Imagine you and some friends are invited over to a friend’s home for dinner. Your host is the laid-back type and not very talkative. You all sit around the kitchen, enjoying a quiet evening with a few drinks while he prepares simple dishes, occasionally interjecting with a word or two of his own.
That is what dining at Tsubaki, a snug establishment offering a small selection of simple Japanese food on the less bustling strip of Yongkang Street (永康街), feels like.
“Relaxed” is an apt description of the service environment, but that is by no means to imply it is inept or sluggish. The restaurant is all about setting the right mood, not maximizing its efficiency. The young female staffer may enjoy the occasional glass of whiskey, casually chatting with patrons as they imbibe sake. The quieter male chef, on the other hand, seems to take great pleasure in selecting the restaurant’s music whenever he is afforded a break from the kitchen. Bjork is among his favorites.
The interior is designed to set patrons at ease, with wooden dining tables and tiled cupboards. Potted plants and ornaments enliven the space, adding color and lending it a feminine touch.
This homey atmosphere is made all the more comfy by the open-plan kitchen that allows the restaurant’s two young chefs to converse freely with patrons sat at the L-shaped bar. But the piece de resistance is undoubtedly the small sand pit at Tsubaki’s center, where the chefs grill fish over a charcoal fire.
The restaurant’s menu is scrawled on a couple of blackboards and includes grilled meats and seafood, stews, salads, cold appetizers and sashimi.
Cooking over charcoal takes time, and the grilled sweetfish (鹽烤香魚, NT$150), seasoned simply with salt, arrived on a wooden plate roughly half an hour after the order was placed. But there is something strangely gratifying about seeing your food cooked over a fire right in front of you, and I didn’t find myself complaining.
The assorted stew (筑煎煮, NT$220), a nourishing combo of pork, bamboo shoot, carrot, daikon and burdock root, came recommended, but was too salty for my taste. The steamed clams bowl (酒蒸蛤蠣, NT$220), however, won approval with its fresh-tasting broth and ample serving of juicy clams.
Hungry visitors looking to fill up on appetizers can choose salmon ochatsuke (rice with tea) (鮭魚茶泡飯, NT$150) or a big bowl of oden (Japanese hot pot) tidbits (關東煮, NT$240).
The drinks menu includes several varieties of sake (NT$200 per glass) and plum wine (NT$180 per glass), and there is a range of 300ml bottles of sake priced between NT$600 to NT$900.
The restaurant doesn’t boast a big menu, and the food isn’t particularly impressive, but Tsubaki’s intimate environment and leisurely ambiance go some to making up for its shortcomings.
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