Warning: Very very long post, so if you need to, skip to the important bits!

Every now and then, Akira, Lynn and I would meet up with some other friends and we would go try a new restaurant. Akira had been dying to introduce us to Torajiro, a Japanese restaurant owned by his mother’s friend, for a while now and we finally made plans to go last Saturday. Lynn couldn’t make it this time though, so it was just Akira and me.

Torajiro is located on the second floor in a little square on Sukhumvit Soi 26. It is an example of izakaya, a place where salarymen retreat to after a hard day’s work to unwind and eat and drink with their colleagues. Izakaya are very common and popular in Japan because they serve relatively cheap food and customers can stay to drink until late into the night. In Bangkok, izakaya are usually known among the Japanese expats so that’s why we need someone like Akira to take us to one! With dark wooden tables and light salmon-toned walls, the interior gave off a dim and daunting first impression. Nevertheless, I received a warm welcome and soon after being seated, menus and oshibori (wet hand towels) appeared. It was chilly inside from the A/C so I ordered Ryokucha (hot tea; 34 baht and refillable) first. It was a letdown because the green tea tasted more like hot water and there was hardly any essence of green tea at all.

Akira hadn’t arrived yet so I busied myself by browsing through the menu for potential orders. The menu was extensive, running for 14 pages on glossy paper with pictures, and by the time I was done perusing, I was starving. Akira finally arrived at 7:30 PM and we started the tedious process of picking out the best dishes. When you’re ravenous, you tend to order more food than you can eat. I had my eye on the big assorted sashimi set but wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate for the two of us, since there was enough to feed 4-6 people. It was as if Akira read my mind though, because he said he wanted to order that dish, except it was HUGE!

We finally agreed to order some appetizers first while we contemplated whether or not we should order the big sashimi set. We flagged down a waitress and ordered Tako Wasabi (98 baht), Enoki Butter (85 baht) and Tsumami Kaman (180 baht).

Japanese people consume lots of pickled foods and Tako Wasabi came in a small bowl with tiny bite-sized pieces of raw octopus tentacles marinated in wasabi sauce. It is one of the restaurant’s popular dishes and as I chewed on the crunchy, chewy chilled octopus, I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not. It gave off a vinegary sourness followed by a tangy spiciness from the wasabi sauce that was enough to leave one teary-eyed. It was different and intriguing, that’s for sure.

Enoki Butter (golden needle mushrooms sautéed in butter) came in a mini frying pan, swimming in brown buttery juice and sprinkled with thin strips of dried seaweed. I love mushrooms, especially golden needle mushrooms, but I wouldn’t order this dish again next time. It wasn’t bad or anything; I just thought there was nothing extraordinary about it except that the sauce had a nutty flavor in addition to the usual buttery fatness goodness.

This next item was interesting enough, as it was sort of a fusion menu. Tsumami Kaman was actually deep-fried wonton sheets topped with fresh tomato slices, ham and a huge chunk of Australian camembert cheese. The cheese was creamy and mild and I enjoyed it but still prefer the French variation where the flavor is slightly more robust. The ham was your average supermarket ham, the wonton sheets crispy and the tomatoes refreshing, so even though it was quite simple, this dish was gone in a flash. However, if you’re looking for that special flavor, a new zing of taste that you get from a combination of different ingredients, then this dish is not for you. Yes, I said it was good, but I also did say it was simple.

At this point, we’ve been stuffing ourselves enough to keep our stomachs happy for a while, but there was still the BIG SASHIMI SET DECISION to make. Akira looked at me and asked if I still wanted to have the assorted sashimi set and assorted yakitori set that we agreed on ordering at first. So what do you think I said?

Of course I said yes! I’m not one to back down on food, and my philosophy (when it comes to food) is, “Better to order more and eat well than order less and still be hungry”. Okay, that doesn’t sound very philanthropic but you should all be familiar with my level of gluttony by now!

