Izumi – Sushi at Sea

As a rule, we do not frequent speciality restaurants on our cruises. We personally feel that the spectacular dining rooms offer a fabulous eating experience, so we don’t need to go anywhere else.  A speciality restaurant typically offers a dining experience that is beyond that of the ships regular dining room and there is also an additional charge for this experience.

However, we have come to make an exception for one particular restaurant experience found on Royal Caribbean ships. Izumi is now found on all Royal Caribbean ships. The latest is Independence of the Seas. It is an experience like no other. The restaurant is usually located high up on the ship with fantastic views of the ocean. When you walk into the restaurant you are welcomed in true Japanese style. Bowls filled with pods of edamame beans are quickly put out on the table to start you off.  What we like about Izumi, is that it is a speciality restaurant that is priced a la carte. That means, there is no cover charge and you simply pay for the food you order.

Izumi’s menu offers a lot of variety and it is not just sushi, although sushi is a big part of it. Guests can choose from salads, noodle soups, carpaccio and appetizers. Of course, there is quite a lot of sushi to choose from as well. Our favourite is the chefs signature rolls.

There is one good way to determine if an ethnic restaurant has good food, and that is if you spot a lot of guests dining there that are originally from that part of the world, where the food is from. On Royal Caribbean cruise ships, the best way to tell if a speciality restaurant is good is by how many crew members you spot eating there. Izumi is the crew’s favourite restaurant and many of the crew’s incentive prizes are an evening at Izumi.

Last year on our Baltic cruise we even joined up for the Izumi sushi class. There is no cooking experience required to try the class. In fact, that is the appeal of the class.  It is also a great way to meet fellow cruisers.

In our class, we made three kinds of sushi:

Maki (Rice and filling wrapped in seaweed)
Nigiri (A topping, usually fish, served on top of sushi rice)
Temaki (Sushi that has been hand-rolled into a cone shape)

At the end of the class we each received a certificate and then were invited into the restaurant to enjoy what we had created.

So if you are going on a Royal Caribbean cruise anytime soon try Izumi on my recommendation.