Address: 14-16 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4PH

Opening hours: From 10am till 9pm, Monday-Saturday. On Sundays 11am till 7pm

Telephone:020 3405 1246 (shop), 020 3405 1151 (online shopping)

Web site:http://www.japancentre.com/

Date of visit: 29 June 2010

Summary:

If you are into Japanese food etc, this is probably the place to come.

It used to be sited on the Piccadilly but has moved here since early on this year.

The centre has taken over one wing of the Mitsukoshi Department Stall http://www.london-mitsukoshi.co.uk/top_en.htm. The department stall is well worth a visit – it makes Harrods look cheap (price wise). There is a Japanese restaurant within the department stall.

Within the centre, there is a restaurant, bakery and supermarket. The sushi, rice and noodles are very reasonably priced but they do not sell alcohol with the meal.

Within the supermarket, they do sell Japanese whisky, sake and beer. Lets start with the sake – they range from under £10 to nearly £100. For explainations on sake see my previous article (2009).

The bakery sell all sorts of Japanese bread and there is a fresh food chiller for take away food and vegetables.

At the back of the store are a mixture of things. For non food, they sell good knives, cooking pots and electric rice cookers etc. There is a small stand that will sell you cookbooks – Japanese and English but all on Japaneses recipes.

There is a tea counter where you can buy all sorts of Japanese teas including 100g packs of Sencha at £10 a packet.

The best counter is the sauce counter. Here you can buy hundreds of cooking sauces, vinegars and oil – definitely my favourite. Try the seasme salad dressing or the Udon dip.

There is a frozen section at the back.

They also sell everything online so there is no need to carry that 50kilo sack of rice on your back.

E

Web site: www.kong.fr

Telephone number: France 0140390900

Date of visit: 12th March 2010

Approx. cost per head: €50

Comments on wine list/beer: good selection by glass

Media link:

Review:

We went for lunch without a reservation. The restaurant sits on the top floor of the building which overlooks the Seine at Pont Neuf.
The bar area was empty but the upstairs restaurant was fairly packed. However a table was found for us promptly.
The design of the restaurant, by Philippe Starck, competes with the spectacular views and even on an overcast day the latter wins.
The restaurant had a very modern, airy and light feel with the Starck staples: the Ghost chair, the gnomes etc.
We had the Kong plate (a selection of sashimi and satay – €29) to share for starters. The course was on the whole pretty good.
Our mains were miso cod and lobster udon. Both were done to perfection. 
Our main concern with this restaurant was the level of service. We had to remind the waiter of our drink order three times. One glass of wine arrived after the dish it was meant to accompany had already been consumed.
Lastly, we ordered a Pierre Herme dessert, which when it eventually arrived was well worth the wait.

Ken

Location: 1 Station Parade, Uxbridge Rd, Ealing W5 3LD

Telephone number: 0208 896 3175

Website: N/A

 Date of visit: 12 November 2009

Approximate cost per head:  From £10

Comments on wine list/beer: Sake and beer – very reasonable prices

Summary:

Ok, let’s get the spin out of the way – this is where Heston Blumenthal (Hine Head, The Fat Duck) and Billy Leung (China Palace, Furama, Imperial China) eats sushi. Who is Billy – you might ask. He is the proprietor of 3 Chinese restaurants and I trust his palate re food but not wine.

Let’s also get the negatives out of the way – they only take cash, the place is very spartan and could only do around 20 covers; the opening times are 11.00 – 13.30 and 16.30 – 21.00; they have only one toilet and its unisex.

This said, this is one of the place to eat sushi and sashimi in the UK. The fish is in tip top condition and it’s cheap. I had the mixed sushi B which had 8 pieces of proper fish on rice and came to a grand total of £12. My kirin beer was less than £3. On the day I went, the place was empty but half the tables were booked. They also did a roaring trade in take away (made to order) whilst I was there.

The menu is highly limited and is totally confined to the traditional sushi dishes. You can get miso soup and green tea but that’s about it – no tempura, no ramen ……….

The restaurant is sited opposite Ealing Common station. If you want to park, you can do so round the corner in front of  the Ramada Hotel.

Eddie

Location: 1030 W Georgia St, Vancouver, Canada V6E 2YS

Telephone number: +(1) 604 687 8588

Website: none

Date of visit: 1 November 2009

Approximate cost per head: from C$ 10

Comments on wine list/beer: Cocktails and beer. Wines available but pretty poor.

Summary:
Another Japanese in Vancouver but the cooking here is basic – sushi, sashimi, tempura, ramen ……..

You get a really colourful menu (most dishes photographed) in a huge but well segregated (booths) restaurant in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

Everything seems to come in combo – boats, bento etc. – and it starts at just over C$10 for big portions.

The food is very nicely cooked but that’s about it. You get what you see. On the day I went, I had 6 pieces of sushi, 6 pieces of tempura (2 prawns), a bowl of ramen in miso soup and green tea for C$12.50 (ramen combo) from the lunch menu. Well, I can’t complain.

Kamei Royal is on the 2nd floor (UK equivalent is first floor) of a building sandwiched between the Hyatt and the Fairmount  Vancouver. You also get to see autographs of all sorts of  Chinese  Stars on the wall outside the loo. I didn’t recognise or have heard of any of them except John Woo (the director). Its just shows that the Chinese are prudent – they eat here, whilst their US counterparts (Hollywood stars) eat at Tojo’s – maybe it’s the difference in pay (except John Woo!)

Eddie@bottlesandcooks.com

Location:  1133 West Broadway, Vancouver, Canada, V6H 1G1

Telephone number:  + (1) 604 872 8050

Date of visit: 29 October 2009

Approximate cost per head (2 courses): C$ 60

Comments on wine list/beer: Interesting wine list with Wine Spectator Ratings. Sake list is phenomenal. Usual Japanese beers – Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin

Web site: www.Tojos.com

Summary:

Tojo’s is in my view one of the great “creative” Japanese  restaurant in the world. It is up there with Nobu (ok, I’ve only eaten in the New York and London ones) and Tetsuya (Sydney). Apparently, Nobu-san eats here when he is in town.

Tojo-san arrived in Vancouver in the early 70s and is now acknowledged as one of the chef in Vancouver. He used to be down the road but moved here 3 years ago and has more or less triple the “covers” he can do. There is now a trendy bar that serves all sorts of cocktails and sake.

Besides the traditional Sushi and Sashimi, you get a twist on a lot of dishes which can only be described as “fusion” cooking.

On the night we went, we had the Omakase (chef’s choice for the day). This comes in several versions and start at $60 for 4 courses. To start with, we had a raw fish terrin which was a combination of minced raw tuna with cucumber for texture (mixed in) in some form of ponzu dressing.. Next, came a fish stew with mushrooms followed by a sashimi dish and finally 7 different types of sushi and a fruit cocktail desert. They were all excellent – they had everything: taste, visual appearance and texture.

It’s almost worth the flight over just to eat here as it’s less than half the price of Nobu London but then Nobu in New York (mid town) is also half the price of Nobu London.

By the way, Tojo’s only serve evening meals.

Eddie@Bottlesandcooks.com