Izakaya Amu

We decided to use yelps "surprise me" feature tonight while in boulder and landed on Izakaya Amu.. and what a recommendation it was!! Izakaya's are Japanese bars that have quick bites and snacks to choose from. I was excited to see we were heading in. Once arrived on Sunday night we were greeted and welcomed. Asked if we would like to take our shoes off and walk in as in Japanese culture this is very common. It really felt like I was in a Japanese izakaya in Japan We ordered - Tofu Steak- Baked Salmon w/ ikura & rice- Duck Skewers- Salmon Carpaccio Everything was delicious and cooked well. I could have ate 2 bowls of the salmon. Everything is nicely sized but a good size to not get too full to order more.This location is combined with another sushi restaurant and it's cool to see the sushi being made in front of you.Will be back!!

I haven't been here recently, but plan on visiting again soon. It's small and unique for Denver metro area in that it actually has good food and one can sit down without reservations (granted only if you're there at opening times). It's next door to a sushi restaurant (same owner) and so the quality of food is great and it's more creative than just a sushi spot by serving all sorts of Japanese food that's not ramen. Just delish.

Soba 10/10I came here specifically for soba, and it didn't disappoint me. 10/10 would come back again Ambiance 10/10The section by the bar requires to take off your shoes, just like the Japanese restaurant. It just made the experience so much better Service 10/10It wasn't as busy when I came on Thursday night, there's only one person serving the food and it was plenty. She did a great job

Great sushi and great location! This was my first choice place but they did not have reservations available so I made a reservation somewhere else hoping to stop here first and get a table. Soo happy we did! Was busy for a Saturday night. They were able to seat us in the traditional tea room- Not recommended if you have bad knees though . My girls had a craving for sushi and I am always happy to partake! The rolls were great and we all enjoyed the meals. I always love agedashi tofu so I was happy to see this as an option. Sushi tasted fresh and well done! We all devoured the salmon skin hand roll! Feels very authentic for a Japanese restaurant in the middle of Boulder! Thanks Yelp community for steering us here!

Was visiting from Los Angeles city. The best thing about this place was the service! The staff was extremely friendly and had great recommendations. Overall the food was good but the dessert was the better. I'd come back here for the experience again. Jack the sushi chef is dope!! Remy our waitress was great too!!

Love the traditional Japanese Izakaya feel, including taking shoes off at the main portion of the restaurant! I miss my go-to Izakaya place in San Jose after moving to Denver a year ago, and Amu filled that void.Came here with 3 others and we all opted for omakase so that we could have our server decide our dishes and portions for us. Instead of it being served as individual courses, they served it family style and then charged prices a la carte, which I appreciated the transparency of. We had a total of 10 dishes (they brought out two portions of the soba) including 2 desserts, so I won't list everything we got but I will list the dishes that were stand outs: Dipping soba with duck - amazing! Broth was light but flavorful. Noodles were cooked perfectly.Sashimi - we had salmon, hamachi, bonito, albacore. All were super fresh.Seared duck breast - perfectly cooked with some pink and lightly seasonedSesame ice cream - strong sesame flavor and a light touch of sweetnessWe also ordered a full bottle of cold sake to go with our meal. Our entire meal was nicely paced and we were full but not overly stuffed. They add an automatic 20% tip, but the entire check still came out to be reasonable overall. Will definitely be back and maybe to try their sister restaurant next door!

A lot of areas for improvement for this sushi restaurant, but I'll start with the good. First, the service staff was attentive and friendly and helped answer questions quickly. Next, the music was on point especially if you're a fan of deep/melodic house or just someone who can appreciate it I give 5 stars for this. NOW THE FOOD.... Confused about the current rating. Seems like most people don't know how to distinguish good from bad sushi. Sushi rice was bland, could use more vinegar. Salmon did not taste fresh. And please consider filtering or improving your water filtration. The tap water tastes awful. Our hot seafood dish came out with overcooked fish. But I do have to give it up to the kitchen for the matcha crème brûlée. That was delicious

FAB Japanese restaurant near Pearl St in Boulder. Wear clean socks because you'll be leaving your shoes at the door. We sat at the community table in the back. It's a bit of a challenge to get seated if you aren't flexible, but comfy once you are settled in. The menu is amazing. Come with a group that likes to share and order a few plates at a time. Even though the restaurant was busy, the food comes out pretty fast. Sake flights are a fun way to try lots of things on the menu. A few dishes we loved: Ebi Shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings), Tsukemono (pickled veggies), Tako Sumiso-ae (sliced octopus with sweet miso), Amu Salad, Kaisou Salad, Maguro Avocado (tuna sashimi), Gindara Kasuzuke (grilled black cod). The daikon salad and scallops from the special menu were also very good. The only one that I didn't love was the Yaki Onigiri (grilled rice balls); good, but a little dry. Other than that, every dish was a winner. Recommend!

Although the restaurant is tiny, it is very authentic and the food is absolutely delicious. The staff is knowledgeable and packed about Japanese food and can guide you through the menu. Definitely will need to take off your shoes. Recommend a reservation because it's so small.

They had lost our reservation but ended up able to seat us next door restaurant, which they own and gave us 15% off the bill since, they didn't seat us in the tea room where we initially reserved. The restaurant next door was so loud being small and they had TVs on for the game. The food was really good when it finally came. I say that because everything we ordered came out one at a time, which was awkward for our travel group (9). One person would get their sushi order but then no one else. Orders came at one at a time the entire time we were seated, with 15 to thirty minutes between servings. The last orders literally stretched out for so long we thought the kitchen had forgotten us. The staff was nice, not knocking them at all, just the kitchen didn't do them any favors. I do not think we'd go back, even though the food was good. I just do not feel it is worth that bad of an experience for a return visit.