Sushi Den 2?

My mom came to visit this past weekend. One of my family's favorite things to do when visiting us in Denver is enjoying a meal at Sushi Den. Obligingly, we planned our outing for Saturday evening.

On arrival at around 6:30, there was already a line out the door. Mr. M stood patiently in line for one of the privileged talking beepers and was told that the wait would be 30-45 minutes; however, if we were so inclined, we could be seated immediately down the street to their newly opened sister restaurant (or stepchild?), Izakaya Den.

We decided to walk down to check it out while waiting for a table. We walked in to find an extremely harried hostess with nary a smile or greeting for us as we entered. I asked to see a menu, and one was unceremoniously plunked down in front of me with a sigh. I perused it briefly, then dared to ask to see the sushi menu as well. The one that was proffered showed most of the basic nigiri, including toro and uni, but nothing really special.

We looked around the restaurant - it's actually a decent space, especially the small slightly crowded patio in the front, enclosed on three sides with the fourth being a tiny bamboo fence. It looked like a pleasant spot to share drinks and snacks with friends. There was a large bar and sushi bar as well.

One of the waitresses approached us and asked if we'd like a table. I asked her more about the sushi and was told that the nigiri is the same as we would get across the street. We decided to sit and try it out.

When we were seated, another sushi menu (much abbreviated from the first) was handed to me, missing some of my favorites - I'm not really sure why it was different. When I asked the server about it, she said that this menu contained everything that was available that day from the sushi bar. I looked over the regular dinner menu, and though it might have appealed to me on a different day at a different time, I had my mind already set on sushi. My mouth was watering for some buttery rich toro, some briny uni, and maybe something new from the chef specials menu. We regrettably informed our server that we would be waiting for our table at Sushi Den instead.

By that time, a spot at the sushi bar at Sushi Den had opened up, and we were seated immediately. We enjoyed the Japanese Wasabi appetizer - fresh bincho with real wasabi (not the powdered kind) grated over the top, then ordered a ton of nigiri and some sushi rolls. We splurged on 2 pieces of toro each and also tried the fresh kodai and kampudai from the chef's menu, both which were excellent. As is our usual, we blew $60 per person in under an hour.

Maybe one day, when I'm not in the mood for sushi (though when would that be?), I'll go back and try Izakaya Den - they had some interesting-sounding dishes on the menu, and if your taste for sushi is limited to your routine tuna and salmon nigiri, I'm sure it would be fine. But if you're serious about sushi, I would skip Izakaya and just stick with the tried and true.