Sakuratei? What Sakuratei?
A couple of weeks ago I was on my way out for a solo, Sunday lunch when one of the other guests at my hotel stopped me as I was walking out the door. She invited me for lunch and boy, am I glad she did because it was delicious. When I travel or generally settle into a new place, I’m pretty open to trying things I’ve never eaten before, but generally, only if the menu has a modicum of English. Or, as is popular in Japan, when restaurants have, what is essentially, a vending machine to order your food with. You simply select the tile that you want to eat (not literally, it will have a picture on it) and smack my lips, a ticket with your order pops out which you simply hand to the restaurant staff. No Nihongo (Japanese) needed and you can enjoy your meal without the fear of looking like a grade A tit.
Hauled out of my comfort zone, I was walking for lunch with a stranger and was pretty happy, in honesty, at the possibility of eating something totally different. I was given the choice of two options, dumplings or what my new friend called – a Japanese pancake. During my time in China, despite already looking a little like a dumpling, I ate so many that I felt like I could turn into one at any point, so I asked her to take me to the Japanese pancake place. A ten minute walk later and we arrived at Sakuratei – you now know the reason for the terrible pun in the title. Sakuratei is located in the Harajuku area of Tokyo which is the kind of place you go to if you want to take a photo for your brand new EP or generally just be edgier than a cuboid. It’s a cool area though, filled with boutique shops, small bars and restaurants and a lot of gangland-esque graffiti to spicen up your Instagram feed. The entrance to Sakuratei itself is fascinating, although the next week I found out we’d actually taken the back entrance, rather than the front. Essentially, you have to slip through a crack in the wall which fire safety inspectors would scoff at, however, it feels like passing through the wardrobe into Narnia, as the smell of frying okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) gently caresses your nostrils. For any conventional Carlys out there, there is a more accessible front entrance too, but why deprive yourself of such magic?
When you walk in, the interior is pretty warm and inviting and the walls are decorated madly with animated-style figures. You get the feeling that even if you were alone in the restaurant, you’re surrounded by many friends, looking down on you from the walls. While there are many options available to eat, the speciality is the okonomiyaki but there are other options such as noodles and dumplings. The first time I went I had a potato based okonomiyaki and it was pretty good but I didn’t cook it right, as you’ll soon see. However, the second time it was delicious as my Japanese friend helped me cook it. This time, I chose the most popular option which was pork, squid, shrimp, leeks and mushrooms with some extra bacon and an egg to garnish the top. Basically, they will give you a bowl full of these ingredients and some extra veg to pad it out and you mix it up with a little batter, sauce and maybe an egg. You then slap it straight on the hotplate and ten minutes and a flip later, you’ll have your okonomiyaki, ready to eat. For a carb addict like me, it’s also great as it’s mainly meat and vegetables with very few carbohydrates. Sometimes in Asia, rice can be both your best and worst friend so here, you can fill yourself up without the post-carb guilt stabbing you in the back. So the first time I went with my Swiss friend, this is how mine turned out…
To see how it should really be done, check out the featured image at the top courtesy of my Japanese friend!
