Mikuni Restaurant in Frankfurt

So, Soeren and I finally went to the Mikuni Restaurant in Frankfurt with somewhat higher expectations. According to the German reviewers on Qype, Mikuni was the place where 95% of the customers were supposedly Japanese. Still, I couldn’t be too sure. As we first stepped into the restaruant and sat down, there were already a few good signs that the place would serve authentic Japanese food.

The first sign: As old as the interior and building may be, it was still well-kept, down-to-earth, and reminiscent of homestyle and cozy restaurants in Okinawa. It wasn’t overly flashy with gimmicky ‘Japanese decorations’ that would lure  a customer. By gimmicky decorations, I mean the owner of the restaurant feels a need to make the place more Japanese by putting Kanji wall art and bamboo everywhere and having the chef and waiters/waitresses wear yukatas. It was clearly simple, and understatedly Japanese. Granted that crappy place SuperKato also was plain and understated, there was definitely more care and dedication put into the Mikuni restaurant.

The second sign: Well, there weren’t all Japanese customers but there definitely were some that spoke with the chef and waitress in Japanese. While not all Japanese people make good Japanese chefs, it still gave us high hopes. Better a Japanese chef making sushi than a Chinese chef making sushi (sorry, but they never get the rice right).

The third sign: Soeren and I were led to our seats where we were given green tea on the house - something I did not expect from a Japanese restaurant in Germany. A drink on the house in Germany? That’s considerate and Japanese-like… The strangest thing I’ve experienced with Japanese people in Germany is what would be considered ‘rude’ by Japanese standards i.e. having Iwase close shop on us because we barely 5 minutes in before their ciesta. Excuse me? What? Japanese people adopting the European habit of ciesta?? It left me missing my favorite restaurants in both America and Japan.

Now onto the food… Soeren ordered chicken udon and tamogoyaki while I ordered tempura shrimp and vegetables. The bonus sign came when the waitress returned with our orders. She brought my miso soup out with my rice! The first restaurant that I’ve went to outside of Japan that got it right. Typically, when miso soup is served it should be eaten with the rice and the rest of the meal. The Japanese restaurants I’ve went to in the U.S. that served miso soup always served it as an ‘appetizer’. This is a western custom, not Japanese. Continuing on, my meal came with a couple of more side dishes sunomono and a ginger salad. They were as delicious as the miso soup. And, the tempura, while it was not the best I had, it was still good.

Soeren’s udon had a different base than I’m used to but it was still very good. Even though the noodles weren’t Soeren’s favorite jumbo noodles, he was more than satisfied with it. The tamagoyaki, on the other hand, wasn’t the best.

The verdict: An above average score of 7.5. The food is certainly authentic but could use some improvements. I guess it all depends on a Japanese person’s taste. Sorry but Osaka’s in Las Vegas/Henderson and several restaurants in Okinawa are still an unmatched 10.