OUR MISSION
No fusion confusion!
Since 2013 when Miniyaki's started, my mission has always been to bring a taste of everyday Japanese cuisine, as authentically as possible to my customers. I want my customers to enjoy Japanese food here as they would as someone living in Japan.
With this in mind Miniyaki's doesn't do fusion dishes and you will never find us serving chips!
With the aim of keeping our dishes real, all our dishes are homemade using Japanese recipes and knowledge collected during my time in Japan. For ultimate authenticity we use some popular Japanese branded sauces & garnish to give our dishes that oh so Japanesy finishing touch. But where we can, without loosing authenticity, we will make our own.
SUSTAINABILITY
Miniyaki's use locally sourced fresh ingredients in our Artisan dishes, therein supporting local farmers, ensuring the best taste for our customers, and our disposable cutlery, bowls, plates etc are all compostable/biodegrable products.
WHY JAPANESE FOOD?
My name is Emma andI lived in Osaka, Japan for 10 years in my 20's and speak the language fluently (Bit rusty now though)! In that time I was very privileged to have experienced lots of different levels of Japanese lifestyle, culture and, of course, cuisine.
I didn't live as a foreigner in Japan I lived as a local and therefore got treated like one. Having the great opportunity to work for an all Japanese Company made this easy! People would take me into their homes and show me their family recipes and show me the real Japan.
Eating out in Japan is also a very communal thing, and I would often find myself cooking the food on the table infront of me at a restaurant.
But when I came back to the UK I just wasn't seeing the everyday Japanese food that I had enjoyed in Japan and got pretty fed up of the generalisation that Japan was all about raw fish.
So in 2013 I started hosting 'Japan Night' Parties in my home here in the Wye Valley and Miniyaki's - Japanese Soul Food was born! I Concentrated on anything but 'raw fish' but in particular everyday dishes that you would eat as a native rather than a tourist.
I call this Japanese Soul Food
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OUR FOOD
Authentic everyday dishes
Our founding dish was Okonomiyaki Pancakes. Known as Osaka's Soul Food, I felt they were a fitting representation of my Japanese hometown. Hence the name 'Miniyaki = Mini Okonomiyaki'. Sadly alot of our venues are too busy to create these yummy treats, but we do have them on as a special at quieter events, so look out for them as they are not to be missed!
Our menu can change depending on what power we have available at the venue/event we are attending. But most of the time we concentrate on our Donburi Rice Bowl and katsu (panko coated deep fried) dishes.
This menu is what you can expect at most events.
We are a very small unit with limited space, but there will always be at least 1 Gluten Free or Vegan dish on our menu.
DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Miniyaki's are nut free as standard, 90% dairy free and offer both vegan, vegetarian & gluten free options.
We have an allergen chart in our trailer available for anyone who would like to check for specific common allergens in our dishes.
Customers are always invited to enquire about any specific allergen they may have. As all our dishes are homemade I will easily beable to tell you what is in the dishes.
We do need to make customers aware that, even though our gluten free dishes will be kept separate from other dishes, and each dish has separate serving utensils, our working/serving space is very small and there is always the chance of cross contamination.
If you are coming to one of our events and you or a member of your group have a particular ingredient sensitivity, please always contact me to discuss this. Where possible and if the request is made in good time, I will always try and accomodate your needs.
We cannot, however help with soy allergy as this appears in some form in all our dishes.
MEET POD!
fancy having our cute & quirky pod at your event?
Our custom made caterpod trailer is small and compact enabling her to be set up in all sorts of outside venues. Created for us in 2018 by Caterpod's in Lydney, Forest of Dean, our pod takes us on lots of fun and memorable adventures!
As small as she is we manage to provide a substantial menu to suit everyone and can cater for up to 150 hungry mouths comfortably.
She has a gas griddle but, at present, is heavily reliant on an electric hook up. She can accomodate anything from a domestic 13amp to 16 or 32amps making her super versatile to 'on grid' venues.
We are in the process of sorting an 'off grid' service hopefully for the 2025 season. So watch this space!
We are confident that our lovely little pod will look lovely at any venue!
For more information follow this link to our 'Event Booking Page'.