People who constantly complain ‘it’s nothing like the real thing’ when eating out in ethnic restaurants generally make me want to reach for my cattle prod. Okay, some establishments, particularly in the Paphos area, should probably be arrested for crimes against food but there are a few resident owners who genuinely try to stick as close as they can to the core philosophy of ‘foreign food’. One of these has to be owners of the Enotis group of companies, which has opened and run Chloe’s Chinese restaurants, Oliveto, One Fine Dining and Testa Rossa along with the elegant Cava La Vino plus a second cava called Wines and More over the last decade. The newest addition to their stable is Sakura, a well-appointed Japanese restaurant opposite the Annabelle Hotel.
The group has always prided itself not only the quality of food offered but also on service and the design of their establishments. At Sakura there are three distinct areas customers can eat. They can prop themselves on comfortable stools at the sushi bar and watch as a pair of unfeasibly fast hands creates sushi platters. Here the partnership of rice and fish offers those with a piscatorial bent the ultimate culinary win win situation, because snacking on sushi not only makes one feel incredibly virtuous, it’s healthy eating as well as being curiously hedonistic.
The Teppenyaki tables are where knives continuously flash, and everyone is exceedingly nice to the chef. The al a carte area is a mix of banquet seating along with individual tables. The overall effect is one of cool, calm, well put together design without going over the oriental top.
We started with a selection of Sushi-Maguro (tuna), Skae (salmon), Tai (Saebream), Unagi (eel), Hamachi (yellow tail) and Ebi (prawn) also fine little packets of suzuki – the noble sea-bass after which the Japanese motor company named their brand – and very nice it was to test drive that around my mouth.
Tempura is also one of my favourites. Here the curious Japanese alchemy is at work so when you order anything ‘deep fried’ it’s always completely greaseless and should hit your table only seconds after it has left the oil.
Replicating the ‘real thing’ as far Japanese food is concerned one is absolutely dependent on the quality of the ingredients. Then there’s the sheer simplicity, partnered with a pure minimalism which leaves the chef nowhere to hide. Authentic is not the same as good, but here at Sakura the sushi and sashimi is as good as you can get. And, as the jewel bright orange salmon eggs burst pleasantly against the roof of the mouth you couldn’t care less if you were partaking of this meal in Yokohama or Yeovil.
For those less keen on the raw ingredient, there’s plenty of other things to savour, including Pork Tenderloin with Plum Teriyaki sauce or US Beef Sirloin with Togarashi Sauce. It’s a place to go and try out different dishes, knowing the brains behind the place are professionals in the business of feeding you for the long term, so they take no short cuts, no two-day-old fish, no dangerous re-using of yesterday’s left overs. Here you go for spanking good fish, sweet waitresses and a bill which is hardly small but feels reasonable.
VITAL STATISTICS
SPECIALITY Japanese
WHERE Poseidonos Ave, Kato Paphos
CONTACT 26 947492
PRICE from €25 per head without drinks
