Bara-Ya（薔薇屋）

You know how food made with love tastes that much better? An elderly couple run this hole-in-a-wall Japanese restaurant in Azabu Juban street. The husband makes everything, whilst the wife takes orders and serves rice. It's a perfect example of team work. 

Tekka-Don 鉄火丼
✭✭✭✭✩
1000 yen

 The maguro in the tekka-don melted in my mouth. It was so fresh and the marinade turned each bite into a bite of heaven. Even the sides took me to cloud nine. I made sure to pretty much polish my rice bowl after this meal. -Daniel

Ten-Don 天丼
✭✭✭✭✭
1100 yen 

Tempura is always a hit or miss. It either comes out too oily or too dry. This ten-don amazed me though. At first I was a little sad that the amount of rice seemed a little scarce, but it was actually the perfect ratio to the amount of tempura I had. Kudos to the wife, great eye-measuring skills! Not to mention the home made taste of all the side dishes which included tofu, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), a mini salad and miso soup. It's a home away from home kind of meal. -Mari

Butagumi

I can't even start on how perfect our dinner was. Who can complain about fried pork fillet? If you're ever in Tokyo and want good Tonkatsu, go to Butagumi. You'll thank us later. 

Roast Katsu Set
✭✭✭✭✭
1260 yen 

Being Japanese, you can't say no to crispy fried pork with all you can eat cabbage and white rice (don't forget to swallow it down with hot miso soup!) -Mari

Minced and Roast Katsu (Limited to 10 a day!)
✭✭✭✭✭
1000 yen

The roast katsu was juicy and delicious. The minced pork was amazing. Each bite of savory meat dipped in tonkatsu sauce was perfection. -Daniel

OVERALL:

We love that you can watch the chefs make the tonkatsu from scratch. Tenderizing the fillet, to carefully dropping it in the oil- every step of the process can be seen from your table. 

Bento-Ya (Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!)

Bento-Ya is a safe haven for the Japanese expats living in Dubai. It's definitely the closest thing to hit 'home' when you're living abroad, with everything from bento boxes to sushi rolls and Mugi-cha.

Torikara (Spicy)
✭✭✭✭✩
42 Dhs

 Maybe just a little bit too oily for me, but I loved that there wasn't any chicken cartilage or gross fat. Japanese fried chicken is my absolute comfort food. -Mari

The chicken was extremely tender and tasted awesome. It wasn't overwhelmingly spicy, but it was a bit too oily. -Daniel

Mini Moyashi-Miso Ramen
✭✭✭✩✩
35 Dhs

Mini Katsu-Don
✭✭✭✩✩
~40 Dhs

 Regarding both the mini ramen and katsu-don, they're actually from the hidden Japanese menu! It's great that you can enjoy two meals that are usually polar opposites of each other in smaller proportions (without falling into a food coma).

Ten Chili Roll (26 Dhs)
Salmon Crunchy Roll (30 Dhs)
Crunchy California Roll (32 Dhs)
Overall: ✭✭✭✭✩

You can't order California Rolls or Salmon Rolls and look at them from an authentic point of view. For what it is, it's delicious. Definitely hit the spot- Mari

The ten chili roll was really tasty with the ebi tempura and chili sauce. I liked the simplicity of the salmon crunchy roll. I'm not a huge fan of california rolls though so no comment there. -Daniel

Aji Tataki and Aji Fry Bento Box
✭✭✭✩✩
70 Dhs

At home it's hard to be able to create both Fried Aji and Aji Tataki. So to be able to enjoy both at such convenience is great. Simple and satisfactory. - Our Sponsor

It's an awesome little hole in the wall if you're craving Japanese food in Dubai, and they've even got a grocery store (Gourmet-Ya) down the street. -Daniel