Bone Daddies: Soho, Sunday April 7th, 2013

Soho as a food district is still the most happening place in London. For all the east end's newfound hipster energy and the expansion of Brixton's food scene, pretty much all successful new franchises are opening up in the busiest part of the west end. Any new opening in Soho is worth a study, and Bone Daddies ramen bar was a place the wife and I were hoping to try sooner rather than later.

Last spring presented an opportunity with a friend from Germany dropping into town for a few days so three of us showed up on a Sunday evening and had a pleasantly short wait for a table (of course you can't reserve tables since it's a modern-day Soho restaurant.) It has the perfect look and feel: bustling, noisy, casual and welcoming. For anywhere calling itself a ramen bar, this is what I'm interested in.

The menu is refreshingly simple too. A few types of ramen noodle bowls, a few specials on the board, a small variety of drinks... this is modern Japanese eating in the most appealing way. We got started with a few different items from the 'snacks' portion of the menu. First up were sweet 'n spicy ribs, which had the wife in particular in raptures (left). They were chunky, meaty, spicy as anything and genuinely close to the sort of pork ribs you might find in Asia, I was told. They were too hot for me but the wife and our friend made short work of them.

I was more interested in the fried chicken (right). Served oh-so-Soho in a mini metal bucket, it was crispy, tender and moist. The skin had been left on before frying which added a juicy, fatty texture without being flabby or excessive. The girls both tried some but about 75% of this was wolfed down by yours truly. If this is really a 'snack', I want a bucketful at my desk daily. Genuinely excellent starter finger food.

We also went for some yellowtail sashimi with lime & soy sauce (left). This was chilled, fresh, soft and just about everything you want for a cold fish starter. The nature of this starter was that little bit more upmarket than the chicken and ribs. It was scaled back, elegant and just surprisingly fine. From the so-called 'snacks' alone, Bone Daddies had already won me over. The real challenge was to come with the main course though, since I'm not a huge fan of ramen or Asian soups in general.

I tend to enjoy thick, rich, velouté-style soups. The kinds of bowls which are the kind of sumptuous thing you need a spoon to eat, rather than being able to drink it out of a glass. Since Asian soups are most often thin they don't quite sit well with me. That said, anything one terms as 'soup' which also contains cuts of meat, eggs, vegetables and other tasty gubbins is a pleasant misnomer for me.

I looked at the menu and it advertised a special of 'BLTEC ramen'. As a joke I remarked that it might stand for bacon, lettuce, tomato, egg & cheese. A passing waitress mentioned that I was actually right, so I just had to give it a go. What I got was not quite in line with what I had imagined (right). It was more or less carbonara soup but thinner, with too much pepper. It was so rich you couldn't really taste the noodles and whilst some of the flavours were enjoyable, it just wasn't a bowl of what I would call Japanese food.

The ladies decided to stick to more traditional ramen fare and were happy in doing so. The classic pork ramen was a sight to behold even to me (left). Combining shredded pork meat, pork bone broth, a poached egg, grilled sweetcorn, seaweed and all manner of subtle seasoning, this was a surprise to me and a happy familiarity to the wife and our friend. This had changed my opinion of ramen as I knew it which is no mean feat. The wife opted for a similarly soothing and fresh broth with seafood and Korean kim-chi. Too spicy for me by half but it was met with resounding approval.

Bone Daddies is one of the places in Soho which doesn't feel forced or tired. It's worth a visit because it is a smartly exciting restaurant serving food which actively stands out against its competition in the west end. It's authentic, inexpensive and fun. What else could one want?

Bone Daddies

"High Society!" - Zuma: Knightsbridge, Saturday 22nd December, 2012

High society is a funny thing. Especially if you are a fan of Ry Doon as I am. If you believe the Boston comedian, there ain't much to being in the upper echelons of class anywhere. In London, it's a bit more complicated than courting pigeons' company.

Whilst the very top end of high society in London is private members' clubs, exclusive boutiques and money spent on frivolities faster than most of us earn it, celebrity high society is that little bit more within the reach of us mere mortals. A few years ago the wife and I got a taste of the London celebrity diet by dining at Nobu, which neither of us particularly enjoyed.

Zuma is an entirely similar proposition to Nobu in that it is in a trendy part of town, adored by the moneyed masses and generally considered to be rather good. It's hidden away in the back streets between Brompton Road and Kensington Road, making it hard enough to find that it's exclusive and suitably trendy. I was hurried to Zuma by the wife, who was joining some friends, one of whom's mother had come to visit London. Given the short notice I had to get presentable and get out of the house, I was a little late.

