The Room
Issian opened in West Seattle's Westwood Village in 2008 — a serious Japanese izakaya dedicated to the proposition that West Seattle needed a working Japanese destination outside the central-Seattle Japanese fine-dining bracket.
The Seattle Times has held Issian on its top-Japanese-restaurant rankings every year of operation.
The Food
The izakaya menu runs yakitori, the seasonal-rotating Japanese small plates, the rice-and-curry programme.
Sake programme is one of West Seattle's deepest. Beer programme runs Sapporo.
Best Occasion Fit
First Date: The bar at Issian is one of West Seattle's reliable first-date seats.
Solo Dining: The bar at Issian is one of the better West Seattle solo-dining seats.
Birthday: Birthdays at Issian are warm, izakaya-led affairs the room handles with seventeen years of practice.