With a handful of new restaurants either recently opened or on the way, the corner of Dougherty Ferry and Big Bend is as hot as Charlie Sheen's Twitter feed. The most recent addition, Izakaya Ren, opened last night.
As noted in this Relish post, this is the first izakaya (a Japanese small plates sake bar) in the area. The menu is wide ranging, from the familiar (edamame, sushi, sashimi, tempura) to the almost as familiar (gyoza, shumai), to the not-so (yakatori), to the not Japanese at all (bulgogi, kimchi). Since the izakaya focus is small plates, prices range from $2-4 for the yakitori (grilled skewers) to sub-$10 for the sushi rolls.
The initial sake menu is "small and quality-focused, yet inexpensive," says owner Wookrae Cho.
At this writing, Ren (Japanese for "love") is without a website, an online menu, or a Facebook page. But a call to Cho (as he is known) may be all the incentive you need...we're so excited we're searching for our "good" chopsticks, the expensive rosewood ones, the ones we put somewhere so safe that we've totally forgotten where they are.
Izakaya Ren 2948 Dougherty Ferry Rd.(formerly Samurai Sam's) Valley Park 636-825-3737 Lunch Tue-Fri; dinner Tue-Sun
