Sunday, November 22, 2009

Hello Japan! Food Challenge

This month's Hello Japan! task (to my great delight!) was to eat some Japanese food. Although I would have loved to try making some yakisoba again (I've only made it once before), I decided instead to go to my favorite local Japanese restaurant, Kikuya. It had been a couple of months since I was last there and I had some definite cravings. The husband (T), Z and I went on a weekday afternoon to avoid the long wait that this place usually has at dinner time. Without further ado, here's my photo post about our visit this past week.


I can't find a meaning for "Kikuya". I think it might be a name.



This is a small and tastefully decorated restaurant in a strip mall. All of the employees are Japanese. The man in the picture is the sushi chef.



We started as usual with some hot green tea -- except for Z who had lemonade. We also had miso soup and cucumber salad.



T got his standard order -- "sushi plate".



Z got his favorite -- gyoza.



And I enjoyed my favorite Japanese food -- tempura. This restaurant serves prawns, carrots, broccoli, green onion, sweet onion, zucchini, green bean and sweet potato tempura.


We had a great meal. I can't wait to go back! We have one more Japanese food outing planned this month -- a trip to Benihana this week with family. Though the teppanyaki method is authentic, the onion volcano is not.

Loving our Japanese excursion,
K and Z

8 comments:

  1. I love tempura! And I actually like sushi / sashimi (though in other areas I'm not an adventurous eater). Did I ever tell you I lived in Japan when I was a child (from about 1 years old to 3 years old). I think I picked up the taste for this food then.

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  2. sushi and tempura, yummm. love the pic of the tea with the lantern in it. ;-D

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  3. I loooove gyoza. It's one of my favourite dishes. I always wish there was more on the plate! I've been to teppanyaki a few times but have never heard of the onion volcano. Incredible! Thanks for the video link.

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  4. we have no Japanese restaurants near where I live.
    I'm off to Manchester tommorow on the train, so hope to buy some veggie sushi there to eat on the way home!
    I reviewed a cook book here:
    http://holisticknitter.blogspot.com/2009/11/thirteen-things-i-do-which-annoy-my.html

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  5. Silly me - the link for the cookbook is HERE:
    http://lyndasbookblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/little-taste-of-japan-by-murdoch-books.htmlRE!!!

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  6. Jenners - That's cool! I'm not into sushi because of the texture of raw fish and I really don't like wasabi. But I think it's a great idea to expose children to a variety of flavors.

    vvb32 - thanks! i lucked out on that picture!

    chasingbawa - Z loves gyoza too! he scarfs them down. we were disappointed at Benihana the other day because the chef only made a smoky volcano instead of a fiery one.

    lynda - I hope you got some sushi!

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  7. Sorry for not stopping by sooner. What a great little restaurant you have there, it looks like it could be in Japan. To be honest I have to be in the right mood for sushi, because of the texture and rawness of it. :P
    I love tempura too - and now you've given me a craving!

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  8. Tanabata - I love hearing that it looks authentic inside. You really never know if they are decorating in an honest way or in a way that they think people WANT an ethnic restaurant to look.

    And I'm ready for more tempura!

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