Yokotaya Japanese Restaurant

The last time I had a meal in this part of PJ was at the Verona Trattoria Italian restaurant. This secluded part of Section 17 is home to several nice eating places. One of them is the Yokotaya Japanese Dining. We passed by the place a couple of times and finally made it there one weekend evening.

The Yokotaya is located behind the Verona Trattoria on Jalan 17/56. It apparently serves cuisines from Hiroshima. And indeed some of dishes they offered were somewhat out of the ordinary. I do not know if that was really Hiroshima flavours.

The setting was rather traditional, with soft lightings, leather seatings and a Tudor-styled decor. It was  comfortable and conducive.

We were ushered to an elevated section of the restaurant. Up a small flight of stairs and we were in an isolated quiet area, which suited us just fine.

Service was efficient and prompt. But it lacked the friendly human touch. It was kind of business-like without the smile or additional friendly words.

We had a call button on the table. Response to the button was immediate. It was better than a lot of airlines I have experienced with.

We started our meal with a Mayo Chilli Spider Roll. The "spider" was really the soft shell crab. I have not got the opportunity to sample real spiders (tarantula - they have a lot of them in Cambodia but we did not get to it when we were there). I imagined the flavour must be similar to soft shell crab. Anyway back to the roll - it was quite good. It was not at all spicy in spite of its apparent chilli content. I particularly liked the generous roe topping that popped in my mouth.

I had the Tokusen Saba Shioyaki set. It was a salt grilled mackerel, served with rice, salad, chawan mushi, miso soup and a small appetiser.

The mackerel was very well done - with a nice crispy skin and soft succulent meat inside. I have always loved the way the Japanese grill their fish. I had tried doing it a couple of times, but had not succeeded in the way they do it.

My wife ordered the Sukiyaki set. The way they served the sukiyaki was perhaps Hiroshima style. I have not seen it done in other Japanese restaurants. They brought a shallow pot of soup on a gas stove.

And a tray of assorted vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, etc. We cooked the stuffs in the shallow pot.

The meat came in a separate plate. There was a choice - either the wagyu beef or the pork loin. She opted of the later. The pork was thinly sliced. It looked very appetising indeed.

We were given a raw egg which we broke into a small bowl.

We lightly cooked the meat and dipped it into the raw egg. It was marvellous delicious.

Crystal's selection was perhaps another Hiroshima fare. It was the Nabeyaki Hamburger. It was a beef and pork combo patty served in a rich gravy with potato, carrot and soba. I had a taste of the minced meat. It was delicious.

Our dessert was definitely not Hiroshima. It was our favourite green tea ice cream with red beans. I wished the serving was a bit larger.

Yokotaya did not disappoint. We liked the food there. The service was good though not that friendly. And we had perhaps tasted a bit of Hiroshima here.