Hikage

I’ll start with the thing everyone has had enough of – I know that where to eat in Amsterdam is not the first thing on your mind right now. Hell, we may not even have many options for a while. However, once this is all over and done, you’ll want to go to a place with good food, good vibes and forget all about it. I’m here to keep telling you about places like that!

Enter Hikage. In case you missed it, Hikage is a very new addition to Amsterdam’s Japanese restaurants’ scene. I had my doubts because it belongs to Hinata’s family – my thoughts on Hinata are right here.

However, after looking at their menu, I’ve decided to give Hikage a try because everything looked so, so good. Three weeks later, I gathered a big group of meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans after a couple of drinks and off we went! To the land of (hopefully) good Japanese food.

It was Saturday, quite late and we were the last ones there. The staff was very nice, found a spot for us and served us right away. Going with a group was a good call – portions are not really big and the choices are endless.

We started with some Edamame to share, Nasu Dengaku (crispy aubergine with miso glaze) and Karage Chicken.

Everything was tasty, but let me tell you right now – do not, DO NOT skip the Nasu Dengaku. It’s simply wonderful.

Later on, we added some more chicken to the menu with the Tsukune (chicken meatballs with shiso and teriyaki sauce) and Grilled Chicken (no description needed, disappointed by this name, @Hakagi please review).

On the to the seafood section! We had some Takoyaki (octopus meatballs) – which I loved! and the Ebi Ten Udon, a ramen dish (basically, but with Udon) with Dashi broth and prawn tempura. Unfortunately, I was not impressed by this. While toppings were fine (not great), the broth lacked any flavor or soever. I’m aware that the Dashi broth is a very simple one, but it still shouldn’t taste like water. I had to spice it up myself countless times before it got any good.

Interestingly enough, my friend had the vegan version of this – the Vegan Udon – and her experience was totally different. The broth in her soup dish was tasty, slightly spicy and just full of flavor. Yes, it was also Dashi broth. I definitely wish this would have been the case for mine too, but hey – I’m here to tell you these things, after all.

Since the whole dinner happened after a couple of beers, we all stuck with beer. Keep in mind that Hikage does have a pretty impressive collection of Japanese gin & tonics, and I’ve only heard good things about that!

Overall, I had a great experience at Hikage. The food was above my expectations – tasty, fresh and of good quality. Prices are reasonable, yet not cheap, which is only fair if we’re looking for the real deal. It has loads of choices for vegetarians and vegans too!

One of my main issues with Hinata, Hikage’s “brother” was that they refused to give me half of my ramen dish to go, saying it’s against the chef’s views. That really pissed me off and I will probably not return to Hinata for that reason.

Since my friend did not finish her ramen this time, I was very excited to ask Hikage if we could have the rest to go.

Aaaaaand…

We could, they tried, but they had no proper containers for ramen – therefore our to-go box was more fit for maybe cake than for ramen. Nevertheless, I appreciated the effort and willingness.

Hikage goes pretty high up on my list – a wonderful addition to Amsterdam. Keep it up, and please get proper to-go containers (and proper broth?). Sometimes, people just can’t eat the whole portion and food waste is already a pretty big problem. Other than that, only love!

Value for money: 9

Food Quality: 9

Location: 8 (Rozenstraat, 143)

Service: 9

Website: https://www.hikage.nl

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