Transport: Opposite Ealing Common Station. Parking near the shops gives you one hour – enough to eat your sushi – without the need to resort to paid parking outside the Ramada

Telephone: 020 88963175

Website: www.atariya.co.uk

Date of visit: 19 January 2012

Costs: You will get enough to eat for £20 or less.

Wines and beer:  Asahi, Kirin available at £3. Sake and wine available

Likes and dislikes: straight forward no frill sushi. Fresh fish with excellent rice.

Cuisine: Japanese (sushi and sashimi)

Summary:

This is a new restaurant that has taken over Sushi Haro’s premise just under a year ago. I think that the previous owners must have retired. Heston Blumenthal apparently was a fan of Sushi Haro so I can’t imagine that Sushi Haro went out of business.

The inside is nearly identical including the pictures and clock. The main difference being the chefs. Instead of the owner and his wife, there are now two sushi chefs and a waitress. Similar to Sushi Haro, they do nothing but different types of sushi and shashimi – no noodles or tempura here.

Sushi Bar Atari-Ya is a chain with restaurants in Swiss Cottage and Hendon – my Jewish and Muslim friends tell me that sushi is fit for both  kosher and halal diets as it fulfils all the requirements and there is no need to kill the fish in a special way. They also operate a take away in James Street.

Once you sit down, you will know that this is serious sushi with trained Japanese Chefs. There is a senior chef who will cut the fish and a sous chef who does the rolling for maki sushi.

You can get a set meal for around £20. I went for the piece by piece menu. Most are priced around £2-4. I had salmon (£2.20), yellow tail (£2.0), tuna (£1.80), flying fish roe (£2.20) and crab roll (£3.20). Ok, crab and roe is not kosher or hahal.

The fish here is good. The wasabi excellent and the rice just right – slightly vinegary with a hint of sweetness and of course, the rice is both sticky and can be separated into grains with a chewy bite. Excellent place!

E

Telephone: 020 3405 1222

Website: www.tokurestaurant.co.uk

Date of visit: 9 January 2012

Costs: Around £20 per head

Wines and beer: Several Japanese beers (500ml Asahi  £5.50) and sake (big range and prices). Wines available but they are nearly all down market screw tops.

Likes and dislikes: Clinical, efficient service. Service charge appeared as another food/drink item on the bill. Items are coded so you have no clue what you ordered unless you read the original slip or have a good memory.

Cuisine: Japanese

Summary:

This is a new restaurant opened since Japan Centre moved from The Piccadilly to Lower Regent Street. The “cafe” still operates in the Japan Centre.

The place is packed with Formica (or MDF) tables and chairs like an Ikea showroom. Tables are laid for 4s or 6s. Most of the customers are non Japanese.

I have always wanted to try this place – been opened for a year – as Japan Centre (Acton) wholesales sushi grade fish. I assume that the place will be good for sushi and sashimi.

The menu offers the usual range of noodles and bento rice boxes. You can actually order tapas style at around £8 per dish.

I opted for the sushi set as the people at the other end of my table (for 6) were eating sushi.

The sushi set (£21 – including a nice bowl of miso soup) was an enormous plate of various types of sushi, easily enough for 2 people if you have a normal appetite. Except for the maki rolls, nothing was repeated. You get 6 types of fish (including grilled eel and prawn) on rice (normal sushi) and a whole selection of rolled sushi – chopped egg, fish etc.

The fishes were fine but the rice can be improved – it was a bit soggy and had no taste. Sushi is a great art – takes  years of training in Japan – and is not something anyone can master in a few months. The rice is probably the most difficult part to get right, you are talking about the state of the rice, how vinegary the rice is, the display and the state of the fish. Its not something that Yo Sushi chefs can master and that is why they mainly serve up “maki” or chopped fish rolls. The rice here is above Yo Sushi grade but still poor. The wasabi was also poor – probably came ready mixed and out of a tube.

Looking around, I see that the sushi chef was oriental – was he Japanese? The ramen chef was European – probably Eastern European and most of the serving staff were Chinese.

For £21, you can’t complain as you will probably get half the quantity in a proper Japanese in Soho with a Japanese chef. I recalled that I ate at Sushi Yamada (New York) several years ago. I got about a third of what I got here for $120. I was still hungry when I left but I decided that if I re-ordered the same again, my expenses will look horribly out of place.

As the fish here was good quality, next time,  I’ll go for the sashimi  and have tempura as my carbohydrate.

e

Directions: Opposite Ealing Common underground. Parking round the corner (Ramada Hotel)

Telephone: o2o 8992 2848

Website: www.kiraku.co.uk

Date of visit: 20 October 2011

Costs: Between £12-£20 for a set meal during lunch time

Wines and beer: Japanese beer from £3.30 a bottle. Wines and sake available.

Likes and dislikes: Functional but decent food.

Cuisine: Japanese

Note: Closed Mondays.

Summary:

I am afraid that Sushi Hiro on Station Parade has closed. For a sushi fix around this part of the world, you are now advised to go to Kiraku – a few doors down. Kiraku has been around for a few years and is now in The Good Food Guide.

The inside can only be described as functional – Formica table tops, unpadded chairs. Including seats at the sushi bar, the place can sit around 40.

When I went, there were quite a few Japanese taking lunch there – a good sign.

Lunch is all about set meals with various combinations served with extras such as salad, miso soup, fruit and a seaweed appetiser. All this for under £20!

