Ajisen Dining Nagomi

Is it just me or has there been sprouting of Japanese casual dining outlets? Waraku, AjiSENN... just to name a couple (erm, i only know two of such places anyway). These eateries fill in the space between fine dining and street food takopachi balls and yakitori sticks, barely a notch above conveyor belts.

The celebratory feature of such eateries (I don't think they qualify as restaurants) are the sides, which would appeal to those who aren't keen to slaughter a tonkatsu mega-gozilla set or slurp through a huge bowl of ramen. These graze-worthy munchies remind me of Spanish tapas, best for sharing between two.



The lotus root chips were light, airy like a ballerina's tutu- without the frills.



The sweet potato was sweet but not cloyingly so. The dish would have sailed had the sugar been caramelized brown but it was fun to play around with the bits that were stuck onto the plate.



An interesting item that made us go 'huh' was the chicken bone bites. Yes you heard me right, deep fried chicken BONES. Don't worry guys, there was meat on the bones but it was Sahara-dry and badly in need of accompanying sauce (sweet sauce, mayonnaise or ketchup?); otherwise, the soft bones were made for chewing.



The ton shabu, shredded pork belly (plus a very lonesome cherry tomato) dipped in shoyu was surprisingly palate cleansing.



Gone in sixty seconds, the mini salmon don was perfect for those ‘peck’.

Tucked in a corner, there remains much to sample at Ajisen- the Tonpeiyaki (pork slices, cabbage and egg omelette) appears to be popular with many and they have a extensive dessert menu well-catered to sweet tooths- mine included.