Owner is Japanese and my husband is Japanese so he was very pleased with the food. Small portions you can share. Attractive atmosphere. read more

Most authentic Japanese place in Copenhagen. Only people who actually visited Japan will know. Super delicious menu and cozy small restaurant. Super friendly staff and good prices. Definitely go for the full course menu. read more

Issa - Japanese Near Me - Copenhagen, 84

I was actually looking forward to try this place after all the good reviews. When I arrived there an unfriendly, grumpy man told me 'you can not eat here' ... I was wondering if they are closing ... he then told me to leave the restaurant and pointed at a sign outside which says no bottles. I was carrying a water bottle in my hand, I was not even drinking it. In my opinion this guy was moody and didn't want to serve me or anyone. The restaurant was empty and one lady with her child was about to leave. Hopefully this guy was only temporarily acting like this or his lack of English made him appear that unfriendly? Of course I can not say anything about the food, only that I felt treated bad and would never come back. read more

Issa - No bottles! - Japanese Near Me - Copenhagen, 84

This tiny place is tucked on a side street and it unassuming from the outside but filled with so much yummy goodness inside. Food 5/5 This is home cooked Japanese food at its best! This isn't the place to get sushi but delicious rice dishes. We had the tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets) and pork ginger and though the menu doesn't show it, you are served a complete meal. There is soup, rice, salad and some fruit to end your meal. I will be back regularly during my stay in Copenhagen! Service 4/5 The staff is attentive and very friendly. We were surprised to discover they didn't speak Danish but they do speak English. Atmosphere 3/5 The restaurant is pretty small; there are less than 20 seats. The decor is no-frills but the food takes center stage. Value 5/5 This place is cheap by Copenhagen standards and the portions are very filling. For less than 150 kr/person, this place is a bargain! read more

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I'm afraid I must take one star out of earlier four star review I made. Reasons: Before, they had simple Japanese home-style food that we appreciated a lot amidst the sea of sushi restaurants in Copenhagen. Back then they were revolutionary in providing the good old Japanese cooking, just like your Japanese mom would make it (if you had one). Now, they have so many items in the menu that it's rather hard to look at. Pardon me if I get it wrong, but having so many items in the menu doesn't always spell a good thing in my dictionary. Why not keep it simple to the one that you're good at making? I went here to try their "ramen" menu that they recently added into the already enlarged menu book. I ordered miso ramen for 98kr. What came out more like a shoyu with a sad topping of cha shu (BBQ pork), lots of corn and two pieces of seaweed sheet and overcooked egg. It feels like the ramen was made lazily, compared to those beautiful beauties that other ramen shops in Copenhagen made. The noodles were undercooked as well (I don't mind al dente, but this is way too much and since my noodle state preference being overcooked, this was hard to enjoy for me). I ordered shrimp tempura on the side which was still good. The rules! The first page of the menu book contains a set of rules that a customer must read, among them are that "thou shalt not take picture of food or the surrounding". If you charge your cellphone here, then you would have to pay 20 DKK extra, if you happen to bring food from outside, you'd be fined 200 DKK added to your bill, BLA BLA BLA. Come on. I do understand their advice stating that this is the kind of place where you come, eat and go, not the place to linger (they even mentioned that this is not the place for you to practice your Japanese, or cooking - like whut?) but stating all those things at once on the front page of the menu feels downright hostile to me. Seriously? ...and the no picture thing, I don't get it. Wouldn't it be better for their business to have more people take pictures of their beautiful food and share them on instagram? That's the reason that I would never know.... They have also become stingy, charging 10kr for extra sauce. Say what? I mean. There's got to be a boundary of how many rules you can make without scaring the customers away? I do still give them three stars though because they still make good "home-style" Japanese food. Don't come here for the ramen, but come here for the tonkatsu, or donburi, or whatever teishoku set they have but I wish they weren't so downright hostile with the rules :/ That earns a very deep frown from me. read more

Issa - Tonkatsu teishoku - Japanese Near Me - Copenhagen, 84

I love this place! My new office is around the corner from this tiny Japanese gem so I imagine myself spending quite some time here, but with the affordable prices (dinner for two around 240 dkr!) it is hardly going to hurt my wallet. Win! I was meeting with a friend a couple of days back and decided to give this place a go as I'd heard great things of it. The place is quite small, with a few tables and seats at the counter. We got seated at the counter with the added benefit that we could follow the action in the kitchen. Being a vegetarian it can be a hassle to find good food around Cph, so I wasn't surprised that the majority of the dishes were meaty. But when I asked what they could recommend for me she quickly offered vegetarian tempura - one of the best I've had. My friend who had previously lived in Japan asked if they could make some sort of Japanese cabbage pancake - and of course, it came straight away! I'm always impressed when you can pop in a small and pretty low key joint and ask for two dishes outside the menu and within 5-10 min you are served deliciously tasty Japanese food. For the price it's amazing. read more

