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December 21, 2005

My Japanese/Plymouth Adventure: restaurant review time!

yukisan.jpg

Yukisan, the manga character, apparently.

Hmmmmm, sushi. Yes, having had my first taste of Japanese food in Japan (Yamaguchi-ken, staying in a house-hold) 5 years ago, DJ Mikey and I finally got ourselves to a Japanese restaurant in the UK: and what a find it was. Yukisan is the only Japanese restaurant in Devon (that strikes me as an obvious, yet surreal tag) and is on the same street as our beloved Thai House (also known as 'the only restaurant we ever go to, ever'- that is, Notte Street, Plymouth, near the Barbican). But every time we go to the Thai House, we walk past Yukisan, and it has always intrigued me.

All that red and black and gold. All the swishy writing. Lobster. Sushi. Class. So as it was my birthday, I begged. I got on my knees (ooer). And I persuaded DJ Mikey to take me and his ma and pa to Yukisan for a change. We booked a table on the top floor, which is traditional low tables and floor chairs (the other two floors are western seating) and.... I was not disappointed!!!! Just. So. Classy. Ok, Richard had issues with his knobbly feet sticking into the wooden floor... ok, so it maybe isn't the place to wear a short skirt (no, I didn't... thought ahead!), but as far as I'm concerned it is as good an excuse as any to keep that Yoga up. And the food was good too: we shared sushi, vegetable tempura and meat gyoza (little dumplings) for starters, all with the little bowls and chopsticks and various accoutrements. Man, I love all that stuff.

An aside: in amongst the tempura was a perfect, flat palm sized leaf, lightly covered in thin veins of batter. It was a crispy as if it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen (expect it was hot, rather than 'ouch'!). How do they do that? I was so sad that I had to eat it. Although not so sad that I didn't.

Then we had between us Wasabi Steak (ummyumm), Monkfish with ginger and spring onions, Teriaki Chicken, Sweet and Sour Tofu and stir-fried vegetables, with sticky rice. All exquisite, flavours full yet subtle, perfectly cooked rare steak, just.... fantastic! And Mel and I shared some sake, and because it was my birthday, I had a Cherry Blossom cocktail, consisting of Plum Wine, Sake and Sour Cherry Juice...

Finally, we ended with green tea ice cream and deep-fried coconut and bananas: and this last dish was the biggest surprise- light, delicate, small. None of this greasy, dripping, oversweet nonsense you get elsewhere. Gotta love Japanese food. No wonder they never get fat (until they start eating burgers, that is!).

Highly recommended.

Posted by scumkitten at December 21, 2005 12:00 PM

Comments

Sounds fantastic - and you can even peruse their menu online.....

Posted by: glittrgirl at December 21, 2005 12:21 PM

Sounds very, very nice. Next time you're in London try Tokyo Diner - totally the other end of the scale in that it's fast cheap Japanese lunch food but totally yummy and very cheap - especially if you're there in the week for one of their specials.

Posted by: Charlotte at December 21, 2005 04:49 PM

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