Sakura Japanese Restaurant, Southsea

Portsmouth and Southsea waited a long time for the first Japanese restaurant to appear on the scene; rumour had it that Wagamama would finally be opening a branch in Gunwharf Quays, but suddenly, towards the end of 2009, the independent Sakura found a gap amongst the eclectic mix of shops, bars and restaurants of Southsea's Albert Road.

Even though Sakura is only a few minutes' walk from where I live, it took us until one Saturday afternoon in late January to decide to go and have a late lunch there. It looked tiny from the outside and perhaps not very impressive, but we had a look at the menu in the window and felt it sounded interesting so in we went, through the double doors. It was just before 2pm and I was surprised how busy the place was. What turned out to be a party of people celebrating a birthday filled a large part of the left-hand side, whilst smaller groups were seated at individual tables in the partitioned area down the right-hand side. We asked for a table for three, and a waitress led us up a couple of steps to a small area at the back in front of the bar, where there were just two tables. I was glad that it was a little quieter there. One long seat upholstered in red ran along the wall and my son and his partner sat there. I found the chairs on the opposite side to be very comfortable. The other table in this area was vacant when we arrived, but a gentleman on his own came and sat there after a while.

The table was empty except for a bottle of soya sauce when we sat down, but a waitress soon brought place mats, red paper napkins, chop sticks and menus for us. The place mats were laminated and showed the selection of sushi on offer as well as advertising Asahi beer. The menu pages were also laminated. Our drinks order was soon taken; we weren't quite in the mood for sake that day so we order two pineapple juices and an orange juice (£1.50 each). Then we studied the menu. Although I love Japanese food I haven't yet persuaded myself to try raw fish, so that eliminated a fair number of choices for me. My son's partner and I both felt the lure of the yaki udon dishes, which are thick noodles made from wheat flour, wok-fried and served with oyster sauce, green peppers, beansprouts, carrot, onion and Chinese leaves. Red ginger and fried garlic are added before serving as a garnish. My son's partner chose the yaki udon with chicken (£6.80) while I went for the seafood yaki udon with scallop, squid, mussels, shrimps and fish cake (£7.20).

Unlike me, my son is a big fan of sushi but locally has had to content himself with the offerings of Marks and Spencer and the Co-op. Not exactly the real thing. Raw fish is acceptable to him, so he ordered salmon rolls (£3.30) alongside tamago nigiri (egg sushi, £1.80) and oshinko maki (rolls with yellow pickles, £3.00). You could of course order one type of sushi as a starter rather than several as a main meal: there were six each of the salmon and pickle rolls and two of the egg rolls, which were bigger.

I can't list the whole menu here, but there are also rice-based dishes and yaki soba dishes, which are based on noodles thinner than the udon variety. Salads are priced between £3.50 and £5.20. There are thirty-six choices of side dishes, ranging from miso soup (£1.60) to grilled eel with teriyaki sauce (£7.20). Set meals go from £10.80 up to £14.30; most of them are fish based but there is one with stir fried beef in sauce, calamari, vegetable rolls, miso soup, rice, salad and pickles.

Soon after we had ordered, a waitress brought a small rectangular ceramic dish which she said went with the sushi: you pour soya sauce into it and then dip the rolls in the sauce. The sushi was brought not long after that. It is served with wasabi (very spicy) and ginger. My son put a little wasabi on top of a roll and dipped it in the sauce before tasting it. He immediately said it was wonderful – worlds away from the supermarket offerings he has had to make do with.

A few minutes later the yaki udon dishes arrived. The servings were very generous and came on slightly irregularly shaped plates that had an old-fashioned look with their floral decorations. The food definitely had more of a home-made feel about it than similar dishes served in Wagamama. I loved the variety of flavours in my seafood yaki udon; there were thin slices of fish cake, tiny prawns, a couple of whole mussels and some pieces of squid that took some finding among the bean sprouts, green peppers and Chinese leaves. I particularly loved the fresh taste of the ginger that came through all the other flavours. I should perhaps mention that no cutlery is offered as an alternative to chopsticks and eating udon noodles with chopsticks is an art I have yet to master fully, but somehow I managed. It was, however, such a large serving that I couldn't quite finish it. The chicken yaki udon was definitely approved of, so no complaints from any of us.

