drink well.
