Izakaya by Sango @ Noordin Street, Georgetown, Penang

The newly minted Japanese Restaurant - Izakaya by Sango in Noordin Street is a spin-off of the renowned Sango Japanese restaurant which has several establishments in Klang Valley. It is not a classic or typical Japanese restaurant, but rather a modern progressive Japanese restaurant and Bar with a clean design. Although the food is relatively pricey here with smaller portion but rest assured you will be getting some serious treat.

Spicy Kuro Pasta (RM 25), mixed seafood, garlic and chillie flakes with tare glaze

Truffled Wagyu Donburi (RM 35), medium rare beef, tamago with truffle oil

Spicy Kuro Pasta (RM 25) is a creative twist of the conventional pasta. The spaghetti noodles are cooked to al-dente, then the garlic and chillie flakes added gave it another dimension of taste with a slight heat piling up slowly. The overall portion is relatively small and those having a big appetite will find it hard to get the stomach full.

Truffled Wagyu Donburi (RM 35) is definitely an extravaganza to be indulged. The dish is simple, featuring Japanese rice, medium rare beef and tamago with truffle oil. Medium rare beef is well executed and did offer a refreshing feeling if compared to regular beef we used to have elsewhere. Nevertheless, we felt the rice texture could have been slightly solid to improve the overall taste as it was too moist for our liking. Perhaps we poked the egg yolk and the liquid caused the rice to absorb partial of it.

Salmon Head, off menu item

Next, we were served a grilled Salmon Head, an off menu item. It was grilled to perfection, and certain part of the salmon head was delectable in taste due to the presence of more fatty acids. Its accompanying tare sauce is a house blend, which offers a nicely balanced taste to season the salmon head.