Five of us ate during the evening but by the time I arrived, cold seafood was at the table already. The sashimi was extravagantly served on a bowl of ice and if the effect was to wow us in some vacuous, vaguely high society sort of way, it failed (left). What it did do was impress us with sheer freshness, a mixture of crisp coolness and smooth silken fish flesh and quality that just can't be ignored. Some of the best I've eaten without question.

The sushi was a similar story (right). My personal pick was the eel, leaving sweet, rich fishy saltiness on the palate, a bolder flavour than the salmon and the uni (sea urchin). That said, I am still no sushi buff so I was pleased enough. Again, this was food at the very top end of my experience.

We also ordered a dish which the place is famous for (so I was told). Seared scallops with uni and black sesame did not appeal much to me since it sounded like a waste of perfectly good scallops. However, the seafood itself was something else (left). It was honestly like nothing I have tasted before. Sweet, salty topping on lightly cooked scallops is nothing to sniff at, especially when they are cooked so well.

No visit to a Japanese restaurant is complete without some tempura (right). In this case, it was predictably sweet, fresh, crispy and expertly-cooked. One thing I cannot abide is under-cooked vegetables inside decent batter. It seems to be an ever more common occurrence with simple Japanese food and I was pleased that somewhere pulling the full-pocketed punters in could still get the basics right.

The wife was delighted with the final order of the evening: some wagyu beef (left). This was a prime cut of the world famous Japanese meat served with a simple citrus sauce and some spicy oil. In reality, all that was needed was a little seasoning because the beef was cooked perfectly and the texture was delightfully soft and subtle. For some of the most expensive beef I have eaten it was not quite the best but not far off. It was certainly a very easy eat; a very tender and lean piece of meat.

As a meal out, it was certainly one of the more high society events I enjoyed in 2012 and one of the more memorable to boot. One thing I can say about Zuma is that it is not cheap. These are Nobu prices alright and we were very lucky in this case that our generous hosts paid the bill. It was priced more or less how an extremely top-end Knightsbridge Japanese restaurant should be, including a 15% service charge on top.

But, if you have the spare money, Zuma is definitely worth a visit. Certainly the best high-end Japanese food I have eaten and somewhere which demands the attention of normal diners as well as the high society celebrity culture it is most recognisable with. And it's much better than Nobu.

Zuma

Toku - St. James, Saturday May 12th, 2012

Whilst I'd never profess to wholly enjoy racing into a restaurant to whiz through a quick lunch, it's a damn good test of how any decent restaurant copes under pressure. Not that I'm some kind of mystery customer - or am I..? - but observing this often becomes an interesting sideshow to a speedy restaurant lunch.

A mid-May afternoon was the day for a working lunch at Toku, part of the huge and impressive Japan Centre on south Regent Street. The great thing about Japanese food for lunch is that it lends itself to speedy, efficient and clean portions of food. If there's any kind of restaurant one can get a good feeding in half an hour, Japanese should be it.

We both had relatively straightforward don meals - rice with assorted toppings - which are a great test of any Japanese restaurant's standards. I went for a Japanese tradition close to my heart (and one day I'm sure it will eventually be the undoing of my heart): tempura. You cannot really go wrong with decent Japanese tempura and this was happily satisfactory. A mixture of sweet potato, asparagus, squid, potato and prawns was a hearty but not overly filling lunch combination.

The wife went for the chicken don, another substantial and simple Japanese standard. It was well-cooked: moist, succulent and just what one needs to get going for the afternoon. It was a little stodgy for me with the rice to chicken ratio too high on the filler, but generally very good.

There's not a lot to say about Toku other than the fact that it's just what you need and expect from a quick Japanese lunch. It's not as cheap as I'd like but then it is right next to Piccadilly Circus, making it super-convenient. Plus, given where it is, there's usually enough time for a quick browse around the supermarket in the Japan Centre for a basketful of sauces, meats, seafood and sweets to take home. Well, that might just be me...

Toku

Mitsukoshi: Soho, Friday 8th July, 2011

Good day and a happy new year! I've had a few posts put up on the website already this year, but this is the first I've actually started writing in 2012 so it will do as a way of wishing a great 2012 to all. Plenty on the cards (including the rest of 2011 still) for this year, plus the usual slew of whatever I'm going to get up to in the coming twelve months.

Back in July last year, the other half had been nagging me for some time to eat 'shabu-shabu'. I had refused for as long as humanly possible (on monetary grounds) before the constant asking, hunger and inquisitiveness got the better of me. Friday came around and we went to Mitsukoshi, a restaurant held in pretty high esteem amongst London's Japanese places.

'Shabu-shabu' is basically a Japanese table-top hot pot in which you cook fresh food. The name comes from the motion of swishing the food around in the hot water to cook it through. It's a name I find typically cute and matter-of-fact in the way that Japanese things tend to be. It's also an exciting prospect as a diner: something a bit different, a bit of adventure in your food.

