In Galway city, Yoshimi Hayakawa’s Wa Sushi has just turned 16 years old. Throughout all this time, Wa has gone through a number of guises, always observing the strictures of Japanese cooking, whilst adapting them to accommodate the particularity of the restaurant’s position on the west coast of Ireland.
Wa, which also operates as a takeaway and a sushi bar, has recently changed menu, this time swapping their Kaiseki menu – a formal meal comprising multiple courses – for a Gozen Ryori menu. The new menu exhibits the same care and scrupulous attention to detail, but this time the food comes all at once, served on a four footed lacquer tray, instead of a succession of dishes. It is a fabulous way in which to explore the culture of Japanese cooking and eating.
Yoshimi describes Gozen Ryori as “delux Bento” or “All-in-one Kaiseki” and this was our first experience of a Gozen menu in Ireland.