Fantastic little place for genuine, high-quality amazingly tasting udon! It's a small restaurant so I suggest booking reservations if more than a party of 2. Beyond the taste was good service and extremely reasonable pricing. Perfect for a nice cool day! read more

Shop decoration is very delicate, the taste of the food is very good....The price is very reasonable.... The position is very easy to find. read more

Issa - Noodles soup with pork - Japanese Near Me - Copenhagen, 84

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The lunch special is honestly one of the better lunch deals in CPH, so come to this "hole in the wall" type of restaurant and enjoy! We came on a Friday around 12pm, and had no issue finding seats and the wait for food was more than reasonable. Price: most lunch specials are about 60kr. Most come with rice, miso, and a small salad. Food: I had the fried cod, and it's the best fish I've had in a while. The batter was light but still crunchy, while the cod itself was perfectly cooked tender inside. Most fish n' chips places fail at this, but Issa had no problem. The portion was also more than enough for a starving college student who had a long night ahead at Tivoli, which is saying a lot. Service: the two waitresses were sweet Japanese women who spoke great English, so ordering wasn't an issue. Things might be slower and more hectic when the small place is more packed, but the food is worth it. read more

Issa is one of my favourite restaurants in Copenhagen, and I come there often both with my girlfriend and friends. You wouldn't think it when walking past, but hidden inside this tiny restaurant is an amazingly tasty menu filled with great authentic Japanese dishes, an excellent Chef and friendly serving staff. If you enjoy Japanese cuisine, and more specifically you're not in the mood for raw fish, Issa fills that niche that every other Japanese restaurant in Copenhagen seems to ignore. There is limited selection of sashimi on the menu, and the fish is of good quality, but it's clearly not the focal point of Issa, which is fantastic as we have enough good (and bad) sushi places in Denmark already. More than once, I've seen a car from the Japanese embassy in Copenhagen pull up for take-away while having a late lunch at Issa. That's when you know you're at the right place. ;-) read more

I lived in Japan for four years and really miss authentic Japanese food when in Copenhagen. Issa is the only place I have found that gives me that. I have tried the chicken namban (battered fried chicken with a mayonnaise sauce) and the tonkatsu (breaded fried pork cutlets with a dark, savoury sauce) here several times and both are excellent. Even if this place was in Tokyo and not Copenhagen I would be a regular customer, it is that good, and that authentic. All the extras that come with the set - rice, miso soup, pickles, tea - are excellent too and show the attention to detail. You can really tell the quality of a Japanese place by the quality of the rice, and here it's superb. To top, the chef and waiting staff are always friendly and attentive, the portions are generous and the prices are very reasonable. They also do take-outs of most meals, which are just as good. Couldn't ask for anything more except maybe an alcohol license - would be great to be able to have some beer with all this savoury goodness! read more

Great food and good service. It is a humble place but great atmosphere. Very yummy Udon noodles get the duck not the beef. And maybe don't get the matcha ice cream either. But all in all it is really good :-) read more

we came here as a group of six and all left very pleased. there aren't many seats available though, so we may not make a habit of eating in packs here. i ordered the chicken namban and traded a piece of tonkatsu with a friend; both dishes (friendmeat not included) were juicy on the inside and covered with crispy fried breading. tastes just like in japan! the amount we got was very filling, and reasonably priced. the waitress was very kind and kept coming by to refill our tea and water, which were either included in the sets or free since they didn't show up on the bill. what pushed it up to five stars? we had a vegetarian friend with us who was beginning to look worried when she realized that all that was available to her was salad, edamame, and seaweed. but the waitress talked with the chef and she got a lovely surprise of kakiage, tempura of assorted vegetable strips, in place of meat. i don't know if they will do this for any vegetarian than wanders in, but it was a nice touch. read more

Issa - chicken namban - Japanese Near Me - Copenhagen, 84

Great, simple and honest Japanese food. Lack of service, however, with dishes coming step by step (from the first at our table got his main course until the last got his, it lasted around half an hour!) The waiter was smiling and kind, though. Will come back because of the great food - not because of the service. read more

