Sumo : Japanese Food @ Town Center Jumeirah

our favorite japanese restaurant in dubai is ‘sumo’. the food is delicious, the portion is huge, the service never disappoints, and the price is affordable – considering that japanese food in dubai is generally pretty expensive with small portion. we’ve been here so many times that our order is always the same :

 

chicken katsu for me. it’s basically chicken strips fried japanese style, served with japanese rice, and steamed veggie. it also includes a teriyaki sauce dipping which i don’t really like because it’s too sweet. i will always just ‘steal’ the dip from mr. khairul’s set!

i love the japanese fried chicken strip – crispy, crunchy and such juicy tender chicken meat inside. yum.

 

mr. khairul’s choice is always ‘tempura bento’. (bento means ‘meal served in a box’) there are shrimp tempura, veggie tempura and chicken teriyaki as well. the portion is, as always – huge and satisfying. the shrimp tempura is always fresh and the sweet teriyaki chicken juicy and delicious.

 

this is the sweet teriyaki chicken served in mr. khairul’s ‘tempura bento’. delicious, marinated to perfection.

 

wash down the delicious japanese dishes with japanese tea. mr. khairul likes this but me – no thanks! too bland for my taste! gimme teh o gula anytime!

 

this humble plate is ‘shrimp gyoza’ – a shrimp dumpling fried slightly on hot pan. you can also order a chicken one. i don’t really like dumpling because i don’t like the too-gooey-soft texture but this fried one is delicious.

because this one is a little fried, it has that slight brownish crispiness that adds flavor and texture to the dumpling. dip it in a japanese soy sauce – yummy!

 

* * *

 

usually we go to the ‘sumo’ branch in dubai media city as it’s nearer to our home. however, for a change of scenery, we decided to go further down to jumeirah beach road, and tried the branch in town center jumeirah. town center jumeirah is a small mall right next to mercato mall.

if you came from dubai marina, as you pass, you can clearly see the big blue neon signage that says ‘sumo’ on the side of the building. if you came from the other side, watch out for mercato mall, and sumo is right next door.

 

 

‘sumo’ in town center jumeirah is right smack in the middle of the ground floor. from the 1st floor, the restaurant looks amazing with the lights looking like little opened-up paper umbrellas.

 

the light above our head – like opened paper umbrella – nice!

 

unlike dubai media city branch, here there are more choices as how you want to be seated. there are normal square tables and chairs, there are booth seats, and then there are also the japanese-style seating area where there’s a hollow space under the table where you can sit cross-legged, or else put your feet under the table like you would when you normally sit at a table.

 

most comfy – spacious, and our boys can run around while we just sit cross-legged if we want to – one plus point for this branch

 

dubai media city don’t do this, but here in ‘sumo’ town center jumeirah, the boys are given activity paper mat and crayons just like when you’re in chillis or tgif – another plus point for this branch

 

why does this japanese boy look like my 2nd son kahfi? huhu

 

kazim took a sip of japanese tea

 

if you love simple straightforward japanese food (not fusion, not posh, not exotic) that offers big portion under reasonable price – head on to ‘sumo’. and if you want the japanese decor and ambiance, try the one at town center jumeirah.

otherwise, the one in dubai media city offers equally delicious food and warm friendly service. it’s just that it’s a smaller branch, and tables are close together which can be quite uncomfortable when it’s a full house. tapi makanan sama je sedap!

well, i don’t fancy japanese food, yet i love eating at ‘sumo’. go figure. itadakimasu! *selamat menjamu selera* ~bon appetit!