Around the World in a Weekend:
International Dining in Pensacola
by Roane Beard
The face of local dining has changed in recent years, and it’s a change for the better. Pensacola still has some of the best seafood in the United States, and Southern cooking is a time-honored tradition kept alive by chefs from Hopkins House to Jackson’s, but now more than ever Pensacola has a range of international dining options to offer the discriminating palate. You could spend weeks trying the specialties of ethnic groups the world over: pad-thai from Thailand, Vietnam’s phe soup, Peking duck from China, and Tokyo-style sushi just touch on the possibilities. So where do you go with so much to choose from? Well, we can get you started. If you’ve got a weekend to spend eating some of the best food around, we’ve got three international restaurants that will keep you dining in style all weekend long.
Yamato Oriental Cuisine
131 New Warrington Rd.
Pensacola, FL 32506
(850) 453-3461/3462
“‘When people get together, they get the best of things,’” says Yoshiko Notah, the owner of Yamato Oriental Cuisine. She’s translating the Japanese scroll hanging in the idyllic tatami room, a room designed to create a close intimate atmosphere for diners. “That’s what we give people when they come here—our best.”
They’ve been doing their best for 27 years now, and it’s obvious that they’ve learned from the experience. You’d be hard-pressed to find better Japanese food anywhere outside of Japan.
Yamato offers its customers several dining options, each with its own feel. The main dining room is great for ordering traditional Japanese dishes from the kitchen or the sushi bar, and to enjoy them with friends. The tatami room offers the same menu, but in a more intimate environment, while the hibachi tables and sushi bar are worlds of their own.
The sushi bar is done Tokyo style. Patrons sit at the wooden counter as the sushi chef, Hiro Muramatsu, prepares their orders fresh by hand in front of them, serving sushi on wooden blocks with wasabi and ginger on the side. The menu is a both traditionally Japanese and reflection of the restaurant’s years in Florida. Order your usuzukuri just as you’d buy it Japan, but with a Pensacola roll or a Blue Angel roll to round it out.
The hibachi tables are as much about spectacle as they are about great food. The sushi chef brings out all the food to be cooked and prepares it right at the table, which is built around a grill. The hibachi is a safe choice for westerners who want to ease into Japanese cuisine. You won’t find raw fish here, and most of the ingredients are familiar rather than exotic: beef, chicken, and shrimp are the staples. It’s the style of preparation that sets them apart from similar western-style plates, and the carefully prepared sauces that accompany the grilled entrées.
Japanese food has a reputation for being expensive, but at Yamato you won’t pay any more than you would expect to pay at any first rate steak house—and it’s worth every cent.
3102 East Cervantes St.
(850) 428-7641
After you’ve has your fill of Japanese fare, jump from the empire of the sun to neighboring China, the ancient middle-kingdom with its own rich history, culinary and otherwise. Hunan Chinese Restaurant serves food from many of China’s different provences, and most of them are out on the buffet, just waiting for you to sample them.
Dumplings, sweet breads, different kinds of duck and chicken, an array of pork dishes, vegetable dishes, steamed and fried rice, noodles, and just about anything else you’ve ever seen in a Chinese restaurant line Hunan’s dinner buffet counters. And in the unlikely event that you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can still order it off the menu. But when you hit the buffet, make sure you hit what is the most authentic Chinese food in the restaurant—the noodle bar.
“It’s been very popular,” says Jenny Nguyen, the assistant manager. “You get to be your own chef. You pick what you want, and cook it in your choice of broth. There’s an assortment of different kinds of noodles, some made from flour and some made from rice. Then there’s shrimp, eggs, vegetables, wontons, and other selections that you can add to the noodles.”
The restaurant itself is a contrast to the natural wood tones and subdued solids preferred by the Japanese. Chinese architecture has always been colorful, and that’s reflected in Hunan’s décor. The walls are solid red, the color of luck and money, and are adorned with gold lattice-work and sculptures depicting traditional Chinese scenes. The main dining area is awash in golden phoenixes, while the banquet room is dominated by a phoenix opposite a large golden dragon. Overall, the effect is to surround the diners with reminders of China’s unique cultural heritage.
