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By Sumi Davies
 

Sakura is not just one but four styles of Japanese  restaurants all under one roof

Sakura Japanese restaurant, in Patong, presents a feast of choices. And surprises. A live band playing in the open air outside the restaurant contrasts with the cool, quiet chic of the modern Japanese d้cor of the interior. Another surprise - the restaurant, with seating for more than 100 people, is much bigger than you'd expect from the outside.

First we had to decide in which section of the restaurant we preferred to eat. Would we go for the kaiten zushi (conveyor-belt sushi) counter, where little wooden boats carrying miniature cargoes of sushi and other delicacies bobbed merrily around and around the bar on a stream of gently moving water? Or would we go for the sashimi and sushi corner, where a master of the art of slicing fresh raw fish displays his skills with razor-sharp knives?

Or what about the private screened-off areas where you sit on the tatami mat floor with your legs extended into a pit underneath the table as in some Thai salas? Another choice was the tepanyaki (iron-plate fry) room where fresh meats, seafood and vegetables sizzled in front of you on a hot sheet of stainless steel.

Indeed, Sakura is not just one but four styles of Japanese restaurants all under one roof.

"Where would you care to sit?" asked Yihyun Park, general manager of this swish new Japanese eatery.

We hesitated. I fancied the boats-in-the-water counter, since I hadn't eaten at a kaiten zushi restaurant for a long while. I always find it fun to watch the delicate parcels of food passing by, picking at whatever you fancy. It's rather like fishing. We tried snapper, salmon, California roll - all neat little packages of rice and raw fish - as well as other delights. I also ordered a bowl of hot miso (soybean) soup, which I always like to have with a Japanese meal. The quality of the miso is a test of any Japanese restaurant. At Sakura it was excellent.

While we sat at the counter enjoying these mouth-watering delights, we examined the menu, a lavish, beautifully photographed production that could win prizes for menu design. There were so many items I wanted to try. The beef tempura, for example, which I'd never tasted before, or the deep-fried oysters, unagi (grilled eel), and the many better-known Japanese food items such as soba (buckwheat noodles), udon (thick white flower noodles), ramen (Chinese-style noodles), and sukiyaki (one-pot dish).

Just for old times' sake, and because they always go well with beer, my companion ordered a plate of edamame, which the menu describes as "lightly steamed soy beans - very addictive". We also ordered a small serving of agidashi dofu ("lightly fried bean curd in a fish broth with grinded radish"), which was divine.

It's not normally done to move from table to table at a restaurant, but seeing that it was my job to report on as much as I could sample, it seemed a good idea to try another section of the restaurant. We chose the tepanyaki grill.

Exquisite delight! I chose squid and asparagus. My companion had Scottish beef. We shared the two dishes, which were accompanied by a bowl of Chiang Mai rice and a side order of spicy kimchee. The tepanyaki chef handled the food neatly and skillfully with a pair of spatulas on the spotless steel sheet - no mess whatsoever. Watching the chef at work is part of the pleasure of tepanyaki.

That was it. We couldn't eat another mouthful, although the Japanese say you should eat only 80 percent of your capacity. We were also in very good spirits, given how friendly the staff had been. With its wide range of choices and numerous surprises, Sakura is definitely a place to return to. Next time, I'll try the sushi and sashimi bar, where the fish looked oh-so-tempting.

Sakura Japanese Restaurant, Patong,
076 292 882-3. Open daily 11am - 11pm.