Miyazaki

Takashi Miyazaki didn’t just change the way people think about take away food in Ireland. He changed take-away food in Ireland, full stop. Mr Miyazaki, an incomer from Fukuoka, didn’t see any reason why he had to dumb down his Japanese haut cuisine, just because he had no more than a little room on Evergreen Street, and no more than a quintet of seats at a counter wide enough to hold a noodle bowl. And just because, for the most part, people came and took their food away, didn’t mean that you couldn’t offer the classic lemon ramen with steamed pork belly, or the squid tempura with dashi dipping sauce, or the crispy fried lemon sole with shisito peppers. So, he cooked the dishes which showed that he was a master, and everyone went: OHMIGOD! and ordered up Zaki’s tekasaki, and fresh oysters with yuzu-ponzu, and the best sushi boxes in the South West, and the pork belly with burdock and shimeji mushrooms. The result, of course, is that Miyazaki is a clamorous success, and sometimes it gets so crowded in here that you would think you are in a subway train in Tokyo. Miyazaki food is fearless and peerless, and one of the great Irish food adventures.