I went with A – my daughter. She had the sushi set (£14.50). This was 6 pieces of thick fish on vinegar rice with 3 maki salmon rolls as well as the bits and pieces described above.

I had the sashimi and tempura set (£17.50). There were 2 large prawn tempura and several vegetable fritters. For sashimi, there were white fish, tuna and salmon (3 pieces of each type). The fish were of a very high quality and you also get a bowl of rice as well the seaweed, salad and fruit.

We had 2 bottles of Kirin – well, I had – and a pineapple juice. The total bill including service came to £47. Not cheap but not expensive for what you get – quantity and quality.

This place is not all about sushi and tempura. They do noodles, bento boxes etc. In some of the set meals, you can get both noodles and rice. Wow, not since Cardiff have I found half and half – in Cardiff , it is rice and chips in an Indian Restaurant.

E

PS  Beware, the spoken English in this place is not too great. Check to make sure that  they understood your order.

Telephone number: 0207 447 4747

Website: http://www.noburestaurants.com/london/experience/introduction/

Date of visit: 30 March 2011

Cuisine: Japanese and Japanese fusion

Approximate cost per head: You can get away at £30 or less during lunch (excl drinks – water is £6 a bottle). However, budget for £50+ per head plus drinks if you want to enjoy yourself. They do serve tap water.

Comments on wine list/beer: Wines starts at £30+ a bottle but most are priced at hundreds of pounds. Nobu San brews his own beer in Japan but would you drink imported Japanese beer at the moment?

Summary:

I have been here many times and have always gone away broke and satisfied.

There are 3 branches of Nobu in London. This is the oldest and probably the best even though Nobu San is never in residence. He cooks (sometimes) in the LA branch. In 2009, Nobu (London) was listed as number 34 in the top 50 restaurants in the world. Only Tatsuya in Sydney and Mesa in New York out ranked Nobu on Japanese food. I have never been able to get a reservation at either Tatsuya or Mesa as you have to book months ahead. Nobu is only difficult in the evenings for short notice reservations.

I have eaten in several Nobu and the food is similar but not identical – it is a modern take on Japanese food. Some describe it as Japanese Fusion with a Peruvian touch.

The restaurant is housed on the first floor of the Metropolitan Hotel and it over looks Hyde Park. The décor is modern and the place well lit. The tables are bare – no table clothes. However, you do get proper linen napkins.

I went with my friend N who has been to Tatsuya but had never been to Nobu. To impress him, I ordered all the usual signature dishes.

We started with hand rolled sushi:  Asparagus & Tuna (£7.75 each) and Salmon & Avocado (£7.50 each). They came in cones wrapped with a large of nori seaweed with a large chunk of fish and veg and sushi rice inside the cones.

We then had the new style sashimi of salmon. This was thinly sliced salmon served in a citrus oil dressing. The citrus semi “cooks” the salmon so it was semi-raw and not totally raw. Each piece is served with sesame seeds and chives. Amazingly simple, but really good.

We then had the spinach salad with fish (£14) All the green leaves were individually dressed and spread out evenly on a plate with a white rose of white raw fish in the middle.

After that we had the Black Cod and miso (£35.25) – again, an amazingly simple dish to prepare (see Nobu’s cookbook). The large piece of cod was cooked just right with the flesh coming apart in chunks.

The next course was a selection of Tempura. Asparagus (£3.25 for 2 pieces), Broccoli (£2.25 for 2 florets) and Green Beans (£2.25 for 2 pieces).

The whole meal with a bottle of Marsanny Rose (near Beaune), a bottle of tasteless Fiji still water (£6) came to £143.50. Service (optional) is 15%. So it is another £21.53. Total bill came to £165.03 for 2.

The Nobu on 54^th Street, New York serves the same food – I can’t tell the difference – for a lot less money.

The food here is fantastic, it is both visual, tasty and healthy(ish). I would come here every month if I could afford it.

E

PS Not only is Nobu San’s cookbook easy to follow. He now bottles all his marinades and sauces – try Harrods and Selfridges.

PPS My friend N thought that Nobu is right up there with Tatsuya.

Website: N/A

Date of visit: 6 January 2011

Price guide: Under  A$ 20 for main courses (approx £1-$1.60)

Comments on wine and beer: Very simple list, normal mark up. Sapporo on tap,Asahi and Kirin by the bottle

Summary:

I arrived in Sydney at 7 am, dropped my cases off at the York Apartment Hotel near the harbour and I was in the grounds (SCG) to watch the penultimate day in the Sydney Test.

That evening, a tremendous rain storm hit Sydney. Rather than getting soaked, I thought that I would try the Japanese cafe next to the hotel. By the way, there are 3 Japanese restaurants all at this address.

The place was a square room with about 50 seats – wooden tables and chairs. Fairly basic.

Price wise, it was very reasonable with starters – dumplings, sushi  etc  – all portions under $10. Main were under $20 and there are various combinations with noodles and bento boxes – teriyaki, eels, tempura etc.

Feeling flushed, I ordered a bottle of Oyster Bay at $39 (£8 in Majestic warehouses in the UK), a large draft Sappro (800mls at $15) and the combination noodles – prawns, beef and pak choi. The meal came, I ate it and that’s about it. The food was average and just about everything else was average. Not a great place but great if you want to go to bed and not get wet in the down pour. By the way, I only managed a glass of wine. The rest was for consumption over the week at the hotel.

E

PS I shall be in Australia for a month.

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

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

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

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