Taste Test: new Japanese izakaya menu at Ruins

Who: Ruins

What: New Japanese izakaya menu

When: Dinner on Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Where: 825 N. Monroe, Spokane

Hours + website: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-11 p.m. Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays and 5-10 p.m. Mondays; facebook.com/ruins

Notes: Dinner on Wednesday night was the new Japanese izakaya menu at Ruins with The Spokesman-Review colleague and friend Sean Stoops, as Ruins debuted the special menu Wednesday night for a one-month run.

The cozy restaurant was packed, so the slow-ish but friendly service can be forgiven (the server was apologetic), and the wait for a table, which ended up being a comfortable booth, was 30 minutes.

The wait was worth it.

Dinner: calamari tempura; shiitake kushiyaki with miso and anchovy (the evening’s standout); tsukune (chicken patty) and onsen tamago (hot spring egg); okonomiyaki (pancake) with shrimp; karaage chicken; and beer (keeping it local with Olympia) and a Toki Whiskey cocktail with lime juice, green tea and mint (unsweetened and refreshing).

Ruins is to be commended for its inventiveness and risk-taking, and this food editor will certainly return.