Finally, I get to write a review about this Japanese restaurant. I ordered shoyu (Ramen) with kakuni (braised pork belly) as the topping. Shoyu, which means soy sauce, is actually the most common type of ramen. The soup was a clear, brown broth flavored with soy sauce (I added black pepper for extra heat). Based on the broth (fish, kelp, and chicken) and curly thin noodles, this ramen must be the Tokyo-style ramen. I am not sure what kind of dashi stock used as the base for the soup (could be kombu dashi). It was excellent and well-balanced broth. The topping Kakuni was also tender and sweet. The thick cube of pork belly simmered in (sweet) soy sauce, topped with scallion slices and karashi (a type of mustard), was an excellent topping. The fact that the shoyu was a light broth helped neutralize the sweetness of the pork belly (it was very sweet, LOL). For my drink, I ordered the cold green tea, was a good combination. You could, of course, go with a cold beer as your drink I suggest trying the Kirin Ichiban (Japanese beer) read more

Issa - Shoyu with kakuni as the topping. Itadakimasu! - Japanese Near Me - Copenhagen, 84

I've been here once before, and then I had ramen noodles that I really loved. They felt very authentic, I haven't had ramen like that since I was in Japan. This time me and my husband got a giftcard of 500 kr from a friend, and we went there for dinner, it was in January. We decided to get the ISSA GOZEN Menu, I had butter fish and my husband had chicken and we added sake for 50 kr. We ordered in other drinks and an extra bottle of plum wine and started off with that. The food was really, really nice, delicious and high quality. Flavourful and beautifully presented. The woman who served us was super friendly, and when the time came to pay the bill (we had totally overshot the value of the giftcard), she said that the chef had decided, that since our meal was so expensive anyway, we got it all on the giftcard. I really like their choice of menu, and would like to go there again soon, it feels so luxurious to be able to get authentic japanese food in Copenhagen! read more

Been here twice, pretty authentic. But I found their dish is pretty salty. And I would recommend to visit here for lunch over dinner. For lunch(80 kr), you basically get a set that cost 150 kr at night, same portion. However they have less items in lunch time/ no starters like okonomiyaki. Their okonomiyaki(60kr) is small and I can make better ones then theirs(no offense), I wont recommend anyone to get that, unless you are craving for one. read more

A little slow and crowded, but I felt lucky to get the last chair and even though they didn't quite get my order correct, I enjoyed it and recognized the high quality. I ordered the salmon and tuna don, but enjoyed the simpler tuna don they brought. I watched quite a few people arrive after me who were turned away because the place was full. Faster service would allow more people to enjoy the good food offered here. read more

Suprisingly delicious (and cheap) Had to find a a place to take a business contact, was in a hury and just searched for "Sushi" in "Copenhagen", Issa came up with pretty good ratings and a central location so off we were. At the street address I was at first a bit put of by the big windows and typically asian aggressive use of fluorescent lightning. But hey the chef looked authentic and there was a japanese show on the flatscreen on one end of the restaurant. One row of seats and a long bar fills the small restaurant space, functional and not that cozy. On to the menu, while trying to decipher the menus we were asked if we wanted something to drink, Sake immediately spring to mind, but alas no alcohol is served in the at Issa, well green tea then, already thinking ahead on which bar to goto afterwards. The tea was great and here starts my praise of Issa as a simple, cheap and delicious place to get real japanese food without the glitz of the wave of generic sushi joint popping up everywhere. I ordered the fried salmon menu, chicken meatballs with teriyaki and a ginger ale, my pal got the fried shrimps and veggi pancake. All in all about 250,- kroner. Crunchy and tasty! The salmon was the pièce de résistance, the miso soup pretty good, a small bowl of seaweed went down fast as well as the mashed potato. The salad left me a bit wanting, maybe it should have been just the soup, salmon and a bigger plate of seaweed. (hence one missing star) Left Issa well fed in a simple and light way, was expecting sushi but got something unique and surprising. Will be back for more! read more

Great Japanese comfort food close to the center of CPH. Pretty extensive menu including ramen, soba, & udon. The udon w mixed vegetables & tempura actually means that the vegetables are chopped and mixed together, then dipped in tempura batter, fried as a clump (sort of like kakiage style), then put into noodle soup. That was just ok. The broth for the noodle soup was good as were the noodles. Staff are pleasant & helpful. Be sure to read the 1st page of the menu to learn the "house rules." This includes a 20 DKK electricity fee for charging your phone. It's a house rule, so know it and don't be a jerk to the staff when you expect to charge your phone for free. read more

