If you are a sucker for authentic Japanese food and want to get the most for your money
in London then look no further.
From self BBQ’ing to a bit of chef showmanship, here are your must visit Japanese restaurants
in London.
First up is Sen Nin, located in both Islington and Camden.
Sen Nin is a Japanese Teppinyaki, meaning guests sit around a large hot plate while
the chef cooks right in front of you.
It describes itself as the theatre of Japanese Cuisine, and provides some front row entertainment
whilst also ensuring your food is as fresh as it possibly can be.
Guests are often encouraged to participate with the old catching a piece of flying egg
in your mouth being a prime example.
Also, the old hide the egg in your chefs hat game.
All classic stuff.
The food itself is enjoyable.
We tucked in to some Tom Yum and Miso soup, Duck Gyoza, Crazy roll sushi and believe me
it was pretty creazy, King Prawn Tempura and prime steak cooked with mushrooms in black
pepper sauce.
Depending on what you order the food is priced reasonable to expensive but if you have a
Tastecard you can enjoy 50% off all food which is highly recommended.
All in all, Sin Nin offers some light entertainment along with some authentic Japanese cooking.
For this next entry, I admit that we are slightly cheating here.
Technically Inamo is classified as Asian Fusion however I couldn’t do a list such as this
without including the awesomeness that is Inamo, which should become apparent as we
continue.
Inamo has locations in Soho, Covent Garden and Camden, which is where we are here.
It almost goes without saying that the food is great which we will get onto shortly but
the real clincher here for Inamo is your interactive table.
Want to show your caring side, bring out the pink flowers, want to show how artistic you
are, just select the drawing mode and colour away to your hearts content, want to disguise
the fact you’ve spilt Soy Sauce all over the place, theres a table pattern for that
too!
Beyond that, you can watch the chef cam to keep an eye on your dishes preparation, you
can see a couple of previews of what those Chicken wings will actually look like on your
plate, you can even play a round of Pong!
With all these distractions, whether its a meal for 2 or a group of you, Inamo already
stands out form the crowd.
All this and yes of course the food is top notch also!
Firstly, you sift through the menu via a tablet on your table, which is kind of cool as personally
I enjoy being able to see pictures of what I’m about to eat.
Then it all comes out as it is ready off the stove.
On this particular outing, we had some Crunchy Tempura Prawn Macki, Japanese Tacos, my personal
favourite whenever I come here which is the claypot green chicken curry, Beef Tataki,
and Chicken Karagay.
All of the food is tasty, succulent, well presented and a great mix of flavours on your
table and great for sharing too.
Everything you saw here was around £60 in total without alcohol so if this is too much
I’d recommend joining their mailing list as they occasionally send great offers via
email.
Next up is Eat Tokyo which is a Japanese owned firm with 8 branches operating in Tokyo and
6 from London.
What makes Eat Tokyo stand out is it massive menu, authentic dishes and probably the best
value for money option on this list.
As mentioned the menu offers a wide variety of choice, complete with large boats full
to the brim of sushi.
For smaller groups, you can really mix and match with smaller plates to cleanse the palette.
On this occasion we started with Tuna Tataki with Ponzu, a tempura sushi roll, sweet potato
croquette, vegetable and shrimp tempura, Katsu Don, and to be honest I can't remember what
this was but I can assure you it was lovely.
Everything you have seen on this table came in at only £51 and thats with drinks and
service charge added and probably if we are being honest was way too much food for just
2 people but our eyes got the better of us.
So if you are looking for high quality Japanese cooking at a great price make sure you pre
book at Eat Tokyo as theres often a line to enter.
And finally, Kintan, which is an modern authentic Japanese Yakiniku experience which literally
means ‘grilled meat’.
It’s a Japanese take on the Korean barbecue and one of the most popular dining styles
in Japan with each table containing its own BBQ grill.
This allows you to cook the meat yourself so grill to mouth is rarely beyond 5 seconds,
creating some of the most bespoke, freshest tasting flavours you can find.
Situated near Chancery Lane tube station, you are immediately welcomed with some Japanese
decor and the sounds of sizzling beef.
Being Japanese, Yakiniku restaurants employ a little engineering genius to provide smokeless
table grills so that your clothes will thank you later.
The menu offers a wide wide variety of bitesized cuts of meat, mainly beef and pork, some marinated,
and some designed to compliment the amazing homemade table sauces.
As your waiter fires up the grill in preparation for main course, the starters arrive.
We enjoyed a Spicy salmon tartar volcano, some Octopus dumplings known as takoyaki,
and Chicken Karaage, or fried chicken.
With the grill now a hot red, we tucked into cuts of Beef Kalbi short rib, Garlic Butter
Beef Kalbi, and Miso marinated Beef Kalbi.
For the sides, Garlic spinach and butter corn both foil wrapped for some steamy goodness.
Drinks follow suit with the authenticity, with sake, plum wine and Japanese beers to
boot.
The cost is reasonable for the quality that you receive but their Happy Hours make them
even more amazing value.
Kintan is an amazing experience with something a little different, bursting with flavour.
If you would like to sample an authentic Japanese food experience in London, you can’t go
wrong with Kintan.
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We will be uploading lots of things to do in London in the future with a special look
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