Another Great Sushi Spot - Zakura, Wexford Street

I am originally from the southside. Grew up there, went out there and ended up working there! Somehow though in my thirties I have managed to find myself living in Meath. Noone saw it coming! Now I find myself on the Northside a lot so it is wonderful to see it reviving in the last few years especially in terms of food. Instead of having to cross the Liffey for a good feed we now have a few fantastic choices. Sandwiches at Oxmantown, middle eastern breakfast plates in Brother Hubbard and Dublin's best Chinese at M&L. Indeed one of my favourite restaurants is Musashi on Capel Street. Read my blog post on it here. Word on the street now though is that they are also the people behind Zakura Noodle & Sushi on Wexford Street. Indeed walking into Zakura is a very similar experience to Musashi. The decor is the same, right on down to the small wooden stools covered with red cushions. The menu though is more Wagamama style, all glossy and black and very easy to read. 

We walked in at 5.30 on a Friday evening and were seated immediately and handed a cup of green tea. I don't think the word has gotten out yet that it is there! I started off with some crab cucumber norimaki while Maya went for salmon sashimi. Both were presented beautifully and were fresh and tasty. I just love how they display their food. I mean how cute is that little boat filled with sashimi!

Norimaki

Salmon Sashimi

If this had just been lunch I would have left it at the sushi but seeing as we tend to eat a LOT we decided to get some bigger dishes. Maya went for the very exotic sounding Suzuki Amiyaki Gohan which is basically grilled seabass on a bed of stir fired vegetables. It was as lovely to look at as it was to eat.

For me it felt like a good night to try out their Chicken Ramen as it had felt wintery all day. I love ramen and it's usually my go to dish in Wagamama as it always hits the spot. I will definitely be adding this one to the list. The broth had a deep chicken flavour while the chicken breast itself was glazed with a sauce that added another dimension of taste to it. It was comforting, filling and fun to slurp up! What more could you want in a ramen.

Another plus besides all the food is the price, it's pretty cheap for what you get. The whole meal cost us €40.90 which included a pot of Japanese green tea. It was great value and we left full and happy. It's also BYOB so what more can you ask for! So if you love Japanese food I would suggest you get down there fast before you are being turned away because they are full.  The word is going to get out fast!

You can find them on Facebook here and their website here. 

Clarification: Zakura is independently owned and is not a sister branch of Musashi's. 

Musashi Noodles and Sushi Bar

I have been hearing about Musashi since last year from bloggers such as Stitch and Bear and The Silver Chicken but haven't had a chance to try it until recently. Since my first visit just after Christmas it has now become my go to sushi place and I have tried to entice every friend I have to come with me just so I can keep going back!

Musashi is situated on Capel Street, a road I have generally bypassed on the way to the Italian Quarter or to Henry Street, but now I know better! Musashi is an unassuming restaurant which you could easily walk by if you weren't aware of it. Once inside though, the decor consists of long wooden tables and low wooden backless seats which help create an authentic Japanese atmosphere or as close to it as I imagine Japan to be!

The menu can be confusing with a lot of different choices for sushi and sashimi but the waiting staff are very helpful and will explain anything on the menu if you ask. For this visit we started off with Miso Soup which was quickly followed by an array of different dishes. We felt the best plan of attack was to just order lots of food and share it between us.

Miso Soup

Next up was Maria's choice of Agedashi Tofu. I have never really come around to the idea of tofu. I have always found it a bit rubbery but this was nice. It was lightly fried and its texture was more melt in the mouth than rubbery.

Agedashi Tofu

The tofu was followed by some Crab Cucumber Rolls and Ebi & Tuna Nigiri. The rice was wonderfully sticky and the fish tasted super fresh. One of the things I love most about sushi is that you can really taste all the ingredients that make up the dish and the sushi at Musashi is some of the best I have had in Ireland.

Crab Cucumber Roll

Ebi and Tuna Nigiri

We then tried some Tako Sunomono which was seaweed topped with octopus. I expected this to be like the seaweed that you get in Chinese restaurants where it has been fried. This was fresh and delicious and didn't taste at all like I expected it to. I personally would prefer it without the octopus as I find it rather chewy but that is just me.

Tako Sunomono

One of the last dishes we ate was the Ebi Gyoza which are essentially prawn dumplings. I adore Gyoza but they can so frequently go wrong and can end up tasteless and soggy. These were perfect, packed full of prawn and were just on the right side of crispy.

Ebi Gyoza

We finished off dinner with some frozen yogurt which is a lovely dessert after all that food, which I might add was eaten by only two of us! The food at Musashi is amazing, it is authentic, fresh and full of flavour and surprisingly not that expensive. For all that food, including a glass of plum wine, the total meal cost us €42.40.

Musashi is located at 15 Capel St Dublin 1. Their website is here and you can find them on Facebook here. It is also BYOB but this is only for wine as far as I can gather as they now offer beer on the drinks menu.