Having dim sum in a Japanese restaurant? Yes. At Nishimura Restaurant, the local habit of dim sum is adopted to demonstrate assorted flavors of typical Japanese food.

Its new set menu "tekago mori," Japanese dim sum, comprises selections of cold dishes, boiled dishes and deep fried dishes, assorted sashimi on vinegar rice and miso soup.

Elegant Chinese bamboo containers are used to hold the selected Japanese dishes, similar to the bamboo steamers used to serve the traditional dim sum small morsels served with morning, lunch or afternoon tea in Guangdong.

Each dish on the set menu is normally represented by one piece making it possible for diners to taste many kinds of Japanese dishes at once.

The idea came to its Japanese chef Ando Takashi, who thought it might be the best way to educate Chinese diners in Japanese dishes.

The assorted sashimi was the best part of the combination I tried. There was mekjiki, kampachi and cuttlefish sashimi, all was fresh, sweet and juicy. The texture of mekjiki, a type of ocean fish, was so tender that it almost melted in my mouth.

Raw materials directly imported from Japan certainly contribute a lot to the final quality. The Japanese chef also plays an important role in making the dishes original and tasty. Mr. Takashi is a veteran chef who holds a first-class cooking certificate in Japan and has worked in Malaysia and Hong Kong for many years.

Yasuo Kato, chief editor of Huanan Wave, a Japanese-language magazine published in Shenzhen, once said it was the best Japanese restaurant in Shenzhen. I've always thought the sashimi dishes in Nishimura are the best quality in town. In fact, it was at Nishimura that I developed a love of raw food.

The boiled dishes were also very good. The pumpkin was sweet, the Japanese bean crunchy and the bamboo shoots tender. Although they were served together on a small plate, these vegetables were cooked separately to maintain their original flavor. A type of small fish was boiled together with the vegetables, so the boiled vegetables were very tasty.

The deep fried dishes include fried mackerel with Oba leaf, fried fresh prawn, fried Japanese ginger and deep fried chicken.

The naturally fragrant Oba leaf has a pleasant taste. The fried prawn was extremely sweet. For my next Japanese meal, I think I will order a normal serve of this dish separately to have more of the lovely prawns.

The cold dishes include egg cake, salmon robatayaki, lotus root in vinegar, boiled prawn, U.S. beef with golden mushroom, fried fish and cucumber pickles.

Some of the cold dishes such as the egg cake and lotus root tasted quite similar to Chinese dishes. The cucumber pickles and salmon, however, had unique taste and flavor.

After enjoying the delicious variety Japanese dim sum, even diners who have never tried Japanese dishes may learn what to order next time.

Chef Ando Takashi said many Chinese know little about Japanese food. For example, some people dipped everything in the soybean sauce with mustard, which was supposed to accompany only the sashimi.

"Japanese food has a very light taste. We tend to keep the original flavor of different foods. So it is not correct to put everything in the sauce," said Takashi.

For those who have decided on their favorite dishes and want to have more, the all-you-can-eat menu at Nishimura is another good choice. The restaurant is now offering a special promotion. For a minimum of four diners, two guests may have a free lunch or dinner every Saturday and Sunday.

Located in the Shangri-La Hotel, the Nishimura Restaurant is an international chain restaurant with other outlets in Hong Kong, Beijing, Dalian and Surabaya, Indonesia.

Editor: Wings