November 30, 2006

Fans of Japanese food will be thrilled to learn there’s a new Japanese restaurant in Karachi. Kamameshi Japanese Cuisine and Fine Sea Food Restaurant is a Zen treat. From its stone water feel décor to its clean, crisp layout, this hidden gem is bringing the Orient to Karachi. Even the bathroom has a Shintoism look and feel of the place.

For the owners, seafood and Japanese cuisine in particular, is a passion. They felt it was important to start a restaurant away from the busier commercial areas of the city, where there would be no headache of parking, security checks and formality.

Together the two owners spent the past year and a half doing feasibility and market research and travelling to Japan, Thailand and Dubai before starting the restaurant. They then engaged a local architect to create a modern Japanese feel for the place.

The effort has paid off with a restaurant that can be both formal and informal. The cozy and relaxed atmosphere is an ideal setting for business meetings or family outings. There is a live teppanyaki counter, a sushi counter and three private dining rooms. The price range is quite reasonable as well.

The restaurant’s name comes from its signature dish which is a traditional rice dish of Northern Japan. The word kama means kettle and meshi means rice and the specialty comes to your table hot in the kettle it is made in. The dish is very much comfort food for its fans with the ingredients cooked in soup stock to infuse the flavours and then served with traditional herb or meat toppings.

Although currently Kamameshi is the only restaurant in Karachi to serve this entrée, the rest of their menu is more familiar Japanese fare including sushi, sashimi, teppanyaki, teriyaki, noodles and so forth.

“We have four foreign chefs from Phillipines who are experts in Japanese cuisine,” shares one of the owners, “and eight out of the 12 varieties of our fish are imported, with the remaining four – tuna, snapper, snapplefish, prawns and lobster – are from the Arabian Sea. All other fish from octopus to yellowtail to mackerel are from Japan itself.

Tempura (light crispy batter with a variety of seafood, meat and vegetables) is the perfect mix of crispy and light; and yakitori (skewers of barbequed chicken) has an authentic marinade and is cooked to perfection. The yasai salad is fresh and has a nice, sharp taste to it from the Japanese mayonnaise. The miso soup is authentic as well and sushi comes in nice varieties at a fair price. The tori teriyaki (boneless chicken legs in the traditional slightly sweet teriyaki sauce) is also a favourite.

Some of the dishes need more work, however. Dashi was not marinated properly and tasted too much like fresh tofu placed in a bowl of marinade. Similarly, although the restaurant claims to specialise in rice dishes, nothing extraordinary can be found in that section.

This in addition to the green tea that is continuously flowing, the non-alcoholic fruit mocktails and freshly squeezed juices are pleasant and well worth trying.

Kamameshi is almost hidden from the buzz of the busy street it is located on. The place is quiet, not yet known to most people.

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