Once again, it has taken me way too long to get around to visiting a "new" Liverpool restaurant, as life, work and a pre-schooler means that you don't get out as much as I used to. I have promised to make more of an effort this year to see more people instead of forever saying "we should meet up" and not seeing it through, but we will see how it goes! Anyway, I finally made it to Bold Street's Mr Miyagi, an Asian fusion restaurant and bar that has been getting rave reviews since it opened last summer. Apart from the odd few restaurants (Etsu and Yuet Ben come to mind), Liverpool is a bit thin on the ground when it comes to good quality Oriental food, so I was looking forward to trying somewhere new.
First impressions were really good; cool decor, nice lighting, friendly staff and not too much hipster nonsense. On this particular occasion, I was not in a cocktail mood, but there were some pretty decent sounding drinks on the menu including The Bride in the Hood: fresh peach, vanilla, yuzu juice, palm sugar, grenadine, egg white sake and Beefeater gin. I think I will try a few cocktails next time I go as there will be a next time. Everything that we (me, Husband and our 4-year-old chopstick fanatic) ate was really good and there were lots more dishes on the menu that I NEED to try.
The menu is quite extensive and is split into a selection of starters/sharing dishes, 'big bowls' and Japanese classics sushi and yakitori. My meat loving little one wanted the beef teriyaki that was wonderfully tender and packed full of flavour although, in Sofia's words "it could have been a little pinker" and we also shared the black pig gyoza with plum chilli jam which was so good. The outside of the gyozas were light and crispy and the inside was jam packed full of meat which I was rather glad about, I hate it when you get a load of mush, but this was proper meat!
Image Mr Miyagi
The food is served as and when it is ready which meant that we could eat tapas style and pick from each others plates rather than a straightforward starter, main, dessert, which is the best way to eat in my opinion. Our other chosen dishes were the 'chicken for the soul' ramen, Togarashi confit duck with Hirata buns and samurai fries with (the best) kimchi mayonnaise. The ramen was nothing to write home about, but it was what you would expect and, to be fair, I only picked this dish to share with my daughter and I would have much preferred the delicious sounding Laksa. I tasted my husband's buns (oo err) and the were very good indeed, the wasabi celeriac slaw was crisp and not too overpowering so was a great match for the sweet duck.
I was truly stuffed by after eating all of the above but when I saw custard donuts on the menu I just couldn't resist. The donuts came in small balls, much like an African mandazi, with the homemade cold custard on the side. The donuts were a little stodgy and the custard slightly too thick, but I still managed to polish them up, I love custard. After settling our very reasonable bill and finishing off our beers we went home feeling very satisfied and looking forward to visiting again soon. With such a great menu I am sure we will go back many times, as long as we can get a seat as there are no reservations and it is proving to be, very rightly, popular.
