Yatai Izakaya, Aberdeen Review

Hello!

As a lot of you who read my blog know, I work for Yatai Izakaya, so can lead to a bit of bias in my review. I've only sampled a few dishes at Yatai, so I decided to go with my family when they were visiting to sample more! 

I booked a table of 4 on the day. Usually I'd advise you to book in advance, just in case they have no room for walk ins, etc. The restaurant is located on 53 Langstane Place, one of the streets behind Union Street. 

We opted going omakase, so they get to decide the food we ate. We asked for around £30 per person. With some prawn tempura and buta bara kushiyaki (pork belly skewers) as per my step dad's request. 

The inside is small, 6/7 tables + counter downstairs. They also have seating upstairs. So it's definitely advisable to reserve a table! The restaurant is decorated with lots of sake bottles! They also have a robata just behind the counter where they cook various skewers, etc. 

The first dishes that came were the gyoza dumplings.

Buta kimuchee gyoza. Spicy pork dumplings. These were fantastic. I could have eaten the whole plate. £6

Yasai gyoza. Vegetable dumplings. These were okay. I much preferred the spicy pork dumplings. £5

Sashi Mori. Sashimi selection. The presentation was lovely. It included Sake (salmon), hamachi (yellow tail), Halibut, tai (seabream). I love sashimi, I could probably eat my weight in sashimi, if it wasn't so expensive! £25. 

Ebi ten. Prawn tempura. Usually you only get 3 prawns. But they gave us 4 which was nice, so we all got to try it. They came out piping hot. The coating was light and crispy. £12

Kushiyaki. 

We had a range of these. I don't think this was the Kushi selection due to the portions. We had two portions of the buta bara (pork belly on the left) with mustard miso £7.50. 2 x Gyu (Aberdonian rib eye) £8 cooked rare I think! It looked it, and it's one of my favourites. Negima (chicken thigh). 2 x Hotate (Scallops). Sake saikyo (salmon). Satsumaimo (sweet potato) and nasu (aubergines). I don't really know the price of all these, as it could have also been the 6-12 skewer selection mixed in there. 

Onigiri. I definitely did not like these. I'm not a fan of rice balls really, I find them too stodgy. David however were a fan and ate mine too. £4

Buta Niku. Pork ribs with black pepper teriyaki. There was a lot of meat on each rib! One of the faves amongst the group. £12

One of the specials. I forget the Japanese name. But it was grouse. They were very gamey as expected, and the beetroot salad on the side was fantastic. 

MY FAVOURITE DISH FROM THE WHOLE MENU! 

Gyu Tataki. Seared beef salad with a chilli dressing. Beautiful. I love this dish, and love how the meat is cooked! Rare! Yum! £12. 

Lastly we had some maki. By this time I was stuffed. Unakyu on the left £6. Grilled eel and cucumber. They're actually slightly sweet! Really nice. And we also had the watarigani, soft shell crab maki £12.50. I didn't like these. I got the part with the claws etc, and really did not enjoy it. Maybe it was because I was full...the rest loved it though. 

We ended with some homemade icecream £5. Raspberry, red bean and white chocolate. This was beautiful. The little chunks of white chocolate were a delight. It was that nice, my mum kept on saying how tasty it was! 

We also got a scoop of their coffee and Yamazaki whiskey ice cream. This was nice, not as sweet as the previous ice cream. There is a slight undertone of whiskey. 

Overall, our bill came to around £130 (including my discount). So, without the discount it would have come up to around £170 with drinks. 

The food is expensive and dishes can be small depending on what you get. But it is all fresh and cooked beautifully. They advise around £25-45 per person, depending on how much raw fish you'd like to eat. Some of the dishes like the ebi ten are expensive for what you get. Beer is expensive at around £4-6 a bottle. 

I would definitely suggest people to eat here at least once, try out the food, and I'm pretty sure you'd love it. I won't be able to eat here often, since I'm skint all of the time, but a treat now and again would do just nicely. 

4/5 hearts for Yatai Izakaya. 

Food is good, but it can be expensive, depending on what you get! I'd advise you try the gyu tataki, and maybe buy me one...or ten. :]!  

I've tried making this review as less biased as I can. I love the food here, and service was great throughout. Food comes out slowly, rather than all at the same time, and as soon as it's ready which is good, because it all comes out hot, and fresh. 

I will next be back during lunch hopefully to try out their ramens! 

'till next time,