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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