Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas might not have the amazing Japanese specialty restaurant Izumi, but it is offering guests the next best thing: sushi from Izumi!

The Windjammer buffet on Liberty of the Seas has always had its Asian-cuisine section, known as Jade, where guests can sample various Asian food.  

While on Liberty of the Seas last week, reader Rob Chang sent us a photo of the new sushi options in Jade, which carry the Izumi branding.

Sushi from Jade on Liberty of the Seas

Rob reports the sushi tasting of a higher quality and being a better experience than what was there previously.  Plus, the sushi in Jade is still complimentary.

Sushi has been traditionally available at Jade on most evenings, but the quality of the sushi was never spectacular.

Sushi from Jade on Freedom of the Seas

It is not clear yet if this Izumi sushi on Liberty of the Seas is permanent or if it will become available on other Royal Caribbean ships that do not have an Izumi.

There are certain times I really love doing research for this blog, and when I get a chance to dine at Izumi on any Royal Caribbean ship, that would be one of those moments.

While on Navigator of the Seas I took the opportunity (okay, it was more like multiple opportunities) to dine at Izumi and try out a few different dishes. The reason why I relish returning to Izumi time and time again is because I am a self-diagnosed sushi fanatic and the sushi Izumi serves up has been consistently very, very good.

I also aspired on this trip to try something completely new (to me) on the menu and break out of my habit of ordering the same rolls.  How did I manage? How much sushi did I eat on one cruise? Read on to find out!

Atmosphere

Izumi is located on Deck 14 of Navigator of the Seas, adjacent to the Cosmopolitan Club in the Viking Crown of the ship.  Of all the specialty restaurants on Navigator of the Seas, it is probably the easiest to miss out on because there is not nearly as much foot traffic up there, compared to where other specialty restaurants are located.

Walking into Izumi, you will notice one of the best aspects of the restaurant experience that is not directly tied to food: the views!

Izumi overlooks the ocean and the pool deck, which makes lunch time or early evening seatings quite desirable because you have some of the best views on Navigator of the Seas to enjoy a meal with.

The restaurant is one large, slightly curved room with mostly tables, some half-booths along one wall and bar seating.

Walking into Izumi and you will definitely notice the magenta and black motif, along with some eye-catching pop art along the walls.  

Izumi is an interesting blend of traditional Japanese dining mixed with a contemporary feel.

Eats

As you might imagine, Izumi is well known for their sushi (I believe I mentioned their sushi a few times already in just this post), but they do offer some other great Japanese cuisine.

Dining at Izumi means you will pay for your items a la carte, instead of there being a cover charge.  If you are on a Royal Caribbean specialty dining package, you will get $30 per guest allocation for your meal. You can read the entire Izumi menu and get an idea of prices and what is available.

Every meal at Izumi starts with a warm towel that you wash your face and hands with and a complimentary bowl of edamame.

Edamame is a kind of soybean that comes in a pod that is steamed and served with salt.  You pop the soybeans in your mouth like peanuts, discarding the pod.  These are highly addictive!

I dined at Izumi a couple of times on my cruise and on one occasion I was glancing at the drink menu and noticed the "Call a cab! Sakirita" listed.  I am a sucker for cleverly named drinks, so I had to try it.

I was concerned it would be overly sweet, but the drink was surprisingly smoother than I was expecting and I did not feel like my blood sugar levels were going to shoot up either.  Very tasty and it certainly put a smile on my face.

Anytime I have sushi, I always start my meal with a bowl of miso soup.  Izumi makes a darn good miso soup and it is the perfect starter for everything else to come.

In terms of main courses, there is a lot to choose from. Izumi is not a "one trick pony" that offers just a few sushi rolls. There are salads, soups, hot rocks and of course, plenty of sushi.

If you like sushi as much as I do, the sushi combos really offer some tremendous value.  My favorite is the DX Sushi Combo: 8 pieces of nigiri, 2 tamago and 8 pieces of spicy tuna roll for $16. 

While the value is good, the sushi is even better and it has become my go-to sushi dish of choice.

As I mentioned earlier, I also wanted to try something brand new to me and something I have never had at Izumi before.

