Yakitori course meal ($39++) & Yuzu sake ($29++) at Nanbantei!
A yakitori course at Nanbantei: charcoal-grilled skewers of beef, chicken meatball, prawn and vegetables, with rice and miso soup, paired with a yuzu sake. $68++.
A lovely Japanese dinner with BB at Nanbantei, the charcoal yakitori specialist: a course meal ($39++) with a yuzu sake ($29++), around $80 nett all in. ๐ข๐
What we had:
- A yakitori course: a procession of charcoal-grilled skewers, including beef, chicken meatball (tsukune), quail egg, shiitake, prawn and pork-wrapped okra
- A bowl of rice and miso soup
- A chilled yuzu sake
The joy of a yakitori course is that the skewers keep arriving, one or two at a time, hot off the charcoal grill, so you eat at a leisurely pace and never quite know what is next. The grilling is the whole craft here: everything comes with that smoky char and a glossy tare glaze (or just salt), the meats juicy and the edges caramelised.
Highlights were the tsukune (a soft, savoury chicken meatball), the plump charcoal-grilled prawn, and the pork-wrapped okra with its little crunch. The rice and miso soup rounded it into a proper meal.
The yuzu sake was the perfect partner, chilled, lightly sweet and bright with that fragrant Japanese citrus, cutting cleanly through the smoky, savoury skewers.
A relaxed, course-after-course dinner that felt like a proper occasion. Lovely cooking and a great pairing.
Overall: 4.8 / 5. ๐๐๐ผ Smoky charcoal yakitori skewer after skewer, with a bright yuzu sake to match. Would re-visit.