The shabu-shabu came as a set meal for the table, so the two of us sampled all the contents on offer. We started with sashimi and tempura: two parts of Japanese food I love to the point that they make me want to forgive sushi. Both were rather nice. The sashimi was slimy, fresh and had just enough bite the way most fresh raw fish should (left). The sea bass was a particular highlight. The tempura was great because tempura usually is (below right). Only rubbish tempura is bad. This was nicely crispy with enough taste and texture inside to identify the food. The prawns, pepper and squid were lovely, with only the aubergine leaving me a little cold.

Those were the sideshows, but the main event was definitely the big copper-coloured receptacle of water heating up on the table in front of us. I was a little confused though: water? Just water? Are you sure..? I went along with it for as long as I could, much like I have with this review, but I must disclose the truth: it was awful.

There was little flavour or merit in anything. We ended up dumping a sumptuous-looking tray of meat and vegetables in our hot water just to get the lot cooked and eaten as quickly as we could. The meat was bland, the vegetables also, the whole thing a write-off. This was my first shabu-shabu experience but I am left wondering whether or not I want another one.

The most galling thing about all this was the price. As we walked out, it hit me that we'd just wasted £90 - ninety pounds - on this tosh. It was not worth it in just about every way. I would have happily cut the evening after the tempura, but we live and learn... I doubt I'll eat shabu shabu again unless I'm in Japan.

Mitsukoshi

At the celebrity hangout - Nobu: Mayfair, 23rd April, 2011

I don't understand the ever-present mainstream cultural obsession with celebrities. It is sadly representative of a society low on self-esteem and ideas on how to fill time. Reality television and gossip magazines are the mediums that I blame. Wasting time, money and mindpower, these really are things that need to stop if we're ever to advance beyond the X-Factor-watching, trend-consuming, music-abusing herd we are becoming.

Of course, I'm not much better. My constant opposition of the status quo when it comes to recent trends can be thrown right back in my face. I'm miles from kicking against the system, always thinking I'm on the moral high ground but actually part of the problem. Mind you, I suppose that's what being a critic is all about.

Back to celebrities then; I think they deserve a bit more of my ire for now. It is a racing certainty that I don't care where the Beckhams live, eat or worship. I don't give a hoot what sort of micro-dress one of them has been seen in and I certainly couldn't care how many absurdly-named children they're going to have. As an aside, the fact that their oldest is called Brooklyn, the city of his conception, gave me a good giggle many years ago. My favourite three places he should've been conceived, you ask..? Peckham, Beckenham and Chipping Sodbury.

What am I getting at? Firstly, the point that no matter how immune to the artificially-flavoured celebrity hype machine we think we are, they're always permeating our consciousness. It's a sad state of affairs and one that I blame anyone other than me for. Secondly, the Beckhams remain all over the papers, television and the internet and I'm unsure exactly why. But it is worth noting that they do eat. And when they are in London, they have been known to eat at Nobu.

Nobu has long been a popular celebrity eatery in London. It has served kicky, trendy Japanese food for almost fifteen years, acquiring a Michelin Star along the way, which it has steadily kept through thick and thin. Usually if some famous sort or other is in town, they'll be seen pulling up in a taxi, limousine or chauffer-driven monstrosity outside the Metropolitan Hotel.

Nobu, the eponymous chain belonging to legendary chef Nobu Matsuhisa, has locations on just about every continent. The first restaurant was founded in California in 1987, with an avalanche of others following London's place 10 years later. The empire's growth shows no sign of slowing, with venues opening in such unpredictable locations as Budapest, Mykonos, Mexico City and Cape Town.

A friend was hosting a birthday dinner at Nobu and the other half and I couldn't say no when we were invited. Celebrity-spotting be damned, we were just after what is supposedly the some of the finest top-end Japanese in Europe. There were nine of us, we were all expecting to be impressed and none of us cared about seeing anyone famous. With that in mind, Nobu had a task on its hands.

First off, Nobu is pretty dark. Not in the cool, David Lynch sense of the word - just poorly lit. I'm all for a touch of gloom giving some mystique to a restaurant, but this place is more grimly shrouded than mysteriously wrapped. We were led to our table after a couple of minutes' loitering by the bar and started to discuss the technicalities of ordering. Unfortunately, half the table wanted the tasting menu and half didn't. Happily (and a touch surprisingly) they said this was fine, provided we didn't mind some courses coming at different times.

