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From the same owners of Japanese restaurants Yoshi in Mansourieh and Mitsu-Ya comes Yoshi Naccach, located at The Gardens. I thought the experience was going to be like Yoshi in Mansourieh, which I didn't enjoy, but it was totally different.
Yoshi Naccach is a square shaped space with two seating areas, dimmed lighting and a central bar. I love the round table with a view onto the road which one can book for an intimate dining experience. Paintings decorate the walls, makis are rolled in front of you, the staff wear grey, the lighting is good enough to take pictures...
I now have a new favorite sushi place in town.
Yuzu-Sake: Served in a small cup filled with crushed ice, a cold sake mixed with yuzu, that lemony Japanese juice and an after-note of sake. An enjoyable drink close to the taste of a lemonade.
A memorable dinner:
- Started with a plate of edamame, perfectly cooked edamame with a sprinkle of salt. As good as they should be, as simple as they are, the edamame are a great way to whet your appetite.
- And then came the Ceviche seafood salad, thinly sliced mixed seafood presented like a tower with yuzu giving the strong tanginess and olive oil adding a touch of flavor from the Mediterranean. Amazing fish quality, enjoyable greens, some edamame and colorful pomegranate.
- Spicy salmon avocado served in a cup, a mix of salmon cubes, avocado, wasabi, togarashi and a cover of crisps. A fresh salad that's different from any you've had before due to the wasabi that gives this wonderful freshness and spiciness, the crunchy bits for texture, and the good quality salmon and fresh avocados. The salad is fresh while taking you on a journey of taste; it's not like the crispy salmon salads most sushi places offer.
- Salmon tatake salad was served on a round plate; slices of amazing salmon seared to perfection served with carrot, edamame on the side. The salmon is so good, accompanied with sesame and bathing in soy sauce.
- The sashimi selection: it too is a combination one shouldn't leave without trying. The quality of the fish is unique, fine salmon, firm tuna, torched scallops and raw sea bass. The tuna! OMG!
- Salmon toro is where dinner becomes orgasmic! Salmon garnished with coriander and ginger. A fine cut of salmon, fatty for ultimate pleasure, tender and warm and marinated to perfection... put a piece on your tongue and press it up your palate... prepare to handle the explosion! Bravo chef.
- Shrimp ball, the orgasmic shrimp served with a sauce on the side, which gives it flavor. With a beige color and a crunchy outer, the shrimp have a tender and juicy heart with the sauce giving each chunk a light sweetness and a faded spiciness; a lovely order!
- Fried squid midori: I looked at my wife and said "Mmmm c'est bon". Crunchy like chips with a tender heart, the squid was full of flavor with or without sauce. Eggplant miso: a sexy plate if you like eggplant; cubes of it were served in a bowl with shitake mushrooms and cooked with miso paste. Smells like Japan and tastes like heaven. I've rarely enjoyed such flavors in Lebanon.
- Meat daikon yakiniko: grilled strip loin with daikon and mixed mushroom. Meat is hard and lacks tenderness and it has no taste. Expected better; expected a tender meat, more flavor, more life!
- Japanese curry sea food: a beautiful plate rich in aromas, shrimp, squid, scallops and white fish served with a vegetable dressing and Japanese curry. It's the best plate I've had tonight. Japanese curry, even better and lighter than Indian curry, generously filled with seafood cooked to perfection, lightly crunchy vegetables, awesome shrimp, exceptional squid, unique scallops and tender white fish. This plate comes with rice on the side.
Second part of a Japanese dinner, the Makis. A small introduction before we start to tell you about the unconventional makis, the rice that's not sticky, the slices that are not filled with mayonnaise... It's a real journey.
- Sakana: A plate served very hot is about six orders of maki, breaded white fish topped with shrimp and dried caviar baked with yoshi dressing. A very creamy sauce, a mix of a hundred flavors, beautifully cooked rice, real fish, real taste, a real journey.
- The golden squid is as good as the previous one, breaded squid served with honey mustard and garnished with crab and fried caviar.
- The wooden platter arrived; excellent rice, Japanese flavors, no mayonnaise, little or no rice, no green plastic separators, little or no nori leaves... 7 kinds of it which describe the general feel of the menu. This is good Japanese cuisine.
Dessert is exquisite! Naruto Banana; five banana chunks, tender like butter and covered with a thin crust of caramelised sugar. It was so yummy! Excellent ripe bananas with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle. It's really good I recommended it.
Pleasantly surprised! Tonight's dinner was memorable. I'll be coming here again and again.
