The Japanese Restaurant Around the Corner From My Flat
I thought that since I fancy myself as the next David Burton that I might attempt a restaurant review.
It will probably turn out more like a little story of my trip out for dinner, but hey, it should be entertaining!
Yatai Izakaya
Featherston St, Palmerston North
Last night Dan took me to the Japanese restaurant that is just round the corner from the flat. I've driven past it many times and always wondered what it was like in there. It just looks like a house from the outside which I initially found rather irksome. But on the inside it's just super! I've only been to Japan once and it was a 2 day-ish stop-over on my way back from Germany and we didn't go to any restaurants, only McDonalds, but I'm sure that the interior was pretty authentic. Lamps of a paper-like-nature for lighting, oriental wall hangings and such like.
Now, I had better point out that it's not a cheap night out. Well, maybe David Burton would say it was, but from a student's point of view it is most definitely not. Initially when you look at the menu you think "great!" because all of the dishes are prices somewhere between $10 and $20. However, when you get told by the waiter that they suggest you share the dishes between you and that they suggest at least four dishes per head, it's not looking so "great!" anymore.
Having said all this bad stuff, I have to say - it is definitely worth it. We decided to order 4 dishes between us and see how it went (Dan had just been for a 110km cycle and was starving) and that we could just order more if we needed to. Turns out we didn't need to! We started with a large plate of salmon and chicken teriyaki Sushi, moved onto octopus tentacle dumplings, then this japanese style pizza with squid on it and then finished off with japanese imported smoked eel on a bed of rice and japanese pickles (the japanese pickles are a lot nicer than they sound and look like sliced black olives, only a bit pinker).
Be prepared to use chopsticks. Knives and forks are not provided. I'm sure they could be, but it's fun to get into the spirit of it and give it a shot. Imagine the hilarity though of me getting frustrated and skewering an octopus tentacle dumpling in my desperation for it to reach my mouth. Or one of Dan's chopsticks going flying as he wrestled with the complexity of what to do with the japanese style pizza.
We didn't stay for dessert as our time spent coming to terms with the chopsticks had made us late for the movies, plus imagine our bewilderment when we turned to the desserts section of the menu and found "Italian Desserts" printed in bold letters! While I love Tiramisu to bits, I was hoping to try something japanese so I was a tad disappointed in that respect.
I believe that David Burton gives a rating out of 10 for atmosphere, food and drink. There may be another one in there too..... But here are mine:
It will probably turn out more like a little story of my trip out for dinner, but hey, it should be entertaining!
Yatai Izakaya
Featherston St, Palmerston North
Last night Dan took me to the Japanese restaurant that is just round the corner from the flat. I've driven past it many times and always wondered what it was like in there. It just looks like a house from the outside which I initially found rather irksome. But on the inside it's just super! I've only been to Japan once and it was a 2 day-ish stop-over on my way back from Germany and we didn't go to any restaurants, only McDonalds, but I'm sure that the interior was pretty authentic. Lamps of a paper-like-nature for lighting, oriental wall hangings and such like.
Now, I had better point out that it's not a cheap night out. Well, maybe David Burton would say it was, but from a student's point of view it is most definitely not. Initially when you look at the menu you think "great!" because all of the dishes are prices somewhere between $10 and $20. However, when you get told by the waiter that they suggest you share the dishes between you and that they suggest at least four dishes per head, it's not looking so "great!" anymore.
Having said all this bad stuff, I have to say - it is definitely worth it. We decided to order 4 dishes between us and see how it went (Dan had just been for a 110km cycle and was starving) and that we could just order more if we needed to. Turns out we didn't need to! We started with a large plate of salmon and chicken teriyaki Sushi, moved onto octopus tentacle dumplings, then this japanese style pizza with squid on it and then finished off with japanese imported smoked eel on a bed of rice and japanese pickles (the japanese pickles are a lot nicer than they sound and look like sliced black olives, only a bit pinker).
Be prepared to use chopsticks. Knives and forks are not provided. I'm sure they could be, but it's fun to get into the spirit of it and give it a shot. Imagine the hilarity though of me getting frustrated and skewering an octopus tentacle dumpling in my desperation for it to reach my mouth. Or one of Dan's chopsticks going flying as he wrestled with the complexity of what to do with the japanese style pizza.
We didn't stay for dessert as our time spent coming to terms with the chopsticks had made us late for the movies, plus imagine our bewilderment when we turned to the desserts section of the menu and found "Italian Desserts" printed in bold letters! While I love Tiramisu to bits, I was hoping to try something japanese so I was a tad disappointed in that respect.
I believe that David Burton gives a rating out of 10 for atmosphere, food and drink. There may be another one in there too..... But here are mine:
Atmosphere - 7.5
Food - 8
Drink - n/a
(We didn't sample what they had on offer to drink, but I believe that there were some authentic japanese cocktail type concoctions that would no doubt be delightful)
(I can also really recommend the eel. It was SO yummy!)
Well, I hope that was vaguely entertaining! It definitely makes for a very fun and different night out!
posted by Susie at
4:09 pm
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