The first thing to impress me at Nobu was the endemame; fresh green peas still in the pod with a little salt. Their warm, cloudy greenery was a lovely start to the evening. Something about sitting in this over-stuffed, over-sexed, under-lit gossip column whilst eating some of the simplest, most down-to-earth Japanese food was satisfyingly contradictory. With a promising pre-starter out of the way, we looked towards the menu and started assembling our orders.

The other half and I get around to our fair share of eating out. We know good food and she in particular knows good Japanese food. Rather than hopping on the tasting menu train, we opted to put together our own sample menu to run the place through its paces. It was a gruelling and expensive task but I think we got a decent spread of the place without overstretching.

I had a rather inconvenient moment before the food came. With good Asian food, a little tea is a must, so we ordered a pot of jasmine to start us off. Now good jasmine tea should be light, rural, rustic and never too strong. I was presented with a very sweet little teapot of foul, bitter slop which the staff insisted was quite authentic and exactly as it should be. Either I've been drinking imitation stuff for years or Nobu don't know simple tea.

There is a lot Nobu don't know, as it turns out. They don't know if you throw a decent steak on a sizzling hot stone then pelt the thing with ponzu lemon sauce, it will ruin a nice piece of meat. They don't know that when you mix foie gras with wagyu beef - allegedly the best you can get in Japan - in gyoza (small, dry but delicious dumpling casings), it's imperative that neither ingredient is lost in the mix. Never mind both.

If you can catch a whiff of the sort of derision I might usually reserve for distasteful celebrity gossip, I warn you I'm just getting started. As well as the dishes above, we ate sashimi and two kinds of tempura. Along with dessert. Now the raw stuff was not bad. We tried o-toro tuna, crab and jumbo shrimp (left). The shrimp in particular was very good. But here comes my real issue with Nobu: price. Those three pieces of sashimi cost almost £20. And they were not that good. Not £20 good. Maybe this is why celebrities come here?

King crab tempura with onions was also enjoyable in that I will happily eat just about anything that's been deep-fried in Japanese batter. To be fair to them, the crab was properly juicy and well-preserved in the tempura. We also sampled a variety of standard tempura (scallop, squid and pumpkin) which were all also very nice (right). But again, too expensive. This is the sort of stuff you can get for a tenner as a meal set in Asakusa or any Japanese place worth its salt. And don't even start with the "you're paying for the experience" rubbish: this isn't food which needs a fanfare, it's all in the taste. £24 for the tempura set here seems reasonable when you look at the rest of the menu, but it's not.

That's more or less the problem with Nobu for me. The food was not terribly bad (apart from the two beef aberrations) but the place is cruelly unwelcoming when it comes to what you're paying. It's not like some of the other expensive meals I've had in my time, where it really is worth saving a few bob during each month leading up to the event, it's just too much for too little.

Desserts were a damning indictment on the place. We shouldn't really have ordered them since we'd already spent rather a lot, but we hoped against hope that they could salvage the evening. We should've known better. We ordered what was billed as a 'chocolate bento box': chocolate fondant cake with green tea ice cream. It turned out to be only that, which definitely wasn't worth the £10.50 they were charging. I've had better, more interesting takes on fondant than this for much less. And I didn't care that the fondant was flourless. Similarly, the 'banana split 3000' (no, I'm not making this up) sounded lovely, but was a misjudged mixture of soupy, over-rich chocolate foam, too-sweet poached banana and saffron crumble you couldn't taste, served with ice cream.

Well over £100 later, the other half and I were fairly astounded. We'd spent a lot of money on an experience that was neither fulfilling nor especially enjoyable. The birthday boy had enjoyed himself which was of course the main reason for the evening. Unfortunately, the main reasons I eat out are to enjoy myself and to sample amazing food. Nobu was so far from these that I can't envisage myself ever going back.

Nobu

Tokyo Diner: Soho, Thursday 6th January, 2011

The malady that many multicultural foodies in London commonly suffer from is that you can't get genuinely good Japanese food anywhere. There are exceptions: I personally enjoyed Ribon greatly and many seem to think Asakusa is as close to the real deal as you'll get in London. On price alone, they may have a point.

Chinatown is not necessarily known for its outstanding Japanese restaurants, but Tokyo Diner is standing strong as it approaches its twentieth anniversary next year. Richard Hills is the Englishman behind the venture which has brought a fairly consistent stream of success. Influenced by an extensive knowledge of Japanese people and culture, the inspiration behind the café is to recreate the sort of everyday typical restaurant one would find in Japan. Essentially, this place should have the same pull as Asakusa.

It doesn't, for a few reasons: it's not as charming, it's in Chinatown and it doesn't have the same feeling of authenticity as Asakusa. The only other factor is the food. A perfect test of this kind of restaurant should be an early evening cheap and cheerful lunch with a few friends. So here we go...

We tried a healthy sample of dishes, starting with a sashimi set of salmon,sea bream and sea bass (left). For 12 slices of raw fish, £10.60 is a bit toppy for a place that prides itself on being affordable, but they were rather fresh and refreshing. We also ordered a starter / side dish of chicken kara-agé which is chicken legs fried after being marinated in a soya-based sauce (right). You'd think they had been battered but the delicate balance they struck with the chicken made the skin crispy and the dish light enough to stay on the side.

Oyako don (or chicken with eggs and rice in a bowl) was fairly decent as a main course. The problem for me was that they'd pelted this with egg to the extent that it almost overwhelmed the chicken. Two of us had a tonkatsu bento box, which was fried and breadcrumbed pork cutlets with rice, pickles, sashimi and the typical seaweed-infested Japanese salad that, no matter how it is presented, always looks like the result of trawling a midlands canal. However, as with any good bento box, we were quickly mixing all parts of the assortment of food as quick as our hands and mouths would let us (left).

Finally, we sampled the chicken katsu curry, apparently the most popular dish on the menu (right). It was easy to see why: mild, enticing curry sauce with more or less meat 'n potatoes. Everyone should march out of Wagamama and proceed directly to Tokyo Diner to see what a more proper and earthy katsu curry tastes like. It's curry for the British who aren't obsessed with Indian food.

The issue that some people might take with Tokyo Diner is that it seems awfully try-hard, even patronising at times. They take it as their duty to explain the significance and popularity of each dish, even the styles of dishes, supplemented with extensive descriptions of what it is you're looking at. The haughty, know-all restaurant-goers amongst us may feel this is them blowing their own trumpet at just what a genuine experience they're giving us. We'll judge this for ourselves, thank you very much.

Not me though. This is the effort of somewhere that is so passionate and caring about what they do that they have taken it completely to heart. They are imploring the customer to not only enjoy their food but to embrace and immerse themselves in it and the cultural nuances of Japanese eating.

There is almost nothing to dislike about Tokyo Diner. They are open twelve hours a day all year long and apparently once turned over 550 covers in one day. I would wager that most of those people went home having had a lovely, bustling and lively meal which left them full, satisfied and not much lighter of pocket.

Possibly my favourite part of this place is their ethos on service and patronage. They insist you don't tip at the restaurant, apparently a nonexistent etiquette in Japan. All they ask for is that you recommend this place to your friends if you enjoyed it. Here's me doing my bit for them.

Tokyo Diner

Two Much for Anyone: Taste of Siam & Asakusa - Camden, Friday 10th December, 2010

Once in a while, I indulge in a session of eating that technically beggars belief. Two days before the sushi adventures in the same postcode, the other half and I were drawn to try what we had read was one of the most genuine and appealing Japanese restaurants in town: Asakusa. It was, I had read, one of those places that you are lucky to find in London.

And so it goes; London seems to have taken to it rather well. So much so that when we showed up without a reservation we were told we'd have to wait until after ten to eat. That certainly wasn't an option on a cold December evening, especially on crutches. Most normal people might have gone home at this point but we were not to be deterred. We walked up Camden High Street as far as Taste of Siam, a fairly empty canteen-looking Thai place.

We were both hungry, cold and miserable enough to try whatever we could get so in we went. Now, as I have vented before, Thai food is not my favourite cuisine. In fact, most of the time I plainly do not like it. My hopes were not high. In the event, they were right not to be. We ate over £30 worth of food and I didn't enjoy a lot of it, sadly.

The other half is certainly more keen on Thai food than I, so the tom yum soup she ordered was eaten exclusively by her, save for a few coughing, spluttering sips for me. This stuff is just horrible. Over-spicy, excessively thin, bitty and generally laden with nastiness, I can't bring myself to eat more than a couple of spoonfuls before choosing hunger over indigestion. That said...she liked it. It was reportedly very traditional and fresh.

The kung pao prawns we ordered were more up my street. Typically quite a spicy dish, these were actually quite reserved and, as with the soup, pretty fresh. Certainly firm enough to actually taste prawn in there. The two curries we tried were acceptable enough, apart from one being too sweet and one being too spicy. Apologies if I sound grumpy recounting this, but as I have previously explained, Thai food is simply not my thing.

Finally, we experienced the absurdity of crab claw tempura. I will eat just about any sort of tempura and I had visions of these being comparable to battered oysters: luxury street food which melts in the mouth. Unfortunately these were whole crab claws wrapped in batter. I almost broke a tooth in my over-zealous efforts to extract the meat from the things. The meat itself was rather nice, but not worth the challenge by a long shot.

