Kathleene S.
Yelp
First heard about Izumi through my workplace and colleagues who introduced me to their flavoured sake, but I never made an visit until last week, Tuesday, around 2pm.
I got lost trying to find it, as it's sort of hidden as you make your way through the Christmas Market at Distillery. When I visited, they had an outside booth selling hot food - i believe it was shared with another local vendor, Nakamori, because they sold jerk chicken karaage with mango Aioli and I don't know any other spot in the city that makes it. I ordered 2 onigiri: spicy miso and mayo chicken. Unfortunately the chicken had very little filling. It was basically rice. Also ordered the jerk chicken karaage, it was really great and served skewer style. It turned into a bit of a mess by the end, but it was worth it.
Inside, you can see the brewery to the left, a small pantry grocery section in front of you, and a small bar to the right. Didn't look like there's a washroom onsite.
The brewery on the left has some signage with a self-guided tour so you can educate yourself. The pantry section consists of their sake, along with sake kasu which are the leftover parts of the sake that is brewed. They have other pantry items as well and I believe gift sets. I ordered the sake kasu because it's a versatile ingredient for pickling, enhancing flavours for other dishes, and for making some amazake.
The bar to the right has high seating, ~5-6 seats. You can order one of their drinks or try a tasting flight. I ordered the hot apple cider, which was not too sweet, which is what I needed with the chilly winter weather. All the seats were taken and it's sort of a cramped space so I enjoyed my drink directly behind the people seated.
Overall, I liked it here. I will definitely be back!