I picked the Ahi and Albacore Tataki Salad, partly because it sounded good and partly because it was listed on the menu as a chef's recommendation.

This is a great pick if you are looking for something low-carb (there is no rice) or like to combine sushi-grade fish with a great assortment of greens. I thought it was a terrific salad and quite a large serving.

I still had to order some sushi, and went with a great standard: yellowtail.

Overall

As someone that loves sushi and dines at plenty of Japanese restaurants on land, I really love what Izumi offers on Navigator of the Seas (and across Royal Caribbean's fleet in general). Great quality sushi at reasonable prices leave me happy and satisfied.

One of the advantages of Izumi being a la carte pricing is that you can drop in for a bowl of soup and a roll and not have to spend a lot of money.  Whether you want a full meal experience or just something quick, I have always found Izumi to handle what I need.

I really feel like their menu is varied enough to meet the needs of pretty much anyone that enjoys Japanese cuisine. There are the usual "starter" sushi rolls (California rolls, rainbow rolls, etc) as well as the more adventurous rolls.  There is no lowest common denominator and I think that really works to make the restaurant as popular as it has become with Royal Caribbean fans.

There is plenty to try at Izumi and it is a fantastic spot for lunch, dinner or something inbetween.

Izumi is open for dinner from 6:00pm to 9:30pm and for lunch on most sea days from noon to 1:30pm. We reviewed Izumi on Navigator of the Seas.

It seems as though sushi has become more popular than ever, and while Royal Caribbean has been adding the wildly popular Izumi restaurants to its ships over the last few years, there is now another way to get your sushi "fix" while onboard.

While onboard Navigator of the Seas, we spotted the Izumi Express option, where guests can enjoy fresh and premium sushi that is freshly made, on the go.  Essentially, this is take-out sushi.

You might be wondering, "Why would I want take-out sushi?" and we thought about that too.  There are at least two good reasons Izumi Express makes sense to us:

• You have kids and a full sit-down meal is not in the cards, but you still want sushi
• You want to enjoy sushi somewhere else on the ship, like your balcony

The process of ordering Izumi Express is fairly simple. Simply call Izumi from any phone on your Royal Caribbean ship (I did from the comfort of my stateroom bed) and place your order. You can also go up to Izumi and order there, if you prefer.

You can order any sushi from the regular menu during the hours Izumi happens to be open. The staff will take your order and provide a time window when you can come up to Izumi and pick it up.

We placed an order and within about 10 minutes, it was ready and the staff even called back our stateroom to let us know it was ready.

Picking up the sushi is similar to any take-out restaurant experience you have likely encountered. It is prepared in a to-go container and bagged up for easy transport.

I opted to bring my sushi back to my stateroom and enjoy it on the balcony.  

I have to say, it was really fun having a favorite meal with my own personal view of the ocean.

We are not certain which other ships offer Izumi Express, but it should be available on ships that have an Izumi.

All in all, I really enjoyed the Izumi Express option, because it was a convenient option to enjoy sushi without having to bring my kids with me or leaving my wife with them.  For families, I can see this being a popular option, because it will provide great sushi without the formality of a full-fledged meal.

Will you be trying the Izumi Express on your next Royal Caribbean cruise? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

Perhaps no Royal Caribbean specialty restaurant has spread as quickly and has been as well received as Izumi.

Izumi has become a favorite go-to restaurant for me on my Royal Caribbean cruises, and on Allure of the Seas, I had the chance to dine there on three separate occasions.

Izumi offers guests high quality sushi at a reasonable price and has been well received by guests and crew members alike.  

It is well worth a visit for lunch, dinner or just a quick bite to eat and is conveniently located on deck 4, near the main dining room.

Let's take a look.

Atmosphere

Guests who have sailed on Allure of the Seas in years past may remember Izumi being located high up on deck 16, overlooking the pools.  

In a somewhat recent ship refurbishment, Royal Caribbean moved Izumi down to deck 4 to give it much more room and a better location.

The restaurant is located near the Grande dining room, near the stairs on the port side of the ship.

Walking into Izumi, you will be greeted in a room filled with dark reds, browns and blacks.

The restaurant is divided into two sections: one dining area for those eating sushi and other Japanese cuisine, and another section for the hibachi.

