I called in Itsu today while in Spinningfields, looking to check out their stores. Having seen a large number of them on my trials, especially in London, I decided to finally check out a store today, having previously been aware of their gluten free noodles, and their full range available in supermarkets throughout The UK, including Sainsbury's and Tesco.
I'm reviewing this store from an allergy point of view, and although it is quite a nice store it still remains quite poor for allergies, which for a company who are a growing name throughout The UK, and a household name now in London, I expected better, as Manchester United expected when hiring Louis Van Gaal, only to win nothing, and although it might be great for one without any allergies, and a big fan of this sort of cuisine, it simply isn't for allergies, which means sadly the low one star rating.
This is one of the newer "Itsu" stores, opening in 2016 if I recall, and is actually one of the stores featured on their website alongside other branches in more "northern" locations such as Leeds, as they look to expand out of the British capital, even into Reading.
Enough about the Itsu brand in general, and back to this store. Most of their range are in the fridges, selling mainly fish based products, sushi and "salad" meals with both "low fat" and "regular" dishes, the food mainly is what is in these fridges, with other than frozen yogurt and a few other minor things being in store, and that's just a machine anyway!
The staff seemed nice enough, they helped me with the doors on the way in and out, although it was quiet and I seemed to be the only one in their, so I doubt I would have got this level of service if it wasn't as quiet as The DW Stadium home end at a Wigan Athletic match.
The woman who served me, helped show me some products that were gluten free, which were few, they were dishes that had soy sauce containing gluten, which was nearly all of them and for a contamination issue perhaps in the manufacturing sector, I wanted to avoid them. The allergy information on dishes was slightly blocked off due to the tags they put on. The server seemed to be keeping the list to herself, like she thought I was going to run off with it, and she didn't seem to be helping to find something I'd want too much, she constantly went over the same few dishes and the level of service didn't seem engaging, to get me to find something I'd want to eat, feel safe eating and enjoy. I didn't even know which dishes were gluten free without the soy sauce sachet, and which didn't have it due to how she explained it, which considering it was quiet, she had the time to put the effort in and make it a good experience for me.
The prices on what I did see, were quite high end, although I'm not really used to these type of restaurants, with Itsu mainly specializing in Japanese / Fusion, most of the dishes looked like a bit of a mess, and all piled into one which was unappealing, especially for the price.
Another reason for low satisfaction with this store, is their opening hours, they are in a central location in Manchester but still they are not open Saturday's and Sundays, I find this rather absurd and stupid, as most tourists and visitors will be visiting on a weekend, and to not open then is basically deeming yourself to failure, and I feel they would probably get more visitors on those days than mid-week, with the only people mainly visiting Monday - Friday being those who want to grab something to eat on the way to work.
In the end, I decided to walk out without buying anything, as I felt the selection of gluten fre was poor and due to her poor dealing of the situation I didn't feel confident eating the products, as well as considering poor presentation and high prices on most dishes. This does look like a nice store, yes, but if you have allergies, it probably isn't and if you are gluten free and wanting an Itsu product, you are probably best going to Sainsbury's and picking up a noodle pot there (even they are quite poor quality), which would also be much cheaper! read more