Once in a while, you want to try something different. So we found ourselves on a cold and rainy Friday evening at Nazuki Garden. I had just come back from a work trip to Berlin, and was in need of a good meal.

My partner had booked Nazuki Garden several weeks earlier, at a time which would make it easy enough for me to make it on time to. With London City's efficiency, I was way too early and ended up walking for half an hour first so that I didn't have to sit in the restaurant by myself for an hour.

We were sat at the back of the room, far away from the door, but that unfortunately didn't stop the draft when somebody opened that door.

Their menu is extensive, with lots of tempura, sushi, sashimi, temaki, nigiri, and rolls. However, it was a cold evening, and we preferred something warm.

Luckily, their menu also has a large selection of cooked dinner. Soups and donburis.

We began our meal with a starter of vegetable gyozas and Japanese fried chicken. The gyozas were nice and crisped up, with a slightly bubbly texture. The Japanse Fried Chicken also crisp, spicy, and served with a lovely flavoured mayonnaise.

While we were enjoying our starters and Merlot (we got a bottle, it was Friday, bite us), a fair amount of other punters came to the restaurant. I was happy to see a large Japanese contingent as well. It's often a good sign that restaurants with a specific country's cuisine are frequented by people from that specific country. It adds a flair of authenticity.

After our main, we both had the Teriyaki BBQ Roasted Pork Donburi — slices of well seasoned moist roasted pork in a delicious sauce. It was perhaps not the most adventurous dish on their menu, but sometimes you just want to get fed well. And we were.

After dinner, we were still a little peckish, and shared a chocolate ganache mochi ice cream. A little rice cake richly filled with chocolate ganache icecream. A perfect way to end our meal.

At some point, in summer, we probably should return and try our the sushi (and friends) side of the menu as well.