As we left, it's fair to say I was in a pretty bad mood. I was on crutches, it was cold and late, we hadn't got into our first choice restaurant and I had not enjoyed our food. It was at this point that the other half had one of her typical flights of fancy... How about the place that was too full earlier?

She had to be joking... I mean she had to be. She wasn't. Back to Asakusa we went, but it was almost too late to get a table now. So much so that she hurried on ahead whilst I huffed and puffed with my leg supports back down the high street. It certainly wasn't one of our brightest ideas, or one of the most necessary meals we'd ever eat. Let's be honest, it was downright ridiculous.

Whilst it was primarily outrageous greed and curiosity on the other half's part, it was more unfulfilled irritation on mine which pushed us to the table. We rushed in, content that a late sitting would do the trick, or at least send us both home satisfied.

We ate two set meals. Basically your main event coupled with salad, pickles, miso soup and rice. Easy-peasy: that's traditional Japanese enough. As for the food, there's enough there to make it worth a visit but not enough to make it a special occasion place.

The other half's potato and pork mince croquette was casually dismissed as "something I can cook at home". (I am indeed a lucky man.) The ratio of pork to potato was absolutely too low and they didn't hold their shape or form as well as they might.

I ate some ton katsu, a sliced breaded pork cutlet. Very pleasant: moist, tender, appropriately sauced and breadcrumbs A-okay. Now this is all well and good but none of it is particularly out of the ordinary. As mentioned; it is stuff you might well cook at home if you're appropriately skilled. (Yes, you can technically say that about any food you eat in a restaurant but you know what I mean.) Maybe the naff Thai food put me in a more receptive mood...

What I will say in Asakusa's favour is that it is exactly what it purports to be: a no-frills neighbourhood Japanese restaurant. It does have a very authentic feel to it; cosy and quaint yet brusque and professional. I wouldn't say that you should drop everything and head up there the second you're free, but you should definitely pop in for a quick dinner if you are in the area. Not to be missed, though not as altogether fantastic as some would have you believe. And better than Taste of Siam. Well, I think so.

Taste of Siam

Eat as much as you can... If you can: Hi Sushi - Camden, Sunday 12th December, 2010

If anyone who knows my eating habits heard I was going to an all you can eat sushi restaurant, they'd probably assume I'd gone mad. The two things, hideous enough on their own, are surely the worst idea imaginable when combined. "All you can eat" is usually shorthand for cheaply-produced crap that a restaurant can wheel out to gullible punters whilst the place makes a tidy profit.

There were a couple of mitigating factors though. The other half had been challenged by Mike (one-time contributor to this blog and massive eating fan) to an eat-off. Now, without casting too many aspersions on either party, you'd only have to look at the two to pick a winner. Whatever the outcome, I had to be present at such a momentous occasion.

Secondly, my younger sister had just that weekend given birth to my first nephew, a gorgeous little boy by the name of Jack. Having met and held him for the first time, I was feeling pretty amazing and would have eaten pretty much anywhere.

I arrived fairly late on, newborns being the tardy things that they are, and found out that Mike and the other half had already got stuck into a couple of courses. There were actually four of us there overall, a friend making up the numbers with the hopes of competing in the great eat-off eventually turning into an also-ran.

The food, it must be said, isn't all that bad. I was late and had no desire to punish myself with eating loads of sushi, so I settled on a fairly innocuous-sounding bento box. In the event, the chicken teriyaki, prawn tempura, rice, pickles, soup and sushi rolls (yes, even they were alright) was just the ticket. Not exactly the sort of thing you'll see done much differently elsewhere but by no means bad.

As for the eating contest, Mike was soundly beaten. Amusement for all who know the man and a victory (if it can be called that) to my other half.

As for the sushi, it's nothing to write home about: I know this because we went back there for another friend's birthday earlier this year. It might be fun at first but it gets boring pretty quickly. The atmosphere in the place isn't bad; sunken tables and bench seats are a nifty gimmick. Still, despite all you can eat sushi being the main draw of the place, I wouldn't say I'd never go back.

Hi Sushi

Japanese Five Times in a Few Weeks, April-May 2010

Apparently Spring is the season for Japanese food. Having tried quite a bit of it in London but always hearing about somewhere better, the other half and I undertook a 16-day mission to find out about a few of the supposedly better places that offer Japanese food across the capital.

Our journey alternated between west London and the west side of the City. We managed to try various bits and pieces without trying to be too repetitive, but staying close enough to the mark to compare each place. So, without further ado…

Yoshi Sushi – Tuesday 20^th April, Hammersmith

Yoshi Sushi was a stop on the way home from Westfield at Shepherds Bush, so we were quite keen to get in and out with minimal fuss. The place is a very standard Japanese affair, with dark walls, unspectacular décor and plenty on the menu.

We wanted to try as full a sample of the restaurant without getting bogged down in the menu or spending too much money, and in the event we did a pretty good job. We shared a set of courses and also ordered another couple of dishes to flesh out the experience.

For the most part, it was lovely. Some excellent eel (left) was tender and rich like all good eel should be. Their tempura, sashimi and scallops (below) were also pretty fine: each one well-cooked and lightly flavoursome. We finished off with Tonkatsu, a fillet of pork coated in breadcrumbs and served with salad and sauce (right) which was quite as good as it sounds.

Despite its unspectacular initial appearance, Yoshi Sushi is most certainly worth a visit because it is offering inexpensive, uncomplicated Japanese food which hits the spot at 9.30pm on a weekday night. Top stuff.

Abeno Okonomiyaki – Friday 23^rd April, Bloomsbury

Okonomiyaki cuisine is closely related to the teppanyaki style of cooking at the table that so many people associate with Japanese food. You know the one: chefs cooking on a hot grill plate serving to customers at the table fresh from the grill. Well okonomiyaki isn’t far off. Literally meaning “grill whatever you like”, the food consists of a savoury pancake made from various Japanese staples and flavoured with whichever toppings you care to try.

…It’s hard to explain. The idea is great, and the presentation and theatre (as you might expect) are terrific. The ingredients are combined at the table and moulded into thick patties which are then grilled on the table’s hotplate. After they are cooked, various sauces (Japanese mayo and ketchup, as far as I could see) get thrown on, and they’re served hot, fresh and promptly.

We tried a couple of pancakes; one with noodles, one with seafood. Both were pretty much on the money: crispy, flavoursome and nicely varied. The side dishes (some rice balls and noodles) were almost an irrelevance. Acceptable, but detracting from the main event. I suppose you obey the name: when you go to Abeno, eat okonomiyaki.

Abeno is most definitely worth a visit. It’s simply something a bit different when it comes to Japanese food. Inexpensive, authentic and a bit of table theatre thrown in. Very enjoyable.

Abeno Okonomiyaki

Ribon – Friday 30^th April, St. Paul’s

Ribon had long been on my list of places to visit ever since a friend of mine told me it was the best Japanese food he’d eaten. A little online research seemed to corroborate with his testimony: everyone in London seems to love it. Naturally, this meant I had to give it a go.

Myself and three others shared a few dishes on a Friday night: Asian food in general lends itself to the splendour of group eating, I find. Ribon is top-notch Japanese food, there’s no denying it. The okonomiyaki we tried for the main course was possibly better than that we’d tried at Abeno, which was surprising. The prawn tempura was exquisite: light, fluffy and succulent (left). Some breadcrumbed scallops were possibly even better. Perfectly formed within their surround, I couldn’t believe how good these tasted.

A bowl of udon noodles with meat ‘n veg was as comfortable as such fare should be, and some grilled beef tongue wasn’t half bad either. Most surprisingly, I found I could eat and tolerate the sushi, which is a popular delicacy I usually can’t get excited about. Their sashimi was really good though: tender, rich and flavoursome (right). (Those three qualities encapsulate perfectly to me why sashimi is generally better than sushi.)

Whilst some of my friends took a bit of convincing, Ribon is a great meal out, and yes, possibly the best Japanese food I’ve eaten in London. As with many Asian restaurants in the capital though, you have to pick to their strengths. Anything grilled comes with a very strong recommendation. Do try it out.

Ribon

Kiraku – Saturday 8^th May, Ealing

We had taken a trip to Ealing on a Saturday lunch time to try Sushi Hiro, which the other half had been tugging my arm about for weeks, only to find the place was closed for a staff holiday. Never to be denied, we turned right, walked down four doors and entered Kiraku, a local, friendly looking Japanese joint that was bubbling and busy.

As I say, it was a Saturday and I was a little bleary-eyed from a long week, so uncomplicated comfort food was in order. Half-intentionally, I decided to try whatever tempura Kiraku could throw at me. Fortunately, they know their tempura. Prawns, tomato and courgette: beautiful (left)!

The other half ordered a large bowl of udon noodle soup which was okay, but I just can’t get the hang of Asian soups; they don’t agree with me. Still, the noodles were good and the meal was right on.

Should you be in Ealing and you fancy some hearty Japanese lunch, go here. It’s unlikely to disappoint.

Kiraku

Sushi Hiro – Thursday 13^th May, Ealing

So, one evening in the following week, we finally got around to trying the restaurant that – allegedly – offers the best sushi in London. Or used to. The old owner was renowned far and wide for putting the best raw fish on rice in front of you in our great city for some time. Unfortunately, the key word there is “old”: he’s not there anymore.

