IKKYU - TUCSON, AZ

A great find a la Jean and Tim. I recognized some of the dishes on the menu in addition to the bizarre side dish of smashed potato salad on their rice entrees. And sure enough, the owners used to run Samurai restaurant on Oracle and Roger. They have since sold it. Bill and I used to eat there all the time during Tucson #1.

The atmosphere of this restaurant and the seating is much better than Samurai. Its still starkly decorated but lots of tables instead of rows of booths and the lighting isn't as Walgreen's-blinding.
The prices are just as low.

Bill and I shared Gyoza, a japanese potsticker which was very good. We also shared a curry dish which was large chunks of tender white chicken with potatoes and carrots and a few onions in a thick curry sauce over rice. This dish was $6. And we also ate Teppan Chicken which was an assortment of vegetables with chicken over rice. Even though it needed some zip, this was my favorite. The portion was huge. there is something about the japanese curry sauce which isn't to my liking. I think because it resembles a poorly made Thanksgiving turkey gravy. This entree was only $7.

Anyway, we had  leftovers of both and I'm going to have the teppan chicken for lunch with some miso sauce. Next time I will order the yakisoba noodles which had a great mild sticky teriyaki flavor (Jean gave me a taste.)