I was recently invited by @mytokuzo in Dhahran to try out their menu and I happily accepted considering there are very few Japanese restaurants that I know of in the Sharqiya. Located on Gulf Palace road, I was surprised I hadn’t noticed this place before. We got there just before prayer time and settled in to eat.

We were greeted and guided to our tables by the staff who were super friendly and we decided to go with their recommendations on what was best at ‘Tokuzo’.

They have a huge variety of items on their menu and it would have taken us ages to come to a decision without any help. For starters I ordered the ‘Spring Ushi’ (SR. 49), ‘Shogun’ (SR. 61), ‘Tenderloin Salad’ (SR. 49) and for the main course, we went with their recommendation of ‘Japanese Curry Katsu’ (SR. 47) & ‘Shrimp Yakisoba’ (SR. 43).

It didn’t take too long for the food to arrive and we dove straight in starting with the ‘Shogun’. This was an absolute delight with a whole host of ingredients that really integrated well and the wok seared salmon really standing out. From mango to cream cheese, this flavour packed maki roll is totally worth the money and is a great way to start your meal.

‘Spring Ushi’ was another feather in the cap for ‘Tokuzo’. Strips of Wagyu tenderised and seared, with some sort of a mix packed in with spring onions rolled into the beef and served on a bed of sweet soy was outstanding. Wagyu really stands out for being super tender and if it wasn’t for the rest of the dishes we had ordered, I would have helped myself to another plate. PERIOD!

The ‘Tenderloin Salad’ was a bit of a disappointment thanks to the overly diced pieces of beef and the dressing that didn’t really have any place with the meat/salad combination. I wouldn’t call this dish Japanese but it wasn’t too bad either.

The ‘Japanese Curry Katsu’ is the perfect definition of comfort food and this is exactly what I felt when I bit into the breaded deep fried chicken covered in curry sauce with a spoonful of rice. It was warm, delicious had a bit more spices than the usual katsu I have tried before. I loved the potatoes in the curry and I would totally recommend this dish.

The ‘Yakisoba’ was good with the shrimps stealing the show for it’s taste and freshness. The noodles could have been thicker but tasted good nevertheless. At SR. 43, this is a good deal but it definitely does not outshine the Katsu.

Oh and the Mojito is really top class and refreshing at the same time!

Hope you all enjoyed this review of ‘Tokuzo’ and If you would like to see more of these, follow me on foodwithshayne.com or Instagram / Twitter: @foodwithshayne