Amin Abbas

DUBAI: Following the openings of “Halal Kobe Beef Nagomi” and “Yoshi’s Passion,” Yoshi Nakatani opened a new restaurant this month named “Yoshi Chiki,” which specializes in serving halal Japanese takoyaki and karaage.

“We wanted to give more options to our Muslim friends. We run a halal Japanese curry restaurant and we were serving karaage as a topping at our restaurant. And when our friend visited us, he was so happy to eat not only curry but also karaage,” Nakatani told Arab News Japan. 

“We didn’t want to open a place to eat; we also wanted to share the fun of street food so we also started to serve halal takoyaki. But finding the right location where you can eat in and to go was difficult but we finally found an exciting place, an underground street in Asakusa,” he added.

Nakatani said that the response for Yoshi Chiki has been positive since the opening. “People were thrilled that halal karaage and takoyaki are now available in Japan. After a bite, crispy outside and juicy inside, the perfect combination of tenderness was a big surprise for them.”

“This is our third restaurant; we started with Kobe beef, Japanese curry, karaage, and takoyaki. Our goal is to give more opportunities to our Muslim friends to try our Japanese cousins. So, we guess, we will not be stopping until your requests are fulfilled,” he added.

Yoshi Chiki is located in an underground street in Asakusa, where people can enjoy the atmosphere and feel the old days of Japan, as it was the first underground street built in Japan. “You can enjoy the real taste of Japanese street food without a worry because we are a 100% halal-certified restaurant,” Nakatani shared.