Izakaya Amu

This place is an institution in town. It's well known, and the sushi bar side has a great happy hour on sundays. I'm glad this place exists and it scratches an itch, but I wouldn't call it exceptional. I very much enjoyed you unagi and the sashimi plate was good. Most of the other dishes were just okay

Delightful and tasty. We went with the chefs choice dinner and loved it. The chef picked things we wouldn’t have chosen on our own, but it was all great. A fun evening, and thank you to the staff.

Food was alright, I’ve had better suishi in boulder tbh. Just go next door if you want suishi. I think this is more of a place you go if you want more of a spread of Japanese food. Service however was incredible!!! Jessica is a GOAT! Great suggestions very happy with the service!

Disappointing experience. We arrived and the hostess/server asked us "how she could help us", which set a bad tone from the start. She was otherwise friendly, but delivered a wrong item to our table. When we mentioned it, she laughed it off and kept it on our bill (we did eat it, to be fair). All of this could be easily overlooked but unfortunately, the food just wasn’t good. We have eaten at hundreds of Japanese restaurants - including many izakaya - all over North America and Japan, and I’m not sure how this place gets the good reviews it does. We all agreed there wasn’t a single thing that was "good" and a few items that weren’t good at all. We left and had dinner elsewhere. We won’t be back.

Bottom line: Amazingly Unique and delicious food - highly recommend going Omakase. First time in Boulder and I was looking for a solid place for dinner, which is tough when there's so many to choose from. I ended up reading other reviews on this place and decided to give it a chance. Having read the reviews, I expected to wait and/or not be able to get a seat at all. I lucked out and got a seat right away. The server, Adrian, was absolutely fantastic. After talking with him for a bit and reading the menu, I decided to go Omakase style and let him choose the dishes. Adrian's menu expertise paid off and he chose dishes that fit my tastes but also borderlined on things that I would never have ordered. This place has amazing food and is not your typical Americanized "Japanese" food, very little sushi. That alone was worth five stars but the service on top of that was worth another star if I could give it.

I love the atmosphere of this little place. It felt like I was back in the 90's. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful. I really wanted to try the ramen but it is only made on Monday. The waitress recommended the udon and it was amazing! I couldn't believe how good the broth was. The noodles and egg were cooked perfectly. The sushi I got was pretty good but not amazing. I was excited to try the yuzu margarita and it was good but a little pricey.

I'd give 10 stars if I could because this place seriously deserves that. I've searched all over USA for an authentic izakaya like this - a place that would not compromise its values so that the customer will get the most authentic experience. The team who works here is very passionate and serious about what they do. When you walk into this place, you can feel the essence of Japan. You're greeted with fluent Japanese (and not the mispronounced broken words a lot of restaurants try to pass off as Japanese). You'll be asked if it was your first visit to izakaya. Then shoes off and you're seated. The food was incredible. So much care and thought put into preparing and cooking your food to absolute perfection. Quality ingredients. I've had so much Japanese around the world and can say some dishes were the best I've had of that type of dish. E.g. buckwheat noodles and onigiri was hands down the best I've ever had anywhere - dishes that look so simple yet so hard to get just right. Even their miso soup was properly made from scratch and is none of that "just add water to paste" that so many other Japanese restaurants are guilty for. Anyway, if you're looking for a casual Japanese sushi place, this is not for you. Sushi Zanmai next door already fulfills that. Only come here if you desire a true izakaya experience. Oh, as you can guess, this place is not cheap but honestly is well worth paying for. Remember to tip well (>25%) because the level of attention and thoughtfulness they put into serving you definitely deserves it.