Ningbo is a second-tier city in Zhejiang, China, and is known to be a manufacturing powerhouse. In China Japanese food is “so so” and in Ningbo non-Chinese food is just forgettable. So it is really incredible that i get to review a great izakaya in this city off-the-beaten path.
They have an extensive menu including sushi and sashimi (the same owner also operates a restaurant upstairs that was initially a Thai joint, then it was turned into a Japanese sushi and sashimi place; finally only recently the izakaya menu was merged with the sushi menu… synergies take time I guess).
The entrance is located on a corner just across the car entrance of the Ningbo’s Sheraton hotel.
The visit
Before 7pm it is usually quite empty. I usually seat at the counter where you can see the cooks working on the grill. They use charcoal and have a nice “vertical” grill that I have never seen outside Japan.
It is not a large place, but they have 4 or 5 private rooms with Japanese style seating horigotatsu.
The cheesy Japanese background music reminds you that you are not in Japan, but the place also has some original touches as the basket under the table where to place your overcoat or bags and the bottles of liquor marked with the name of the customer on a wooden plaque.
They have ankimo sashimi. This dish alone is worth the trip (if you are in Ningbo). Not easy to find outside Japan and it was very reasonably priced. Ankimo is monk fish liver sashimi; you can liken it to foie gras: it is seafood foie gras. It is a great delicacy and it was properly served with momiji oroshi as a garnish (grated Japanese daikon with red chili).
Then I usually have their beef in teriyaki sauce. On this visit the beef was very tender and just delicious.
I also had a beef carpaccio, with thinly sliced beef superficially cooked.
Their forte is certainly grilled dishes. Some yakitori is a must. I usually have chicken breast (picture above).
Then I had pork belly (a bit overcooked, but still good; usually they look like in the featured photo on top).
And finally I had duck fried dumplings that I also liked.
All dishes were authentic enough and very tasty. They have my seal of approval.
The check
This was a lot of food, I was kind of hungry… and the check came at 265 CNY (or 38 USD). You can have a satisfactory meal probably for 25 USD. By Chinese standards, this is very reasonable (non Chinese food tends to be expensive in China).
Where in Ningbo:
