japanese

I had been in Japan for 5 days now and one of the types of food that I had not yet had was Okonomiyaki, so when I got to Kyoto I asked our hotel to suggest a good Okonomiyaki restaurant to try. Our hotel recommended Kinoya which has been doing Okonomiyaki since 1948.
 
Okonomiyaki is especially popular in Kansai area (where the main city is Osaka) and Hiroshima, and both cities have their own take on this dish and cook it differently. It is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients, the main ones being dough (made out of egg, cabbage, welsh onion, red pickled ginger), your choice of filling (meat, fish etc) and topped with dried bonito (type of fish), green layer, and the original sauce. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning, "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked".
 

It was our first night in Japan and I wanted to have something unusual for dinner and my Frommers guide book recommended I go to Inakaya for some Robatayaki style of cooking. I had never heard of Robatayaki style before and the guide book promised great over the top show, so I was sold. Robatayaki means seafood, vegetables and meat are cooked over an open charcoal grill. In the old days, a robata, an open fireplace, was located in the middle of old Japanese houses and was the center of activity for cooking, socializing, eating and keeping warm. Today’s robatayaki restaurants are like nostalgic trips to the past and staff are quite often dressed in traditional outfits and the places are decorated with old elements (just like Inakaya was).
 

Sake No Hana (MMMm) – Sake no Hana is a modern Japanese restaurant in London, in Mayfair on St James’ street, and also in Dubai. It is a sister restaurant to the very famous Chinese restaurant Hakkasan. I had never been to Sake no Hana before, although I have been to all the other Hakkasan sister restaurants, including Hakkasan, but for some strange reason Sake no Hana just does not have the same popularity as the other restaurants, maybe because there are so many good Japanese restaurants in London, and the competition for a best Chinese restaurant is smaller. I ended up going there because my boyfriend got sent one of these offers to go have a set menu in Sake no Hana which included three courses plus a desert and a glass of Bellini all for £29/person. 
 

Honyaki is a Japanese restaurant in in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in the Souk Madinat Jumeirah, a sort of shopping mall, full of restaurants, next to a nice luxurious Jumeirah hotels. Honyaki means a piece of steel that is perfect for slicing sashimi, which is where the name for the restaurant comes from.

I went to Honyaki with my buddies Rob and Ahmed and tt was a very sunny and pleasantly warm day, like most days in Dubai and we decided to sit outside on the outdoor terrace, although you can also sit inside, but they had turned on the air con very high and it was freezing inside. The view from the outside terrace on the beautiful hotel buildings and the Madinat amphitheater as well as the Burj Al Arab, one of the most recognizable buildings of Dubai, was lovely. 

Kirazu means “beans” and Kirazu is also a Japanese restaurant in Soho. Soy sauce, Miso and Tofu (typical elements of Japanese cuisine) are all made from a bean, and Kirazu on their website explains how beans are healthy, low in calories, prevent illnesses hence Japanese people can stay so slim and live so long. The restaurant tries to embody this and their motto is “Kirazu, not a dish for special occasions, but as part of a healthy diet”.