It’s been quite a while since I did one of these. Not the reviewing part because we all know that is my life but the writing part because lately I’ve been doing most of my reviews on Instagram. Not so much has been happening on the local food scene, unfortunately. So you can imagine my excitement when something noteworthy popped up in my neighbourhood.
If you’ve driven up Muyenga road recently, then you’ve definitely seen the aesthetically pleasing wood, glass and lights structure and wondered what it would be when it eventually opened. I know I’ve wondered for a while and the good news is *drum roll please* it’s a restaurant! Can I get an Amen for all of us who’ve been hoping and praying it was because God knows we need[ed] something exciting this side of town? Just me? I very highly doubt that.
Anyway the wait is over. Yamasen is finally open.
Parking was an absolute nightmare and it took me a good 15 minutes or so to park because a bunch of people thought it would be nice to park like complete idiots and kill space for the rest of us. My lovely date, Maija, who was already at the restaurant was kind enough to wait and really nice about it too (that’s how you know we’re friends) and the staff more than made up for the parking attendants’ incompetence with their hospitality and professionalism.
We chose to sit on the lower couches instead of the dining chairs which were higher and honestly didn’t look very comfy.
The food:
For starters, I got the vegetable spring rolls and my date got the avocado hoso maki (sushi). To be honest, those spring rolls were nothing like the spring rolls I always have at the local Thai/Chinese restaurants. I’m not sure if this was a Japanese twist or if my life has just been a lie this whole time.
For the main, I had the Dickson’s Pork Steak served with a delicious garlic butter soy sauce, a fresh herb salad and a variety of savoury beans. The options for sides were either mashed potato, fried sweet potato or fried cassava. I went with the fried potato because I absolutely love the mix of sweet and savoury. I was quite disappointed that it wasn’t the orange sweet potato though, but they went really well with the garlic butter soy sauce all the same. Maija went for the tempura platter pictured below.
Dessert. We were stuffed at this point, of course, but have you really had dinner if there’s no dessert? Not in my world, you haven’t. Maija and I decided to split an ice cream tempura. Get this, ice cream wrapped with sponge cake and quickly DEEP FRIED. Yes, I actually ate deep fried ice cream and didn’t die. It was actually really nice, a very interesting mix of hot and cool. Hooray for trying new things.
Long story short, Yamasen was worth the wait. And this is just their pre-opening menu. I can’t wait to see what their actual menu has to offer!
If you’re thinking of stopping by, please know that they are not fully open yet and that you’ll have to call ahead and make a reservation as they can only take a limited number at the moment.
Also, do let me know what you think when you dine there.
Happy eating!
Zeri xx
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