When Yiling told me that her favourite restaurant in Colombo is a Japanese restaurant, my jaw dropped so wide that you can practically fit your fist inside my mouth, metaphorically that is! This sister of mine is really a foodie. She's always on a constant trail looking for new cuisines, new places and new experiences. When compared against her, I am just an old boring lady who goes to the same ol' places that she feels comfortable with.
Nihonbashi @ Galle Face TerraceNihonbashi is the place she's been raving about since the first day I arrived. Nihonbashi is translated into "Japan Bridge" and it represents the bridging of Japanese Cuisine and Sri Lanka. This is because the founder & owner, Dharshan Munidasa is comes from a mix parentage of Japanese and Sri Lankan. A Computer Engineer and International Relations graduate, Dharshan started the Nihonbashi journey straight out of John Hopkins University, USA in 1995. His flagship restaurant at Galle Face Terrace has the best in ambience and cuisine.
Me & the iPad menu, Yiling & Dharshan and family dinner.Maybe due to the computer engineering background, Dharshan provides an iPad to the customer to flip instead of a normal menu. However, they do still have the paper menu for less tech-savy people like my mom! haha... Don't try to steal that iPad because his staff definitely remembers who took the iPad menu! This is also the 1st restaurant to utilise the iPad as a menu 9 days after the iPad is launched in the US.
The Gyu no Tataki (slightly grilled beef) goes with the sauce very well.We ordered a ten course menu Rs 4900 called "take" (bamboo) which includes these - edamame, yakitori, namaharumaki, kaki age tempura, agedashi tofu, teppan grilled vegetables and gyu no tataki, garlic rice maki, salmon sushi and miso soup.
Ten Sabi TemakiThe Ten Sabi Temaki might looked a little bit under-dressed or simple but it's excellent in taste. How can a simple roll with just cold vinegared rice, some julienne cucumber and a hot prawn tempura rolled in a seaweed be so good? Although it was done without the fish roe, I still think it rocks.
Garlic Rice MakiAnother dish worth mentioning is the Garlic Rice Maki and it was served on a hot stone layered with an inch of salt! The hot stone kept the garlic rice warm but don't leave them there too long or else it'll be slightly burnt at the bottom. But then, if you like burnt rice, it's the best thing to do!
The complimentary dish, Yosenabe, Yakitori & salmon sushi.In addition to that, we added a yosenabe Rs 2480 for four people. It comes with fresh seafood like crabs, fish and prawns and a ponzu dipping sauce. The salmon slices are blow-torched before serving them on the sushi rice and it tasted very good like it's semi-cooked.
After we were halfway through, Dharshan came into the room and asked us if we would like to try some crabs. The crabs were fresh and it's been just delivered to the restaurant. We didn't hesitate as we haven't had any crabs in Colombo despite hearing about the wonderful crabs from Sri Lanka. The crabs were done in the simplest was possible which is steaming so that we could enjoy the freshness of the meat and it was true. The flesh was juicy and the roe made me so happy!
All in all, the dinner has been satisfying and this Japanese restaurant is indeed a gem in Sri Lanka. I was feeling generous and thus I foot the bill which came up to about Rs 14,000 which is around RM450. Nihonbashi which started off in Galle Face Terrace now has branches at ODEL and the Hilton Colombo Residencies. If you happen to be in Colombo, do drop by and give this place a try although you do feel skeptical about having Japanese cuisine in this part of the country where curry is the de facto cuisine.
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