][1]Danny Donaldson has managed the popular OKO restaurant on Glasgow’s Queen Street since it opened eight years ago. He also looks after the new OKO which launched recently on Sauchiehall Street. Look out for a belter of a Big Deal with the new branch which will be running in September.
The pan-Asian menu at OKO ranges from noodle boxes and sushi to Thai, Japanese, Korean and Chinese dishes.
In the latest Chewin’ the Fat interview, Danny discusses sushi chefs; simple Minds’ Jim Kerr; 5am finishes and his ambivalence towards raw fish.
Who eats at the two branches of OKO?
DD: Everybody, from people at work nearby coming for their lunch to shoppers. The Queen Street branch is just down from George Square and when there are things on there, like the recent Piping championships, we get a lot of footfall from that. Of course, towards the bottom of Queen Street, it’s a big shopping area as well.
Except on Mondays and Wednesdays, when we close at 10pm, we’re open from noon to 5am so we also get all the clubbers. It’s fun. We have stewards on the door and it’s mostly a party atmosphere. We’ve seen our faire share of people who have over indulged but it’s a good atmosphere generally.
What’s your biggest seller?
DD: The spicy Korean chicken does well and we have a £5.95 offer on a noodle box and soft drink which runs noon to 7pm and that’s doing really well. But the best seller, by far, is the chicken katsu curry which is a chicken fillet coated in panko breadcrumbs, served with curry sauce and steamed rice. That’s very popular.
Are people still squeamish about sushi and sashimi?
DD: Not at all and especially not later on at night. Our sushi chef finishes at 10pm but he’ll prepare some boxed sushi before he leaves. We’ll put that out and we usually clear them all every night.
][5]You hear of apprentice sushi chefs who train for years before they are even allowed to prep the rice, never mind touch the fish. Do you have to follow a long and strict Japanese training course to make sushi?
DD: You don’t have to be Japanese to make sushi. What you do need is the right training and the right people. Toshi, my longest serving chef has been with us for five years. He is from Japan and he is training other chefs to make sushi and sashimi.
We have three sushi chefs at the moment and lots of them come from places like Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. We also have a Polish sushi chef in the new branch on Sauchiehall Street. Pavel has eight years experience making sushi all over Europe. His creative skills are fantastic. Recently, he’s started making these flower arrangements with the sashimi.
How did you get into the restaurant business?
DD: I started out managing the first OKO on Ingram Street. That was opened by Jim Kerr of Simple Minds (Stephen Ellis, the man who probably introduced Glasgow to sushi was the co-owner; the Independent has a review here along with a brilliant pun about one of Simple Minds’ earliest hits: ‘I promised you a maki roll’).
I’ve been at this OKO for eight years now and I just really enjoy it. It’s a learning experience. I still learn new things every day. Also, I’m a Glaswegian, born and bred so I like to think that I’m very open. It’s good to meet people from all these other cultures and mix. I’m also really proud of bringing together a team of people from all over the world, with all these different languages, and finding out how to make it work.
Do you cook at home?
DD: We did cook a lot at home but we go out more often now than eating in. Our lives are busy and I might not get home until midnight or even 5am. I have to work around that. The odd Sunday, we might sit down and have a Sunday dinner.
Where do you like to eat out?
DD: I like to try our competition all the time so we go to Ichiban or Nanakusa and all the Japanese bars. I’m keen go to all the new places as I’m keen to see what they do; see how it compares with what we do and if we can improve. I have a very honest opinion. If I go into a restaurant and their green curry is better than ours then we try and improve what we are offering. Keeping ahead and knowing what everyone else is doing is one of my hobbies.
Any food you can’t eat?
DD: I probably shouldn’t say this but I’m not a great lover of raw fish. It’s not my thing. I don’t even like smoked salmon. I’m not keen on most seafood.
What’s been your daftest customer complaint?
DD: We did have some people who came in recently for a platter of sushi. They told me how much they loved sushi so I suggested the platter for two. There’s 32 pieces of sushi on that platter and they ate it all apart from one piece of maki and California roll. Once they had finished they told their waitress that it wasn’t very nice.
While they eating their meal, the staff had already asked them twice if everything was OK. I took it off the bill for them anyway. I think I may well have been duped in this instance but I can cope with that. It’s very important that people leave happy.
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