Yakuza!

Yakuza - the Japanese mafia for those of you who didn't know. Appropriate name really, after yesterday's events...

Well, I had it all planned...I settled for Yakuza after looking at their website and reading something nice about them in some review piece. I booked a table for 4, though mrs. anglosaxy didn't know that 2 of our friends were going to join us. Then the phone rang. It was mama anglosaxy, the matriarchal commander of the in-laws.

"What? So when will I be able to see my daughter?" she cried in response to my revealing of my plans for the evening. This I could understand if they saw each other once a month. They work in the same family business and see each other every day...

"Er, well, maybe sometime during the day, or even on Friday?" Mama anglosaxy wasn't happy, though I was sticking to my guns. The conversation closed with me feeling guilty but victorious. For 2 minutes. The phone rang again.

"How about if we join you at the restaurant, everyone can get to see her and everyone pays for themselves?" How do you respond to such a tempting offer? I caved...I'm sure mama anglosaxy could out-persuade any Yakuza honcho...

So, rather sheepishly, I phoned the restaurant to increase my table to 12 (!) and then phoned our friends to let them know...and give them the option to withdraw from the battlefield, but, to their credit, they agreed to join my coalition. The scene was set.

The evening started well, we were the first to arrive, as planned, and mrs. anglosaxy was all mine, at least for a few minutes...then our friends arrived, much to her surprise, and we had a laugh at her expense, telling her about my plans. At this point she didn't know that her tribe was on its way, as the restaurant, much to their credit, had given us a small table. She's since told me that she was very surprised at our friends turning up, but was shocked when her family joined the melee. When they did turn up, we were all ushered to a big, long table and I suddenly had a thirst for copious amounts of saki...

Five saki jugs later I rubbed my eyes, but they were still there..."Waitress, another jug please!" Resigned to the fact that the saki wasn't hitting the right places, I accepted a few sips of some contraband whiskey that papa anglosaxy had smuggled in under his coat...that did the job!

So, assisted by a whiskey-induced haze, the rest of the night passed by with me smiling and nodding at the various 'hilarious' stories they went through (forgetting that my Hebrew isn't 100% and so I invariably miss the punchline)...at least mrs. anglosaxy was happy, that was the main goal, right?

I have to say that the restaurant is GREAT! The place has a great atmosphere, one of those places where you can feel intimate as a couple and still not notice the rowdy tribe of 12 in the corner. The waitresses and owner/manager were very attentive, the food very tasty and in good quantity. I heartily recommend it, though would recommend not caving in to your own mama anglosaxy if you plan on a nice, intimate dinner.

I'd also like to thank those who gave me their recommendations, nice job! I have added your favourites to the list and they will be visited, especially Sushido...