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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Japanese-style izakaya great to relax, eat, drink

By Xu Wenwen | November 28, 2013, Thursday | Print Edition

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More than a few Japanese cuisine restaurants compete for business in Hangzhou, and among them, izakaya (居酒屋) establishments are a great place for those fond of a relaxing atmosphere of sipping sake and nibbling on grilled or fried kebabs.

An izakaya is a type of Japanese drinking establishment that serves food to accompany drinks. They are casual places for after-work drinking.

Mild dishes such as sushi are ordered first, followed by progressively more robust flavors such as yakitori (grilled chicken kebabs) or kushiage (fried kebabs), and then the meal is finished with a rice or noodle dish.

There are several izakaya in Hangzhou that are small and hidden among bustling streets. The doors may be so inconspicuous you don’t notice them during the day, but at night, customers line up in front of them.

Shanghai Daily finds three izakaya with a good name among local gourmets.

Yakitori Senkushiya

This location has a reputation among many Japanese living in China as the best yakitori eatery in China, according to its owner, Xu Hui, who calls himself a “student” of Senkushiya in Tokyo.

Recommended by many well-known food critics in the country, the small store is a rendezvous place for gourmands, though it has no sashimi or sushi, but only yakitori, salad, ramen, rice and some other dishes.

This izakaya seems to avoid direct competition with others but instead puts all its efforts toward what it excels at — especially yakitori (the grilled chicken kebabs can be meat, viscera, cartilage and skin) and ramen.

Xu lived in Japan for about six years. He said he found the best yakitori in Tokyo and paid “a lot of money” to learn from the chef there. Xu even keeps the menu similar to that of Senkushiya in Tokyo.

It has “more dishes than bars do, but fewer drinks than they do,” he said. Xu and loyal customers recommend the tsukune (chicken meatballs), nankotsu (chicken cartilage), grilled beef tongue, ramen and Mapo tofu (spicy tofu).

The ramen is a must. Every morning, cooks uses a Japanese pressure cooker to simmer pig bone, chicken and fish bone for eight hours (it opens at 5pm), and the noodles are made by secret recipe. 

And the Mapo tofu, expensive at 48 yuan (in many Chinese restaurants it’s sold for less than 10 yuan), is strong enough to sting your tongue and lips for several minutes. It is strongly recommended for spicy food lovers.

It has only 15 seats on the first floor, lined up along a long table facing the cooks. Small private rooms are located on the second floor.

Address: 336-1 Zhongshan Rd M.

Tel: (0571) 8706-0353

Hours: 5pm-1am

The menu is in Chinese, Japanese and English.

Kushiage Fumiya

The name reflects its main product — kushiage — a Japanese-style deep-fried kebab that can be made with chicken, pork, seafood and seasonal vegetables.

The store is owned by Xu Hui but offers different foods than Yakitori Senkushiya. The signature food, kushiage pork chop (88 yuan/US$14), is a two-finger-thick chop, which, though deep-fried, has enough moisture that it tastes neither too oily nor too old and dried out. Cabbage and toncatsu sauces top make every bite, helping make it rich and balanced.

The quality of the fresh vegetables served in side dishes and in set meals indicate the excellence of the kitchen. Cabbage and radishes are surprisingly sweet, while cucumbers and carrots are very refreshing.

Other musts include potato salad, udon (thick noodles) and plum chazuke (cooked rice in tea). The potato salad is said to be extremely smooth and with strong umami, which is a savory taste. And the udon is said to be made of premium noodles discovered by Xu in Japan.

Address: 505 Zhongshan Rd M.

Tel: (0571) 8895-9618

Hours: 11:30am-1:30am

The menu is in Chinese and Japanese.

Yoshikawa Izakaya

With only with five tables (each serving four people) and two rooms, this izakaya is in demand. It looks like the izakaya of Japan, featuring simple wooden furniture, a TV that plays only Japanese programs and Japanese-style decorations.

The izakaya provides a lunch set for about 30 yuan, and is patronized by office workers and students in the area. A set meal contains a dish, a bowl of rice, a bowl of steamed egg and a bowl of miso soup.

But if you order some sashimi, sushi and sake, the average cost may add up to about 100 yuan.

The grilled and fried foods are both good, but the service is slow. The sashimi is fresh. Recommended are fish cakes, mashed potatoes and grilled codfish. All Japanese alcohol is 20 percent off this month to celebrate a new store opening in Binjiang District.

Address: 108 Jianguo Rd M.

Tel: 136-6661-6004

Address: 1214 Jianghu Rd, Binjiang District

Tel: 152-5884-9798

Hours: 11am-2pm; 5pm-11pm

 

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