Not to mention contemporary culture.
“We have karaoke on the weekend, too.” Jenny says, laughing about China’s karaoke mad population. “Come by and try it—you’ll get a taste of Asian food and Asian culture all at once!”
911 Gulf Breeze Parkway
916-0430
Leaving one ancient cradle of civilization for another brings us to the Aegean Breeze, and the food of Greece. Stavros Varvouris, a native of Skopelos and the restaurant’s chef and owner, learned to cook at a young age. More importantly, he says, he learned how to appreciate food.
“Dining, to the Greeks, is sort of a continuous celebration,” Stavros says. “I hate to put it so extravagantly, but it’s realistic. A Greek family table is always interesting. It’s always for entertainment, not just survival. You sit at the table with grandma and grandpa, and it’s a really big thing. No TV, no radio, just a two hour meal with the family. It’s the thing to do for relaxation. So we bring that to the restaurant. We’ve developed an atmosphere where everyone is joking, laughing and carrying on. We keep it very friendly, among ourselves and with the customers. It’s a celebration.”
Greek food is unique, claims Stavros, in part because of its history as a center of trade and culture, which brought influences from around the world to its cuisine, and in part because of its geography. A mountainous country with an extensive coastline, seafood dishes shared the table with lamb, olives, and figs.
The menu at Aegean Breeze replicates the Greek table with traditional foods prepared using the olive oil, garlic and leafy spices that characterize Mediterranean food: oregano, basil dill, fennel, and thyme. Of course, feta cheese is found in abundance as well. All the bread is made fresh daily by Stavros’ wife, Tina-Marie; dinner rolls, sandwich rolls, pita, and sweet holiday breads make it from her ovens to the tables every day. She also makes the delicious baklava and other dessert items, all of which are a must try.
From the blue Aegean it’s just a quick jump over the pond back to the familiar waters of Pensacola, and the workweek. Just bear in mind that when you get the travel urge, you’ve got a whole world of dining at your disposal. All without packing a single bag.
We’ve looked at three great international restaurants around Pensacola, but there are dozens more. Here’s a few of the best—give these a try when you get a yen for something different.
7700 W. Fairfield Drive
453-2144
A spacious, laid-back kind of place—just what you would expect from a Jamaican café! Try the Jamaican jerk or the beef patties, but don’t turn away anything else Lana cooks up. She’s been in the business for years, and knows all the secret spices that make Jamaican food a must have.
7130 N. Davis Highway
473-8877
If you’re in the mood for something Asian, but want to skip the Chinese and Japanese offerings around town, it’s hard to beat Tu Do. The food is traditional Vietnamese cuisine with an American twist, and Tu Do regulars say it’s some of the best food in town. Try it at lunch for some inexpensive specialties, or dinner for relaxed, upscale dining. For a truly authentic experience, make sure to try the soup.
47 Gulf Breeze Parkway
916-0500
While you’re out trying Asian restaurants, don’t miss Thai Majesty. Thai food shares a cultural heritage with Chinese cooking, but Thai chefs have made it uniquely their own. Thai Majesty offers a chance to sample Thailand’s culinary heritage without making a trip to Bangkok. The pad-Thai is a must have, as this noodle dish is the staple of most Thai families, but anything in peanut sauce will send you scurrying back for more.
Café Aladdin & Gourmet Market
6318 N. 9th Avenue
478-0037
If you enjoyed Aegean Breeze, make sure to give Café Aladdin a try; Middle-Eastern food shares a rich heritage with the cuisine of the Mediterranean, and the same spices that make Stavros’ gyros mouth watering make Café Aladdin’s fare a culinary delight. Order a falafel with hummos and couscous, and then check out the market section for imports from Egypt and Syria to try at home. The food is exceptional, the atmosphere relaxed, and the prices low.