My son and his partner finished eating before I did and their plates were cleared away very quickly. They were asked if they would like to order more drinks, which they did. When I finally laid down my chopsticks it was a while until the waitress came to take my plate, so at least we weren't made to feel that we had to leave immediately. In actual fact by about three o'clock the place was very quiet, but when we came to pay our bill we found that a twenty per cent discount is given up until 2pm. Since the receipt showed our order time as 2.07pm, it was very generous of Sakura to have given us the discount. It does, however, explain why things had quietened down by the time we left.

We didn't have room for dessert after our huge main courses, but there isn't really a great deal of choice in that area. Other than mango fritters in syrup, there are just several types of ice cream (including green tea flavour), some at £3.50 and some at £4.00.

Our bill came to £29.70 for three main meals and five glasses of fruit juice, but after the discount we only had to pay £23.80 – just under £8.00 a head. We calculated the tip on the full amount as we had loved the food and felt the service was also excellent. The waitresses, in their kimono-style tops over trousers, were polite, friendly and very efficient.

I particularly appreciated sitting near the bar at the back and enjoying the typically Japanese décor with lanterns, cherry blossom, plump ceramic cats and and a row of Geisha girl figurines dancing along a high shelf. In the main area there is a series of Japanese masks along the wall. One amusing touch was a pair of tiny curtains adorning the door of the ladies' toilet. (Spotlessly clean, I have to say, just lacking in paper towels.) The only surprising thing was that western music was played throughout the hour we were there. The atmosphere is very relaxed: at one point I looked round our partition into the main area and noticed a little girl standing on a seat and poking chopsticks into her mother's hair! Nobody seemed to mind.

We were given a very friendly goodbye as we left along with 'See you next time,' to which I replied 'I'm sure you will!' We've waited a long time, but now it's just a hop, skip and a jump down the road to a delightful and inexpensive restaurant. If you are in the area, Sakura is slightly north of the King's Theatre on the opposite side of the road. It would be ideal for a pre-theatre dinner, unless of course you can go for lunch and take advantage of the discount. Wagamama may well be opening in Gunwharf Quays, but it will take something special to dissuade me from returning to Sakura when I feel in the mood for some Japanese cuisine.

Sakura also have a takeaway service.

Opening hours:

Monday to Thursday 12 noon – 2.30pm and 5.30pm – 11pm

Friday and Saturday 12 noon – 11.30pm

Sunday 12 noon – 10.30pm

Sakura Restaurant/Takeaway

9 Albert Road

Southsea

PO5 2SE

Tel. 023 9275 1103 / 023 9275 6277

D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery

Southsea's D-Day Museum is dedicated to the events leading to the invasion of Normandy by the Allied Forces on 6th June 1944 and the invasion itself. The museum is appropriately situated close to the sea front, next to the somewhat older Southsea Castle. Opposite the museum stands a statue of Lord Montgomery, and just outside are two examples of tanks used during World War II, a statue of a dejected soldier, and a 3.7 inch anti-aircraft gun.

Entrance to the museum is through automatic sliding glass doors; just inside is the reception desk where tickets are sold. I visited in January 2010, at which time local residents were granted free admission on production of a library card. I presume this was to encourage visitors during the low season, although we did in fact notice a fair number of people buying tickets that Saturday afternoon.

Turning left, you enter a circular hall where the impressive Overlord Embroidery is displayed. An audio guide to the embroidery is available in either English, French or German, or you can content yourself with the information written beneath each panel in the same three languages. The embroidery was designed by Sandra Lawrence and was made at the Royal College of Needlework, taking twenty people five years to complete. Each panel measures 2.4 by 0.9 metres, and the entire creation is even longer than the Bayeux Tapestry. It is a combination of applique and embroidery in which actual materials from uniforms of the armed forces have been used. The embroidery tells the story of Operation Overlord, covering a period from 1940 through to 1944. It is a unique representation of the battles, the bombing, the meetings of the leaders of the Allied Forces, the landings on the Normandy beaches. Aircraft, ships, soldiers and the occasional civilian (even a woman with curlers and a hair net) feature in this wonderful piece of artwork that in itself warrants a visit to the museum.

