gaijingirl
Well-Known Member
I was looking for the Japanese place last night and was right at Cornercopia - but didn't see it. It's not open yet is it? At least it wasn't last night.
I'm afraid I don't know what restaurant he is referring to in Brick Lane but if it's yakitori and street food - it will be food fried on a hot plate. Yakitori is fried chicken... with yaki meaning fried and tori meaning chicken (and fowl in general). Some other "yaki" foods are okonomiyaki (lit: fried as you like it - a kind of egg/flour pancake with a filling chosen by the customer/yakiniku (fried meat)/takoyaki (fried octopus in dough balls) etc and are all kinds of food that one would buy at a yatai (street stall) in Japan or at a Japanese matsuri (festival). Ya is one reading for the kanji for shop - eg hana = flower/s, hanaya = flowershop. Pan = bread, panya = bakers etc. There are many foods one would buy at a yatai but many are fried something or other... yakisakana (fried fish) being another example. Fukuoka is particularly famed for its yatai and I once spent a very enjoyable few evenings taking in the variety and sights. It was incredible.
If this is what he means, hopefully they will install some hotplates - either at individual tables or a long hotplate at a counter (as is extremely common in Japan). Otherwise they may just fry it themselves in a kitchen. There is a culture of after work drinking in Japan called "hashigo suru" which literally means "doing the ladder".. we might call it a pub crawl. However, unlike here, there would be a food element to each place visited. Typically one might start at a restaurant, then on to a karaoke bar or a "snack" - which is basically a hostess bar and then lastly, in the wee hours, to a ramen or yakiniku joint.
I am a particular fan of yakisoba and yaki udon (fried noodles - buckwheat and wheat respectively) so I'll be pleased if this sort of food will be available.