This review will focus on the sushi side, but it is worth noting the restaurant offers both experiences.

Once inside Izumi, you quickly get that feeling of being in a Japanese restaurant.

The seating area is comprised of one large room, with optional seating at the sushi bar.

During the day, there are large windows offering a view to the ocean.

Izumi is a colorful restaurant that has its own unique look that is not found elsewhere on Allure of the Seas.  Izumi strikes me as somewhere that certainly evokes a Japanese motif and sets the right tone for the upcoming meal.

Eats

On Allure of the Seas, we dined at Izumi three times during our cruise, both for lunch and dinner.  

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.

Unlike Izumi on other Royal Caribbean ships, Izumi on Allure of the Seas does not feature ishiyake (hot rocks), presumably because of the hibachi option.

There is no cover charge to dine at Izumi, guests are seated at their table and will pay a la carte pricing for all items on the menu.

All guests receive a complimentary bowl of edamame soy beans, sprinkled with salt. It is a delicious appetizer and I highly recommend trying them.

Our group opted for a combination of sushi and non-sushi choices.  Our group ranged from die-hard sushi fans to those who preferred cooked food.

Starting things off was the pork gyoza dumpling that is served with gyoza sauce.

The dumplings were quite tasty and cooked just right (not too hard, not too soft).

To me, no sushi meal is complete without a bowl of miso soup.

The Windjammer offers most mornings a make-your-own miso soup option and suffice to say, the Izumi miso soup was significantly superior.  

One of our friends was vegetarian and ordered the shrimp and vegetable tempura appetizer.

My grandfather used to say that it is difficult for any food that is fried to taste bad, and certainly tempura vegetables follow that rule as well.  Eating your vegetables was never so tasty!

My wife ordered the nabeyaki udon soup, which is a collection of shrimp and assorted Asian vegetables cooked in dashi stock with udon noodles. 

Of course, the focus of our meal was the sushi.

Izumi's sushi ranges in choice from basic nigiri/sashimi rolls, to signature rolls and even a few of the chef's signature rolls.

Izumi also features sushi combination dishes, that offer a tremendous value for the price.

My favorite go-to combination dish at Izumi is the DX Sushi Combo.  Not only is it a great assortment of rolls, but you cannot beat the price.  

The sushi was well-prepared and offered some really great tastes.  What I like about Izumi is that the sushi here is more than just regular sushi that you can find anywhere.  Rather, Izumi offers high quality sushi choices that combine different ingredients to give a really interesting and unique taste.

In addition, the amount of sushi offered in any of the rolls we ordered was quite high.  There is no skimping on quality or quantity when dining at Izumi.

There is also something to be said about presentation, and the sushi chefs at Izumi do a fantastic job at making their food as pretty to look at as it is to eat.

Overall

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 specialty restaurant is good is by how many crew members you spot eating there.

Consistently, I have seen many crew members dining in Izumi or stopping by for take out and that is a microcosm of an example that shows how good Izumi really is.

When you consider how quickly Izumi has spread across Royal Caribbean's fleet since the first one debuted on Oasis of the Seas just six years ago, it is quite impressive.

Izumi on Allure of the Seas did not disappoint and continued in the tradition of offering high quality Japanese cuisine that tastes really good.

The staff at Izumi is quite attentive and willing to work with any special requests you may have in order to ensure you have a great time.

In the grand scheme of Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants, Izumi stands out as a fabulous option for a night out or just an afternoon bite to eat.  The prices are quite fair (especially compared to land based sushi restaurants) and the fact it is on a cruise ship does not provide an excuse to compromise on the experience.

If you want great Japanese cuisine (especially sushi), be sure to make a reservation (or three) at Izumi.

What do you think of Izumi? Please let us know with a comment!

When we talk about favorite restaurants on Royal Caribbean Blog, Izumi is at the top of the list and for good reason.

On Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, we had the chance to dine at Izumi. Three times. Suffice to say, we had a pretty good look at what Izumi offers.

With Izumi, Royal Caribbean offers its passengers a high quality Japanese cuisine experience.  And with sushi being as popular as ever, we had to give Izumi another try on Brilliance of the Seas to ensure the experience has not changed.

Read on to see what our experience was like.

