Nini Hachi: Revisiting Tel Aviv's veteran Japanese eatery - review

We Israelis seem to have an affinity for food from the Far East, judging by the large number of these restaurants in our country.

The problem of finding parking on Ben-Yehuda was solved by my companion dropping me off at the restaurant and then disappearing for about half an hour. Sometimes you get lucky and a place becomes available on the main road, but this didn’t happen.

I drowned my sorrows in plum liqueur (Kyo No Umishu, NIS 44), which brought a warm glow, welcome in the very air-conditioned restaurant.

When my companion finally joined me, we chose Maki as our first course. We received a plate with two different kinds, six pieces with spicy tuna, (NIS 34) and six with sea bream (NIS 36).

Each piece made for a very tasty mouthful and could be eaten in one go, which I understand is the correct etiquette. They are easy to pick up with chopsticks and dip into either soy sauce or spiced mayonnaise on the table.

We weren’t quite sure about how and when one was supposed to add the wasabi and ginger, but I’m sure there’s an answer somewhere in Google.

For my main course, I chose Pad See Ew (NIS 69), which promised broad noodles and three kinds of mushrooms, with an added protein which could be chosen from chicken, beef, or salmon.

I decided on the fish and received a very hot bowl of brown noodles with a spicy sauce. It was very much a comfort food and not particularly exotic. I had to hunt around for the mushrooms, and there were three kinds, the tiny ones with white heads, cut up portobellos, and standard champignons.

The fresh salmon pieces on the top were especially well cooked, and the chef had taken them off the fire with perfect timing.

My companion chose a beef curry which, surprisingly, came with a spaghetti-like base rather than rice and plenty of very thinly sliced pieces of tender beef. It was very hot in both senses, and he enjoyed it while also finding the amount to be excessive.

For dessert I went native and chose the mochi (NIS 13), a modest amount of mango ice cream in a dough made from rice.

My companion chose hot chocolate cake, which was, in fact, cold and mousse-like but was rich and satisfying (NIS 48).

Our liquid refreshment consisted of a Japanese beer for my husband, and a glass of ice-cold Lueria Chardonnay for me, as this is my favorite white wine.

We ended this great meal with lemongrass tea, served cold, and black coffee, served hot. Then it was time for the walk back to locate our car.

After so much food, we were both very glad of the exercise.