Latest news with #Daikon
The Herald Scotland
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
New Yakitori Shack restaurant in Glasgow falls short with lunch menu
I can't moan about this too much. As always, I've done my due diligence and know fine well the time of day will restrict my choices. Still, as I make my way down Argyle Street on a Friday afternoon, I can't help wondering why the team would choose to open at all without firing up their star attraction. Read more: Team behind Ramen Dayo to open new spot in Glasgow Ah well, there are still plenty of interesting plates on the menu as I'm shown to a snug seating area opposite the bar, which is adorned with paper lanterns and colourful posters. Just, not the salmon bento, there's none of that left. Oh, and the Kaiso salad, miso soup, and strawberry milk pavlova – they've been eighty-sixed too. Right then. At least that narrows down the choices, and off to the kitchen goes my order for a trio of dishes and a non-alcoholic Yuzu cooler. Like a lemonade, only better, pale yellow in colour and muddled with plenty of fresh mint. Read more: Friendly and polite though he is, the lone server on shift spends much of his time with his back to us daytime customers, preoccupied with a laptop screen and hopping down from his perch to sign for various deliveries from men carrying clipboards. At one point, dishes are delivered to tables with one hand, while his other clasps a phone to his ear mid-call. There's clearly a lot to get done before the weekend kicks off. A trip downstairs to the bathroom reveals boxes of wine bottles and crates containing bits and bobs like plastic tubs stacked on either side of the hallway, cluttering the space to the point where it feels as though I've trespassed into an area not meant for non-staff members. Truthfully, all of this is amounting to a strange atmosphere. As if my fellow diners and I have arrived before the restaurant is ready to open, and are now being kept tucked out of the way until the warmup is completed. The clock ticks, and after half an hour or so, my server returns to my table with two pinch pots of pickles, assuring me that my food will be with me in just a few more minutes. I quickly snap up a chunky half moon of Daikon, saddened to find it sour rather than tangy, heavy on the vinegar and void of any satisfying crunch. My chopsticks return firmly to their place on the table, where they will remain until the rest of the food is ready. Pictured: Karaage hot maple and pickles from Yakitori Shack (Image: Newsquest) First to arrive is the Karaage hot maple chicken, which, it has to be said, looks the absolute business. Crispy, crunchy goodness with a scattering of sesame seeds and small slivers of radish. Aside from promising first impressions, the maple syrup dominates the dish, which is crying out for a touch more seasoning or spice in the coating to fight back against the sweetness. And this particular batch of chicken is flying dangerously close to the dry side. But it's easy to see why the team have kept this Ramen Dayo crowd pleaser on their menu at Yakitori Shack. On a better day, with a little more fine-tuning, I reckon this would be the highlight of a meal. Pictured: Blistered Shishito peppers with miso butter and soy (Image: Newsquest) And the shishito peppers, they're excellent, their green skin blistered, blackened and burst until full of flavour and liberally coated in umami-rich, savoury spice and salt. But this flash of veggie brilliance is overshadowed by a bowl of Chasha-don, small pieces of braised pork belly in a Chashu marinade atop steamed white rice and more of that pesky, vinegary pickle. It's a game of roulette as to whether every next bite will be tough, chewy meat or wobbly chunks of fat. But neither is doing much to impress in a sauce that's not unpleasant, just sort of…there. Pictured: Chasha-don, braised pork belly with Chashu marinade over steamed rice (Image: Newsquest) While debating whether I've tasted enough to cast judgment on the dish, the decision is made for me when I bite down on a hunk of bitter, congealed sauce masquerading as pork. That's enough of that for me. I fear I may have made an error in putting this restaurant to the test during the day. Perhaps the Yakitori skewers, cooked over the flames from imported binchotan charcoal, do the heavy lifting on the evening menu. And, of course, there is still a grace period for any new opening that should be observed before they are judged too harshly. Even if you'd assume the folk from Ramen Dayo! might have enough experience to run a tighter ship. But as I drag my chopsticks through leftover pieces of pork belly and rice, looking desperately for something that might have given the dish just a little more oomph, it feels representative of the whole experience. The foundations are there, but during lunchtime service at least, the Yakitori Shack is lacking. Price: Karaage hot maple chicken £8, Shishito Peppers £6, Chasha-don £13 and Yuzu Cooler £4.90. Total: £27.00 Service: 3/5 Faultlessly friendly, but distracted. Food: 2.5/5. A middle-of-the-road lunch meal, though the foundations are certainly there. Yakitori Shack is located at 1126 Argyle Street in Glasgow.
Washington Post
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
The lonely, 80-year voyage of the Enola Gay
Samuel Hawley is the author of 'The Imjin War' and the forthcoming 'Daikon.' It was born on May 18, 1945, at the assembly plant of the Glenn L. Martin Company outside Omaha. Designation: Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Weight: 74,500 pounds. Length: 99 feet. Wingspan: 141 feet. Name … well, it didn't have a name. It was known only by its serial number: 44-86292.
