Yoshizoh: Home Style Japanese Cuisine Wednesday, 06 January 2010 22:21 Written by Savita Alexander

Located a short walk away from Nanjing Xi lu station, Yoshizoh is the perfect place for grabbing a little Japanese comfort food. You can find it by looking for the white and red lanterns, noren curtain and a kitchen which is visible through the front window. When the cooks see you heading up the narrow stairway, they all shout out ‘irrashimase!’ and it feels more like you’re heading into someone’s home rather than a restaurant.

The atmosphere is very welcoming and the waitresses are eager to practice their English, Chinese or Japanese with patrons. Expect to be seated amongst Japanese office employees, who ask if you mind if they smoke and then bow in response when you say that you don’t. You can choose to sit in western style tables or in small, individually lit rooms with Japanese style tables. The dark wood furnishings are close enough to feel snug and facilitate conversation, but it doesn’t feel overly cramped.

The menu offers charcoal grilled items, hot appetizers, cutlets, hotpot, sushi and sashimi. The most popular items are the medium-sized ramen and rice sets, which average around 20元.  The drink menu offers a long list of sake, or if you’re looking for something a little stronger, you can try six small glasses of shochu for 60元.

I ordered ramen with thick slices of roast pork, wakame and bamboo shoots. At first it looked a little bland and I was expecting the over-boiled meat you typically get at the chain ramen places, but the actual ‘roasted’ flavour came through. I also had an unagi maki roll and a bottle of hot sake (16元). The rolls are straightforward and there is no sense of ‘concept’ sushi art, but the rice is well made and the slices of unagi are firm and sweet. Yoshizoh is more home cooking than stylish fusion fare, but it’s the perfect relaxed place for the after work crowd.

Yoshizoh address details in our Directory