Atmosphere

Izumi is located on deck 12 at the aft of Brilliance of the Seas, where the Seaview Cafe used to be located.

Looking purely at the exterior, you would be hard pressed to know there is a Japanese restaurant inside, given that the traditional hallmarks of a Japanese restaurant are not evident outside.

Once inside Izumi, you quickly get that feeling of being in a Japanese restaurant.

Izumi on Brilliance of the Seas features a lot of dark woods and oranges mixed with bright colors, notably a light blue.

I am not certain I could pull off the color motif found in Izumi in my living room, but it is aesthetically pleasing, especially at the bar.

The seating area is comprised of one large room, with optional seating at the sushi bar.

The best seats have to be by the window, which offer views out to the ocean and deck twelve.  The larger capacity tables are at the center of the restaurant.

You may not mistake the restaurant for a little piece of Tokyo from looks alone, but the food will make you second guess yourself!

Eats

On Brilliance of the Seas, we dined at Izumi on three separate occasions for "research" purposes.  The Izumi menu offers a fairly wide selection of food.  

Sushi dominates the menu, but there are also a good selection of starters, salads, soups and ishiyake (hot rocks).

It should be noted that there is no cover charge at Izumi on Brilliance of the Seas. Rather, you will pay a la carte pricing for all items on the menu.

All guests receive a complimentary bowl of edamame soy beans, sprinkled with salt.  It is a delicious appetizer and I highly recommend trying them.

Interestingly, the miso soup at Izumi on Brilliance of the Seas now costs extra.  On all of our previous Izumi experiences, the miso soup was complimentary as well, but it seems to be a change on some ships.

I ordered the miso soup and at $2, it was the largest serving of miso soup I have ever had.   

Like all Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants, there is a full bar selection.  I would be remiss not to sample the hot sake while dining at Izumi.

There is a serving of hot organic sake that is included with the premium unlimited alcohol package and it definitely hit the spot. Try ordering a beer and dropping a cup of your sake in it for a sake bomb!

By far, the reason most guests go to Izumi is for the sushi and this was no exception.  Guests will find a large selection of sushi to choose from, including hand rolls, sashimi, combinations, signature rolls and chef's signature rolls.

The best value is in one of the combination plates, signature rolls or chef's signature rolls.  We found it difficult to order any of the nigri or sashimi pieces without realizing we were better off financially to order one of the combination plates.

In addition, the signature rolls offer more pieces and the best quality sushi.  There is nothing wrong with the individual pieces of sushi, but we gravitated towards the signature rolls and combinations for those exact reasons.

You might be wondering how good the sushi is and I can easily tell you it is as good or better than many land based sushi restaurants I have been to.  The basic hand rolls were a bit small, but any of the signature rolls were ample in size and serving.

There is also something to be said about presentation, and the sushi chefs at Izumi do a fantastic job at making their food as pretty to look at as it is to eat.

Those looking for the best value, stick with the combination plates, which offer a lot to enjoy in one price.  If you want the best sushi Izumi has to offer, go with any of the signature rolls. 

If sushi is not your thing, there are some other options worth considering.  My wife has no love in her heart for fish, so she picks the hot rock plates.

Essentially, the hot rocks are slabs of rock that are heated to to 575 °F and guests are invited to cook their choice of seafood, chicken, or beef.

If this sounds fun, it really is.  And not to worry if you are not sure what you are doing, because the staff is happy to help you cook the pre-seasoned food.

There are also a good variety of salads and soups, although I cannot speak for them since I always saved room for the sushi!

Overall

When looking at Izumi on Brilliance of the Seas, I am biased in the sense that I really love sushi.  But on the other hand, I eat so much sushi on land that I feel I can make an informed decision about how good or bad Izumi is.

In terms of service, Izumi has a very attentive staff that responded very well to everything we asked for.  

The bottom line is Izumi offers great sushi (and other Japanese cuisine) for a fair price.  Most of the prices you will find at Izumi are about what you would pay at any reputable sushi establishment on land.  As noted earlier, the combination plates are easily the best value of the menu, given how much you get for the price.

I would love to hear your opinion on Izumi.  Have you enjoyed dining at Izumi? Let us know in the comments below.