Yakimono Robata – Japanese Styled Tapas

We love exploring new places to eat, and when it comes to food, we are a huge fan of Japanese styled food, especially when there are plenty of different small plates to try out. A new restaurant opened up in Epping, called Yakimono Robata, which describes itself as Japanese Tapas. When we saw Yakimono Robata opening up, in a town that we often drive through, we had to stop in and see if it was any good!

We ended up getting the Premium Tasting Menu, which is 80£ for two. This contains a bunch of courses that come when they are ready, covering different fish, vegetables, and meats. We ended up swapping one dish out, which they were happy to do for us, and had a great time eating everything there. This tasting menu is split between us both, with tasting plates in front of us!

Fish Dishes at Yakimono Robata

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When it came to the fish dishes, we got the ceviche, which was Dann’s absolute favorite. This ceviche was sea bass, in a yuzo and lemon dressing, with crispy things on top. It did not taste “fishy” and had a clean feeling to it. I was unsure about the skin being still on, but it really wasn’t thick or hard in texture in anyway. This was such a clean dish to eat, it went down really well! The next fish we had was cooked, the salmon teriyaki! The skin was crispy and lovely, and the flavor of the salmon itself was great. The salmon was cooked perfectly and flaked apart. Due to the amount of food that there is, we got one place with a few tasting courses on it. This plate had two rolled sushi, some sashimi, and some sushi that is placed over rice. I ended up diving into this plate before getting a picture, as I was so excited! All of the sushi and fish here is so beautifully cut and made, it’s so delicious to eat!

Vegetable Dishes

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There were also tons of vegetable dishes, starting with some simple edamame, which had a chilli jam on the top. This jam was quite fun, though I do wish it was more spicy and less sweet. The gyoza came in either vegetable or chicken, and we got chicken so I will talk about that in the next section. We got some vegetable tempura, which on the tasting menu was actually prawn tempura, but I do not eat prawns so they swapped this for us! The variety and cook on the tempura was amazing – the best I have ever had. I loved the dip too, and wished there was more of it! Those small balls pictured are mushroom croquets, which were creamy and delicious. They were my favorite thing on the menu, and I wish that I could have eaten a whole tray of them!

Chicken Dishes at Yakimono Robata

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Let’s start the chicken section off with the previously mentioned gyoza. Dann and I often eat gyoza. This gyoza was good, it tasted pretty much like any other gyoza we have had – not spectacular, but still good to eat! We also had a “baby chicken” which came out last, in a lightly peanut sauce. Now, I do not believe in eating baby animals and feel they should at least be able to live their lives, so when I saw this on the menu I thought that it was just a small chicken. When it came out, I asked if it was in fact a baby chicken, and was told yes, it was a baby chicken, so it was very tender. I only ate a little bit of it, but the flavor itself was really good. There was a nice char on the chicken, and it didn’t have many bones in it at all (apart from the one leg) which was interesting. The peanuts were not overwhelming at all! The chicken that was chargrilled, on a bamboo stick, with asparagus tasted slightly teriyaki. The cook was perfect and it was very delicious!

Overall, we had a wonderful experience at Yakimono Robata. The staff was lovely, the food was fantastic, and everything tasted so good. They said the tasting menu would be worth it, and they were right. I look forward to going back again soon!

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