After a long and busy week, one can only ask for an escape from it all at dinner with the people you love. Janken Japanese on Jervois Road is all about delicate dishes packed with flavour in an intimate and welcoming environment.
This month, I had the perfect opportunity for a celebratory dinner with friends. The weather was not ideal this night, but the welcoming of the staff and aromas of the carefully executed food warmed us up. Despite not being an entirely vegan restaurant, their specially dedicated menu items and entirely plant based starters allow for it to be an enjoyably vegan friendly excursion.
Our goal, as it always is, was to try as much as we could eat on the menu. Although not necessarily being a sharing type of menu, this was easily done. We ordered a variety of dishes but all collectively decided that the vegan steamed buns were the highlight - particularly the eggplant steak and sweet miso one. The eggplant was beautifully cooked and seasoned - covering both the sweet and salty elements of one’s palate. It was so good that our table struggled to share.
Tofu is very much a prominent element in most of Janken’s vegan dishes - perfect for those of us who are fans. But this doesn’t mean that Janken’s vegan menu becomes complicated for those sceptical of it. As an individual ingredient, tofu can be bland and unappealing, but as I’ve always said, tofu is only good when it’s been treated well. Janken is the place for those of us that have never had good tofu, or haven’t tried it at all, to perhaps change their perspective of it. So much so, that one of my friends found that despite her previous experiences with it, she now liked tofu.
Along with these dishes we also shared the shojin tofu crumbed with quinoa puffs, nanban-style karaage tofu and the tonkotsu ramen with spicy miso. These were all thoroughly enjoyable and lovely to share between the four of us. The quinoa puff crumbed tofu was like nothing I had ever had before, and was paired perfectly with Janken’s iconic shojin sauce. The vegan take on the classic karaage chicken, karaage tofu, was equally delicious and the flavour was unmatched compared to the other dishes.
The tonkotsu miso ramen encompassed all of those warm classic umami flavours. The noodles were beautifully cooked and paired with a creamy miso broth which felt incredibly homey and suiting for the winter months. We wouldn’t dare pass up sushi, and the vegan nigiri proved to be both delicious and delicate too.
In the heart of Jervois Road, Herne Bay, Janken stands out as an authentic local which succeeds in bringing people together. Through their inclusivity throughout their menu, it is a place for all to enjoy and appreciate delicious Japanese cuisine. Being plant based at a non-vegan restaurant, it’s always a thrill to see so many options. (Sofia Roger Williams)J
JANKEN, 158 Jervois Road, T: 09 360 0555, www.jankenjapanese.com
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