Now, I will absolutely not belittle the work of the chefs who work at the place currently. There is no doubt making sushi is a fine and refined art. Watching them lovingly prepare the dishes to order was impressive indeed. However (and I will get this right off the bat now): I just don’t like sushi.

There, I’ve said it. That most pretentiously coveted foodstuff which is piled high in supermarkets all over the place just doesn’t do it for me. It’s bland, stale-tasting, limited and a downright waste of fish. Sashimi is good, sushi is not.

On the topic of sashimi, we actually did try a very delicious piece of tuna at Hiro which, when extracted from the annoyance of the cold rice, was delectable. As it tends to be, the eel was lovely and firm, but the rest fell way short for me. The other half was also less than impressed in the main.

We were backed up by a friend who had often visited Hiro when the old owner was still in place, and he admitted the place had gone downhill since then. Either way, I think the sushi here is still pretty good (as long as you like sushi, which I don’t.)

So, there is a lot of good Japanese to be had out there in London, you just need to know what it is you're looking for. The highlight of this set of meals was undoubtedly Ribon, but apart from Sushi Hiro, there was plenty to enjoy about each place. If recent Michelin guides are anything to go by, we should all be eating Japanese at the moment. Get involved.

Midnight Feast – Bincho: Soho, Friday 18th December, 2009

‘Tis the season (or was the season anyway) for Christmas parties. Fortunately, my colleagues and I had been lucky enough to experience one of the better mass-dining events on show by eating a traditional Christmas lunch at the Hyde Park Hilton. For mass-prepared and quickly-served food which is hard to glorify, they did a decent job.

The lunch segued into a drink-fest, then a disco, then a pub visit, so by around 10pm I was starting to get peckish again. A friend on a separate Christmas do called me to suggest some late dinner, so sometime later, myself, two friends and the other half wandered into Soho in search of some food just before midnight.

Soho is great for after-hours drinking, and we weren’t hugely keen to hit China Town on this particular day, so we chanced Old Compton Street (possibly my favourite road in London) for some late-night eats. We came across Bincho, a Japanese barbecue joint who could accommodate us at this late hour. Bingo!

The principle of the place is fantastic: you order small dishes of whatever takes your fancy, all fresh from the grill. It’s essentially bite-size barbecue. And it’s good. Really good at times. The main highlights were quail eggs wrapped in bacon (below left), chicken oysters (small spheres of delight found in between the leg and body of the bird and below right) and eel.

Worthy contenders were also some chicken wings and a delicious platter of assorted fish, meat and veg. Add some rice on the side and all is well. We tore into the assortment of lightly-grilled delights on offer with the sort of vigour that can only result after a day of partying through to midnight.

We raised our eyebrows slightly when the bill arrived: it was well over £100, but then we had gone a little overboard with how much we asked for, and certain dishes (especially the eel) weren’t cheap. It didn’t really matter though, as it was exactly what we needed at the time of day, and it was enjoyed by all.

Bincho

Kickin’ it With the Trendies – Kumo, Knighstbridge, 19th of September, 2009

I don’t eat enough Japanese. In fact, I don’t eat much of what the Far East has to offer which, if you consider the Michelin Guide’s recent surge towards Tokyo, is pretty bad. On a late Saturday night, Mike, my other half and I decided to have some half-price Japanese eats at what we thought would be a trendy restaurant in Knightsbridge.

It turned out to be a trendy bar that also served food. As such, our late attendance meant that most of the meal was spent trying to shout over the frankly terrible music that was being blasted across the floor. The evening certainly had a casual feel, since we were more or less sat at a low drinks table as we ate.

Having come to terms with the fact that Kumo was indeed a bar and not a restaurant, we were a little edgy about what to expect. Our waitress had a beaming (and near constant) smile, but didn’t appear to know much about the food – we asked what a particular ingredient was, and how much we should expect from a bowl of rice, and both times she needed to consult the kitchen.

So, to the food. Bloody marvellous at times, pretty good at others. It was a pleasant surprise to be presented with some light squid with spicy dipping sauce to start with, followed by some incredibly delicate chicken with spring onion, grilled on skewers. Really fine snack fare to kick us off. Seconds were a very lively if not-at-all-traditional-Japanese chicken breast with a cream, wasabi and mushroom sauce, and some quite wonderful scallops. The former was ever-so-slightly tangy with the wasabi in the sauce and very properly cooked. The latter were just brilliant. As light, juicy and fabulous as you expect good scallops, served on a bed of greens which included lettuce and seaweed.

All in all, the night of eating in a bar told me two things: firstly, I need to be eating more Japanese; secondly, you need to get to Kumo early if you’re eating!

Kumo