Michele L.
Yelp
Itani popped up as a 'Hot and New Restaurant' on Yelp, and based off the reviews, we wanted to give it a shot. It's located inside a small food hall. It seems they have taken over the spot Kirala used to be. They're semi-takeout only, but they have small seating areas scattered throughout the food hall. We opted to just enjoy our sushi takeout there since there wasn't many people around.
Between my partner and I, from the refrigerator section, we picked up a 1) Maki Roll + 5 pc. Nigiri Combo, and 2) Ohitashi. We also ordered 1) Yonsei Seared Albacore Roll, and 2) Hotate Sashimi x 2, which were made-to-order. Service was pretty nice with their explanations. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I thought the Hotate on their menu under Nigiri/Sashimi could be sold as a Sashimi order, but it's not typically. Their price on the menu is for 2 pcs of Nigiri I believe. However, because we asked about it, they said they could make it, but it'll be charged as two orders and they added an extra piece so 5 in total! Maybe they were just feeling nice that day, who knows, but I appreciate it!
We started on our Maki Roll + 5 pc. Nigiri Combo and the Ohitashi first since the other two were made-to-order. The Ohitashi was quite delicious. It seems fairly simple to make as it's Spinach with soy dashi dressing. While it was tasty, I'm not sure it's worth the price, but it certainly inspired us to want to try making it ourselves at home. As for our Maki Roll + 5 pc. Nigiri Combo, this was good, but not amazing. The combo comes with Kanpachi, Umi Masu, Hamachi, Maguro, and Sake. While I think they're fairly fresh, I feel like for the price point, I could get something even more fresh with just a few additional bucks. I enjoyed the Maki roll though - that was pretty good. This is also only an assumption, but I think because we picked it up from the refrigerated section, the flavor was just okay for the Nigiri pieces. Their made-to-order items were pretty good though! I would probably recommend you order right off the menu if you have a bit of time to wait. But if you don't, refrigerator selection is a quick and easy meal. We thought their Hotate was pretty fresh and they gave generously sized portion scallops! I liked the additional bits of ikura added to the top. I also really enjoyed the Yonsei Seared Albacore Roll. The tempura adds a nice crunchiness to each bite, and the seared Albacore was just a tad smokey. Presentation for these made-to-order items were on-point too, but if you're not dining in, you can't really expect it.
I'm definitely glad we gave it a try though. Part of our reason for going out tonight was to try Itani. It's a nice, affordable, friendly place if you're around the area and looking for sushi, but it's just not quite worth the trek out there for us when we have better options available closer to our own area. I do recommend you give this place a try though if you're around here! If I'm around the area, I'd like to try their cold soba takeout. Looks delicious!