Itsu

Tolle Konzept: man hat zahlreiche Kühlregale, in denen man viele Speisen zur Auswahl vorfindet, sucht sich was aus, nimmt es mit zur Kasse und bezahlt. Dann kann man im Geschäft essen (z.B. im Obergeschoß), oder es mit nach Hause nehmen. Die Auswahl der Speisen ist recht umfangreich und die Qualität fand ich sehr gut.

I wanted to like this place… fresh, healthy, fast food. Good options for vegetarians. However, I found most of the things we tried were bland and heavily filled out with rice or noodles. Disappointing.

Not good but acceptable especially when you are starving. Setting is nice and kinda Japanese. Not bad~

Yes, it’s a chain. And yes, it’s from the creators of Pret. And yes, it’s Japanese food for those of us who want it watered down and Americanized. But you know what? I love it. Itsu almost certainly is a place you want to hate (at least for me). It uses so much plastic (lids, pots, ladle spoons) and a grammatical error in it’s catch slogan. «Eat Beautiful» should actually be «Eat Beautifully», unless they are calling its individual customers beautiful, in which there should be a comma. It features these ridiculously thin women and surfer beach men on it’s packaging which makes me cross. It has fake wood communal tables and neon lights with large glass windows. It often has food which I buy and eat but because it’s low calorie I am hungry within 2 hours.
However, I love it. The sushi is good but overpriced if you want to eat in. Nothing fancy as it is pre-​made but it does your standard tuna and salmon nigiri and maki and prawn. I personally go for the soups. I must reluctantly admit that I have tried every single potsu which come in two sizes. It’s winter time and I’ve been sick on and off all term. This puts my normal soup craving into high gear. The duck potsu is fantastic and is more like a curry for there is little liquid. It is mostly tender duck in a not-​to-​spicy sauce with rice and veggies. Really top notch quality considering this is meant to be accessible eat-​in food and quick take-​away. The roasted chicken with udon noodles, dynamite broth, and 7 veg is really good. The miso based broth is not too fishy for me and there are just enough noodles to keep me happy. I had the ‘detox’ miso soup the other day which was more filling than I expected, with silky tofu and crystal/​glass noodles. Finally, the new chicken with crystal noodles was nice as well. More green curry flavored than I expected but also more filling for quite a cheap price. So happy me! I like their packaged non-​sushi items as well. The roast chicken with avocado and sticky rice with sauce was surprisingly satisfying. The duck wrap with pomegranate was alright but didn’t compare to the more chickeny stuff.
The fruit is over priced and upsets me as it always looks so tempting. I try and get it once it’s the end of the day. Kudos to them for doing a half price sale half an hour before closing… not that there is much left by that time. This place must rake it in, sitting smack dab in the middle of Oxford. Good franchising strategy Mr. Metcalfe.