In the centre of the Overlord Embroidery hall is a small theatre where a thirteen-minute film centring on World War II and including archive footage is shown at intervals. Beside the door a clock shows how long it will be until the next showing, and announcements are made shortly before the film is to be shown too. Personally I enjoyed the fact that the embroidery area was quiet while the film was being shown and it was a delight to be able to walk around and have an unobstructed view of each panel.

On leaving the Overlord Embroidery gallery, you can then enter the area of the museum devoted to Britain at War. Photographs, maps, posters and explanatory information are admirably displayed alongside showcases with items ranging from uniforms, weapons, the contents of a soldier's kit bag and supplies carried by nurses to treat the wounded. The experience is brought to life through a number of dioramas that show, for example, a soldier in a forest camp at night, a woman working in a factory, or Churchill, Eisenhower and Roosevelt pouring over their plans. Every so often the air raid siren sounds, but the atmosphere becomes more relaxed as 'Music while you work' is played in the factory. As you near the end of this area of the museum, you find a tank emerging from the carcass of a crashed aircraft, with wounded soldiers lying on the ground. Children are likely to be fascinated by the vehicles in the final hall, which include an LCVP landing craft and a Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle tank.

One small section of the museum focuses on 'Portsmouth Memories'. A huge number of ships were assembled in Portsmouth Harbour and the Solent in the build-up to D-Day, and many local residents have contributed their recollections from the period to this display.

Within the main area of the museum is a small room dedicated to Holocaust Memorial Day. Seats are provided here.

There is of course a gift shop as you emerge from the exhibition area. Quality appears to have been maintained here and tacky souvenirs are thankfully absent. An extensive collection of books could be of interest, and framed prints are also available.

From April to September the museum is open from 10am until 5.30pm, and from October to March opening times are from 10am until 5pm. (The museum is closed completely on 24th, 25th and 26th December). Last entry is thirty minutes before closing time.

There is a car park with toilets just beside the museum, to the east. The museum is fully accessible for the disabled in wheelchairs. Toilets, including two for the disabled, are situated to the side of the gift shop. Coats may be left on hangers near the entrance to the museum, and bags can be deposited safely behind a screen by staff if you wish. Photography is prohibited inside the museum, but visitors are free to photograph the tanks and statues outside.

Admission is free for children under thirteen who are accompanied by an adult paying full price, which is currently £6. There are concessions as well as discounts for groups.

This is an excellent example of a specialist museum, and it is in fact the only one in the United Kingdom devoted solely to D-Day and Operation Overlord. It is well worth visiting if you are in the area; those holidaying in Southsea and blighted by poor weather could easily enjoy a couple of hours here. For children studying World War II at school, the exhibits will bring it alive for them. I thoroughly recommend a visit.

D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery

Clarence Esplanade

Southsea

PO5 3NT

www.ddaymuseum.co.uk

The Slug and Lettuce

We'd once had a late-afternoon drink in the Slug and Lettuce, and I had thought it seemed like a place that might be worth returning to for a meal one day. However, it was usually early on Saturday afternoons when we'd gone there with that intention, only to find that the place was just too crowded to consider staying. It was obviously popular which boded well, so one Saturday in July at around 11.30am we decided to see if it was quieter. Sure enough, there were people at just one or two tables by the window, and we had plenty of options to choose from. The sofas and armchairs near the front of the pub looked more comfortable than the higher seats further back, and we chose a low table with a sofa on either side.