The Gyoza we had as a starter were excellent. Juicy, crisp and full of flavor. I decided on the chicken curry dish as my main course. Having eaten tons of Japanese curry in the US, Korea and of course Japan I have to say that this comes close to the worst I have tried. Too acidic, tasted almost like ketchup. I could not taste the authenticity that other reviewers claim. read more

Great food, quick service. We truly enjoyed our dinner. We enjoy Japanese food in the United States and we're happy to have found this place on our stay in Copenhagen. read more

Great food, small cozy atmosphere. The perfect date place. Warning, the food is right out of the oven = HOT.

Good service. Fast food. Tasteful food. Nice employees. Cousy surroundings. Minus, it's hidden. read more

Cool little place off the Main Street. A little weird in that the first page of the menu is full of rules. No pictures of the food among them. Odd. Still the food is very good and the service is efficient but not overly friendly. I got the spicy ramen. It was indeed spicy and the flavor was terrific. We also got pork belly and gyoza. All very good. I will absolutely come back! read more

Great, simple, tasty Japanese food. No sushi here, but some amazing Tonkatsu (my favourite dish on their list). It's very cheap too.

Food and atmosphere are great. I ordered udon noodles with duck. I don't think I have ever had udon made so well. Only after visiting the restaurant my mixed feelings about the place were fixed. read more

One of real Japanese food restaurant which is not so easy to find in Nordic. If you think Sushi or tempura are the only Japanese foods, then ISSA is not the place you should go to, but if you like to have a real Daily Japanese food, ISSA will give you a complete satisfaction. read more

Me and my roomie got takeaway from Issa. Our verdict: expensive and tasteless, a little gross even. It looked like the chef had just whipped up whatever leftovers he could find. It didn't even taste anything. Definitely not going here again. read more

Pretty tasty, quick, and easy. First place we ate in Copenhagen as we stayed right around the corner, and this was a lucky find. We got the fried shrimp, boiled beef, and spicy noodles - all solid choices. Go for it! read more

Craving some ramen and soba on a cold Copenhagen night and this restaurant did not disappoint!

very nice and warm tasty food. cheap and cosy place, not too fancy, which I like:) I got the miso ramen and the chicken teriyaki, which were both very good. read more

Allright food, but quite bad service. The first thing we were told as soon as we entered, wasn't a 'hello', but a message pointing to our Ice-tea bottles telling us that it's not allowed and we have to put them into our backpack. I wanted to put it to the side, but the guy was insisting that we have to put it into our backpack or leave. Very weird, but allright, we hid the ice tea... Then when we wanted tap water, we were told it's 5 DKK.... Really...? read more

Food is ok. I got the salmon sashimi for 120DKK. It was smooth and buttery, but I have had tastier for cheaper (at a waterfront restaurant at that!) My partner got the Ginger Pork for 90DKK. He actually enjoyed his meal. He said his pork was perfectly seasoned. However I am giving this place 2 stars only for food. Service, experience, atmosphere receive zero stars. AFTER ordering our meal we were told to look at the menu "rule page" on the front of the menu. I read the first 3 bullets when we sat down prior to ordering and it mentioned allergy concerns, etc. so I did not think to read further. But after reading down the rules I was taken back by the "No outside drink" rule which even means personal water bottles. Yes, I had to put my personal water bottle away in my back pack. Then there was a rule that said you cannot charge your phone or you will be charged 20DKK. That's $3USD to plug in your phone? And if you want tap water you get a carafe, but they charge you 15DKK for each person, even if you and your party are sharing a carafe. You cannot take photos at all and the entire time I was there I was afraid to even take my phone out to look for directions. While in Copenhagen, we ate at small cafes with carafes of water for people to drink all day without any restrictions. I would not recommend this place to anyone and hope that you find a better place to spend 30DKK than on tap water. read more

Fantastic food here! Authentic, fresh and never disappointing. We have come here several times since it opened and every time is a success :) Went to a birthday dinner here recently where they put together a special menu which rocked, and made an excellent birthday cake. The staff is really friendly and always works hard to make it a good dining experience for their customers. read more

My favorite Japanese restaurant! Great chef, great service and great food! Very worth a visit!!

Have eaten sushi all over the world and this is by far the best. The salmon melts in your mouth. The garlic fries are surprising and wonderful. The takoyaki is better than what I ate in Japan. Get here early -- the place fills up quickly. read more