Gold Coast welcomes first vegan Japanese restaurant
A vegan Japanese restaurant and bar is set to open on the Gold Coast, marking the city’s first fully plant-based Japanese restaurant.
Owned by former Kiyomi at The Star chef Fumiyoshi Iwasaki, his wife and marketing manager Yuka Otani, as well as business partner and front of house manager Yuki Kanazawa and his wife and barista Lilian Chang, Izakaya Midori will offer a full range of traditional Japanese menu items in vegan form.
“It is more tapas style for dinner, like agedashi tofu, edamame, gyoza, and a fusion dish, ceviche, which is a cold dish of mushrooms with a miso-based teriyaki sauce and vegetables,” Iwasaki told The Gold Coast Bulletin.
Plant-based sushi, karaage, katsu, teriyaki “chicken”, poke canapes, soba, udon and ramen all feature on the menu, alongside signature dishes gyoza, sushi and creamy “korokke’’ croquettes.
“We’ve got the chef’s special, which is handmade nigiri rice with sliced fish on top. We use marinated vegetables that taste like fish,” Kanazawa said.
“All the flavours are authentic and the chef has used his experience working at Japanese restaurants to create traditional recipes.”
Sheridan Randall, 5th July 2019