Anyway, back to the food. Surprisingly, the Kushi Mori M (9 sticks of assorted BBQ sticks for 260 baht) came first. It smelled fantastic and as we removed the meats from the sticks, we tried to identify each one. There was the Bonjiri (chicken buttocks), which Akira said was really good, and also Sunagimo (chicken gizzards), Negima (alternating pieces of chicken and leek), Torireba (chicken livers), Tebasaki (chicken wings), Tsukune (minced chicken), Tori Hatsu (chicken hearts), Nankotsu (chicken knuckles), and sausages. At the side of the dish was a salty-sweet sauce very similar to yakiniku sauce, a few cabbage leaves, and half a lime, which added a zesty flavor to the smoky meats. The chicken buttocks were soft and fatty and very nice indeed, while the gizzards were chewy with a bouncy resistance on the teeth…hmm, not sure how to describe it exactly, if you’ve had gizzards before, then you know what I’m talking about. The wings were also delicious but the hearts were too hard. The minced chicken had been seasoned with chopped green onions and ginger, and tasted like gyoza filling. Overall, it was worth it if only for the izakaya experience (yakitori are commonly served at izakaya) and if you don’t mind forking over extra cash for the same kind of stuff you can get from your gai yaang vendor in your soi. (Remember to buy some limes from the vegetable truck that comes by every afternoon so you can get the full effect of that “zesty flavor”!)

The much anticipated Genkai Okemori (880 baht) arrived last and I couldn’t help but feel elated as I looked at what was sitting before me. Various types of fish were laid out in an artistic display on top of ice, and julienned strands of carrots and daikon (Japanese white radish) divided the fish into their own quarters. All the fresh seafood used for sushi and sashimi are imported from Japan and the prices are very reasonable as well, although the choices are limited when in comparison to a sushi restaurant. Still, Torajiro does itself well by stocking most of my favorite items, and this assorted sashimi set consisted of uni, buri, amaebi, hotate, ikura, salmon, maguro, ika, tako and aji (horse mackerel). (For short explanations, please click here or here.) I felt like I’ve died and gone to heaven. But I can’t die yet…not with these gems in front of me!

The hotate was very fresh and extremely sweet with an underlying scent of the sea. The uni was creamily smooth and very rich; so concentrated was it that I wished I had some vinegared rice to go with it. Buri, or yellowtail, used to be my all-time favorite fish until I discovered toro, but tasting it again took me back to my childhood, much in the same way Remy’s ratatouille made Anton Ego reminiscent of his childhood. (I’ve seen the movie twice and would you believe that that scene had me bursting into tears both times?? I would never tell a soul that…but oh, I just did!) The amaebi came with its head still intact and it was quite a task to peel the shell off the head without disturbing the contents inside, as the meat was very delicate. Well worth the effort though, since the slightly bitter cholesterol-packed shrimp head was a nice contrast to its mildly sweet flesh. The ikura came on a bed of grated daikon in a foil cup and the beads exploded with light saltiness. Everything was super fresh and lived up to my expectations, but the one fish I hesitated to try was aji. Since fish like aji and saba spoil easily especially in hot climates, they are usually pickled. Even then, the fishiness is detectable and I have to munch on gari to get rid of the aftertaste. When I didn’t make a move to try the aji, which was topped with grated ginger and chopped green onions, Akira urged me to give it a go. I was astonished to find that it wasn’t fishy at all; on the contrary, it was very enjoyable. I will definitely come back to Torajiro for more sushi.

I thought we were going to die trying to finish all that food but I’ve been targeting a particular dessert since I saw the menu and I just couldn’t leave without trying it. So we proceeded to order two desserts – Melon Kaki Ko-ori (60 baht) for Akira and Peach Jelly (95 baht) for me. The kaki ko-ori (shaved ice) came drizzled with Japanese melon-flavored syrup and my peach jelly obviously came from a Japanese supermarket but nonetheless it was still delicious. The white peach slices embedded in the opaque peach jelly helped cleanse the palate and left a pleasing aroma in my mouth. And the kaki ko-ori? Let me just say that Akira practically sipped from the bowl.

Torajiro
2/1 Soi Athakavi 1
Sukhumvit Soi 26 Rd.
(In the same area as S&P)
Klongtoey, Bangkok
Thailand 10110
Tel: 02-259-6075-6
Open: daily 5:30pm-1:00am (last order at midnight)

Categories: Restaurant Review
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