Meso Izakaya

January 25, 2024

Meso is a fine dining Japanese restaurant located in the Westgate Mall, Westlands. Reservations are not needed but if you’re going as a group-that would be recommended. Prices are on the higher side as well so plan accordingly.

For starters we had popcorn shrimp tempura and pork gyoza. The shrimp was so good! It comes with a chilli mayo which I believe is the best condiment for that dish because I couldn’t stop eating it - or maybe it was my hunger lol, either way - a great choice. The dumplings were good too, they came with a peanut sauce. For mains - I went for the Yaki soba noodles, a stir fry noodle dish with chicken - very healthy portion, very flavourful. If I could add something to it, it would be more chilli but that’s just me.

We also tried the meso firecracker which is a chicken stir fry with various veggies in a spicy sauce served with rice. We were told it was super hot - but it wasn’t, it was mild at best. So let’s talk about the tea smoked lamb chops… they’re beautifully presented with some kind of mash eggplant underneath it that was quite tasty. My problem with lamb chops is that there’s never enough meat on them - it feels like more bone than meat so for me it was good but not worth the price.

The Ramen is not as great as my fave from Cheka but it was still full of flavour and filling. They also have a buy 1 get 2 free happy hour every day for the cocktail lovers out here:) We had no room for dessert this time, but I’d love to try their crème brûlée if I ever go back there. Service was great, and quick too, the ambience was really chill and cute, very fine dining vibes, cosy enough for date nights & vibrant enough for group dinners.