Satokina
In the heart of the Brera area there is a Japanese restaurant managed by a lady originally from Osaka: since 2014 Satoko offers the cuisine of her city to the Milanese in a small and simple restaurant.
Already once you arrive in front of the shop window you will notice numerous sake bottles and several trinkets here and there. The same is true inside, even if on the whole the environment is not particularly cozy. The owner manages both the room and the kitchen (therefore the preparation times are often a bit long). The service is a little too hasty and impersonal, which is strange because the inhabitants of Osaka are usually very approachable and talkative.
The menu is divided into a main card and off-card proposals. This is joined by dishes that can be ordered by phone in advance, so order them when booking your table.
The main menu includes small appetizers (including potato or tofu salad), the parentheses of sushi, sashimi and chirashi and, finally, hot dishes (including chicken curry with rice).
The off-menu menu features takoyaki, tonkatsu, pumpkin cream, hijiki and fennel in anchovy sauce.
For lunch, however, there is the possibility to buy the bento box.
I decide to try a little of everything and obviously I start immediately by booking the dishes out of paper by phone: okonomiyaki, one of the best eaten in Italy, and ramen, prepared with a base of chicken broth and pork ribs - simple but tasty, with a perfectly cooked egg. The note of merit goes to the quality of the noodles: if there is in fact one thing that you must not miss here, it is udon or noodles in general. They are all homemade and delicious (on the menu you will find cold udon bukkake, udon with seaweed in broth or with meat and Satokina noodles, or a particular version of hiyashi chuka).
Subsequently it was the turn of the takoyaki, which instead disappointed me: small in shape, approximate in content (the octopus was completely blended, therefore it was not perceived), Japanese Mayonese and even katsuobushi were missing on the surface. Too bad because the taste was not that bad, they were just imperfect. A strange and serious lack for a lady from Osaka ...
I also wanted to try mixed sushi: the fish is fresh but not very varied. To complete the dinner, the dessert menu offers Japanese tiramisu (with azuki jam), daifuku mochi, crème caramel with green tea and green tea ice cream, sesame or rice.
Overall, my experience at Satokina can be summed up in a path dotted with ups and downs. As you may have guessed, some dishes I liked a lot, others left me a little disappointed. In general I can not say that I had a bad meal although the prices are a bit high compared to what is served, but I would certainly have expected more, in every sense: the color and the warmth that you breathe in Osaka was missing. I don't know if I'll be back, but if I do, I hope to find those attentions that are now missing and that would make the difference.
🌎 https://www.facebook.com/Satokinamilano
💰 $$$