There were several menus on the table already, so we began studying them. I was quite surprised when a waitress came to ask us if we would like to order drinks, as I had expected to have to go up to the bar to order. We each asked for a fruit juice and then carried on looking at the food menu. There seemed to be plenty of choice, from sandwiches and wraps to burgers, salads (even one with fish cakes) and main courses. We considered chicken wraps or steak sandwiches, and a sausage sandwich with red onion for under £4 sounded quite interesting. Then I noticed the full English breakfasts, something I never cook for myself and hadn't had since I stayed in a guest house last summer. I'm not a vegetarian but I liked the sound of beans and sauteed potatoes in the vegetarian version rather than the sausages and bacon of the standard version. We ordered one of each, and asked for our eggs to be scrambled and for the toast to be made with brown bread. Tea or coffee is included in the price (£6.75 for the sausage-and-bacon version and £5.75 for the vegetarian version). As we already had our fruit juices, we asked if those could be substituted but the waitress could not apparently let us off paying the extra for the juices. I'll remember for next time. My son ordered coffee, and I decided an espresso would be quite enough for me.

The coffees came after about five minutes, along with a caramelised biscuit and two sachets of sugar each – I was a little surprised that the sugar was being rationed! I didn't actually want any in my espresso, but it just seemed rather mean not to allow customers to help themselves to sugar.

There was a wait of perhaps twenty minutes for the food, but the sofa was so comfortable that I wouldn't have minded if I'd had to wait half an hour. The music was pleasant, tasteful and not too loud, but it did seem to render the broadcasting of Sky News rather pointless, unless you wanted to read the headlines running along the bottom of the screen. The other tables towards the front of the pub (with sofas or armchairs) soon began filling up. There seemed to be quite a number of babies, some in highchairs whilst others were left in their buggies, but no small children. Delightful babies they were too – I hardly heard a peep out of them all the time we were there. Perhaps the music was just the sort that keeps babies calm and happy; they must be budding Damien Rice fans judging by what I heard.

Our breakfasts arrived, along with a bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup and two individual pots of butter. My son had said that he didn't want any mushroom but he got it anyway, so I swapped it for a couple of slices of sauteed potato. As far as I'm concerned that was a good deal, but he wasn't that impressed by the potato slices. At least they were nice and hot, which is more than I can say for the scrambled egg. According to the menu the tomatoes were roasted; they were pretty warm, but they didn't really look as if they had undergone much cooking. That didn't matter to me as I love tomatoes, cooked or uncooked. My son is a big bacon fan but was not impressed by the rashers he was served on this occasion. Sausages, thankfully, were given the thumbs up. I was quite happy with my vegetarian breakfast other than the temperature of the eggs.

The waitress came to ask if we would like any more drinks, but when we declined she soon brought the bill, probably thinking that our table would be occupied as soon as we vacated it. In total we paid £15.70, which doesn't seem bad for two big breakfasts, two generous glasses of fruit juice, a filter coffee and an espresso. I have to admit I don't have a huge appetite, but I didn't eat much else later that day.

My son was quite critical of the food, but I was fairly happy and would willingly go back one day for lunch or an evening meal. I might try the fish-cake salad next time; you can have one tuna and one salmon fish cake, or two of the same variety. I noticed that from Monday to Thursday you can have a sandwich-based meal and a cold drink from a certain selection (some of which are alcoholic) for just under £6. On Sundays there is a roast – which always includes beef and chicken – for around £7.50 - £8. Desserts are priced at around £4.25 except for ice cream, which I think is £3.50. Cappuccino is served in one size only at £2.30.

I enjoyed the food and I felt that the menu offered plenty of choice at reasonable prices. The sofas were very comfortable and relaxing; the music wasn't intrusive so you could easily have a conversation. It may of course be a much noisier place when it is very crowded.

I have been back several times since my first visit, and have enjoyed the fish pie, the vegetarian lasagne (made with butternut squash) and the fish cakes with salad. Food is always half price on Mondays, and if you sign up to the Slug and Lettuce's newsletter, you will receive other discount vouchers too.

I would recommend a visit, but try to pick a time when it's not likely to be too busy. Even if you don't want to eat, it's a comfortable place to go for a drink. If you have a baby, definitely don't be put off going as the little cherubs seem to enjoy spending an hour or so here.