THIS Japanese restaurant has been around for more than a decade, with an extensive menu that includes sushi and sashimi but goes well beyond the usual offerings. 

Sushi and sashimi first: in addition to the tuna, salmon and yellowtail one would expect, there is also flying fish caviar, octopus and eel. For diners who prefer noodles, there are dishes featuring udon (thick, white and made from wheat) and soba (thin, brown and made from buckwheat and wheat), but also ramen (home-made egg noodles) and somen/niumen (thin, white wheat noodles).

One can even find cha soba on the menu, buckwheat noodles made with green tea powder and served with a cold sauce.

Tempura of all sorts come with a dipping sauce of grated ginger, coconut, sherry and soy sauce. In a section of the menu entitled "for those who enjoy authentic dishes", there are hotpots – sukiyaki, shabu-shabu and yamato nabe, or seafood hot-pot – and donburi mono ("uncommon to the Western world, a bowl of steamed rice with various toppings such as beef, tempura or chicken").

The restaurant is elegantly decorated: bamboo blinds on the windows, black chairs, white tablecloths and red vases inside. Tucked away in a corner is a tiny deli with Japanese ingredients and delicacies, fresh, frozen or packaged.

Yamato has been honoured with a People's Choice award on the Eat Out magazine's website. Set menus range from R105 to R175; maki rolls from R18 to R78, depending on what's inside – sashimi R60 to R160 (eel) or, for salmon caviar, R240; tempura R30 and up; shabu-shabu R220 and various noodle dishes anywhere from R58 to R88.

196 Oxford Road, corner Chaplin Road, Illovo
Telephone: 011 268 0511/2
Hours: Lunch Sunday-Friday 12-2.30pm; dinner seven days a week 6.30-10pm
Website: www.yamato.co.za