Thursday, April 24, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Eat Tokyo
Let me just preface this by saying that I love Japanese food.
It is - and always has been - my favorite cuisine. I don't really know why... maybe it's the amazing aesthetics of the presentation. Maybe it's the sushi. Maybe it's the bentos.
Or maybe just because Japanese food is delicious.
I honestly don't think I've ever had a really bad Japanese meal before. I mean, there's been mediocre, and there's been kind-of-blah, but it's never been straight up bad. Hell, I think even Wasabi does some pretty decent sushi boxes.
I've been on the hunt for the best Japanese restaurant ever since I came to London, and I think I've finally found a pretty promising contender.
I visited the branch on King's Road, Hammersmith. The Soho and Holborn branches are almost always full, so being able to walk straight into the restaurant and sit down was definitely a pleasant surprise.
From the outside, Eat Tokyo is pretty nondescript. It looks like your average Japanese restaurant in London, nothing too fancy. In fact, if I was just a regular passer-by looking for a place to grab some lunch, I probably wouldn't have ventured in at all. The interior gives the same impression - simple and unremarkable.
Even the menus are kind of hideous. They're basically plastic folders you usually use for reports or printed documents, and they look like they've been in use since the 90s.
But the food is something else.
I absolutely love salmon sashimi, so I ordered the Salmon Jyu (£11) - basically a layer of salmon sashimi sitting on top of a bed of sushi rice, along with some cucumber and pickled radish garnishes.Just look at how pretty it is! Who else but the Japanese would take the time to make a blob of wasabi look like a leaf? It's almost too pretty to eat.(Almost.)
It's got that perfect, melt in your mouth texture. Biting into a slice was like biting through firm jelly... and then it just dissolves. So amazing. Lots of wasabi and soy sauce also made it that much better. Every time I visit Eat Tokyo I want to try so many things from their massive menu, but somehow I always end up ordering the Salmon Jyu. No regrets, though. I'm sure the next time I go I'll end up ordering the same thing.
My roommate ordered the Katsu Don (£9) deep fried breaded pork cutlets with egg over rice. His portion ended up being massive, the katsu on top was spilling over the brim. I tried some and it was pretty standard Katsu Don, nothing too mind-blowing. He claims Katsu Don is hard to find in London though, and Eat Tokyo is one of the few places that serve it.
My other roommate got the Salmon Teriyaki Jyu. Just your standard teriyaki salmon and rice.
There's no question about it - Eat Tokyo is now one of my go-to Japanese restaurants whenever I get a craving for something raw and fishy. As far as the prices go, it's not what I could call a cheap meal, but I don't mind paying a little bit more for good, authentic Japanese food.
Their website is here, and if you're thinking about visiting either the Holborn or Soho branch, make a reservation first if you can, even if it's just for a table of two.
It is - and always has been - my favorite cuisine. I don't really know why... maybe it's the amazing aesthetics of the presentation. Maybe it's the sushi. Maybe it's the bentos.
Or maybe just because Japanese food is delicious.
I honestly don't think I've ever had a really bad Japanese meal before. I mean, there's been mediocre, and there's been kind-of-blah, but it's never been straight up bad. Hell, I think even Wasabi does some pretty decent sushi boxes.
I've been on the hunt for the best Japanese restaurant ever since I came to London, and I think I've finally found a pretty promising contender.
From the outside, Eat Tokyo is pretty nondescript. It looks like your average Japanese restaurant in London, nothing too fancy. In fact, if I was just a regular passer-by looking for a place to grab some lunch, I probably wouldn't have ventured in at all. The interior gives the same impression - simple and unremarkable.
Even the menus are kind of hideous. They're basically plastic folders you usually use for reports or printed documents, and they look like they've been in use since the 90s.
But the food is something else.
I absolutely love salmon sashimi, so I ordered the Salmon Jyu (£11) - basically a layer of salmon sashimi sitting on top of a bed of sushi rice, along with some cucumber and pickled radish garnishes.Just look at how pretty it is! Who else but the Japanese would take the time to make a blob of wasabi look like a leaf? It's almost too pretty to eat.(Almost.)
Just looking at the photo again now makes me salivate. It's perfect. SO PERFECT. And absolutely delicious too. I'm really not an expert on Japanese food so I'm not going to say that Eat Tokyo has the best sashimi or anything, but I will say this: I've eaten quite a lot of salmon sashimi in my life, and this is pretty damn good. Also, for the price, you get a pretty liberal amount of sashimi.
It's got that perfect, melt in your mouth texture. Biting into a slice was like biting through firm jelly... and then it just dissolves. So amazing. Lots of wasabi and soy sauce also made it that much better. Every time I visit Eat Tokyo I want to try so many things from their massive menu, but somehow I always end up ordering the Salmon Jyu. No regrets, though. I'm sure the next time I go I'll end up ordering the same thing.
My roommate ordered the Katsu Don (£9) deep fried breaded pork cutlets with egg over rice. His portion ended up being massive, the katsu on top was spilling over the brim. I tried some and it was pretty standard Katsu Don, nothing too mind-blowing. He claims Katsu Don is hard to find in London though, and Eat Tokyo is one of the few places that serve it.
There's no question about it - Eat Tokyo is now one of my go-to Japanese restaurants whenever I get a craving for something raw and fishy. As far as the prices go, it's not what I could call a cheap meal, but I don't mind paying a little bit more for good, authentic Japanese food.
Their website is here, and if you're thinking about visiting either the Holborn or Soho branch, make a reservation first if you can, even if it's just for a table of two.
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