We started our evening at a Japanese restaurant called Daikoku.
Sayan Hirayama: This restaurant menu has a combination of both traditional and modern Japanese cuisine. They offer a variety of Japanese meals, such as ramen, Japanese-style steak, sushi and sashimi.
Upon entering the restaurant, I noticed that there was a combination of normal seating and traditional Japanese-style seats. Tatami are made of straw and rush, and you sit on the ground. I felt like I was in my grandmother’s house in Japan again!
I ordered the Mixed tempura platter for my entrée and Teriyaki Salmon for the main.
Tempura is a piece of lightly battered fried seafood and vegetable. I learnt that it was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese during the 16th Century. Tempura is commonly served as a main dish, side dish or as a topping for rice bowls, or soba noodle dishes. Because I’m from Japan, I understand how difficult it is to make authentic Japanese tempura. I was delighted to find that the batter of the tempura I had here was very thin, which is just the way I like it!
The Teriyaki Salmon was also very good. The salmon dish was very rich, and the combination of salmon and teriyaki sauce was perfect. This dish was served alongside a salad, miso soup and rice. The dressing they used for the salad was sesame sauce, which was a surprise, but I was so happy to have that in Auckland! Both the miso soup and rice were great, I felt like I had travelled back to Japan while I was in the restaurant.
Leticia Campos: The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the restaurant was the traditional Japanese decorations – I felt like I was back in Japan! Then I noticed the small tables (Chabudai) where people sit on the mat cross legged while they eat, I’ve never seen this before!
I ordered the Salmon Sashimi platter for my entrée and Teriyaki Chicken for the main.
Both the sashimi and teriyaki chicken tasted amazing! I haven’t had miso soup before, but I really liked it! Sayan commented that the dishes tasted the same as back home in Japan, so I knew we were having authentic Japanese food. Again, I felt like Auckland is such a multicultural region, where people from all over the world reside. There are so many options for different kinds of cuisines – I am always spoilt for choice!
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