Hands up who loves Japanese food?
I think Japanese might just be one of my favourite cuisines. I could literally eat sushi every damn day.
Anyway, on a recent trip to London, Dan and I went to Ichibuns after watching Hamilton with his brother, Lew and his girlfriend, Jess. Ichibuns is a Japanese Super-Diner serving up street food style dishes on the outskirts of Chinatown.
You can’t miss it… The front of the restaurant is garishly bold, giving you a taste of exactly what you are walking into. On entering, you’re immediately immersed into Japanese culture combined with a quirky, rock n’ roll vibe. The menu is inspired by the produce of Hokkaido Island and the East meets West feel to the diner is definitely unique. It’s loud and proudly bright, and there is something to look at every time you turn your head. The ceilings are adorned with pages from Manga comics, there is a wall of Japanese beer cans, lots of weird little dolls hidden in the walls… It is ultimate quirkiness.
Downstairs you’ll find another bar and more seating space. I’d also like to make a special mention for the authentic Japanese toilets, which were very authentic. Lots of buttons, water jets, heat settings and vibrations. I’ll leave the rest to the imagination, but it did make for a rather entertaining trip to the loo…!
We had to queue for about 15 – 20 minutes before we could get in. I’m not one hundred per cent sure if you can make reservations, but if you go on a weekend night without one, I would recommend getting there as early as possible as it gets busy. We got there around 6pm. However, once we were seated downstairs under the restaurant there was actually plenty of space for us to sit.
Once we had settled down at our table we ordered some drinks and started drooling over the menu. Dan and Lew had a Hitachino Nest White Ale, a Belgian style wheat beer. I had a KI NO BI Japenese gin which was absolutely beautiful. The gin is distilled in Kyoto using a rice spirit base and botanicals such as hinoki wood chips, red shiso leaves, bamboo, gyokuro tea and green sanshō berries. It had a distinct earthiness which turned to a slightly citrusy sweetness on the palette.
In terms of food, the menu is pretty extensive. And if you don’t like sushi – don’t worry – you can avoid it completely. We decided the best way to go about it was order lots of little dishes between us. I was, of course, thrilled by this approach because I like trying lots of different things!
First up we had Chicken Karaage (£6) – crispy chicken thighs served with a sweet soy sauce. These were absolutely mouthwatering and went down a real treat. The crispy skin was perfectly seasoned and the chicken itself was moist and succulent. I have no idea what they did to the soy to make it so good, but it was amazing and rounded off this little dish nicely.
Another favourite was the steamed buns (wagyu sukiyaki nikuman – £5.50 per bun). Soft, steamed buns filled with marinated wagyu beef and served with a spicy miso dipping sauce. These were so good but perhaps a little pricey for what they were so we got two and halved them. The buns were soft and the beef was tender and tasty, though slightly dry for my liking. The dipping sauce was sharp and spicy though which helped to loosen things up.
What is a Japanese dinner without edamame?! This dish full of Edamame (£2.99) was enough for all four of us to dig into. The beans had been perfectly steamed and sprinkled with proper coarse sea salt. Yum yum yum. We also ordered some Yasai Tempura (£5) to get some veggies in. Okay, they were deep fried, but everything is good deep fried.
Next up, gyozas! We ordered two types: prawn and garlic chive, and chicken, shisho with ponzu sauce (£5.50). Ponzu sauce is a citrus-based sauce so this went so nicely with the chicken. I loved the addition of chives and garlic in the prawn gyozas, it gave them a real punch. The gyozas had been seared slightly on the outside, so they were lovely and tender.
Jess, Dan and I all ordered sushi for the next round, and Lew decided to go for The Ichibun Burger (£12). This beast featured a 30 day aged British wagyu beef burger, topped with cheese, caramelised onion and ICHI burger sauce. It was served with sweet potato fries. It looked amazing, but apparently, it was just the wrong side of greasy. Tasty, but greasy.
The sushi selection isn’t huge at Ichibuns and to be honest, I think the sushi at Akasaka in Milton Keynes is better! You can get small dishes or a chef’s daily platter with a big variety of sushi on it. We opted for salmon and avocado (£6) because who can go wrong with that? It was served with Wasabi mayo, which I avoided like the plague. I love sushi, the soy, the pickled ginger… but the wasabi? Noooo, thank you. We also had the prawn tempura (£6.50) which I always love. The crispy batter goes so well with the soft rice. It was served with mustard mayo and unagi sauce.
We decided to try the crispy rice (£5.50) too. The sushi rice had been fried and made crispy and topped with tuna, orange toniko and Ichibuns’ special spicy sauce. These were good and an amazing combination of textures as well as flavours. Crispy sushi gets a yes from me!
So yes, Ichibuns is definitely a must-visit from me. It’s a really quirky restaurant to visit with friends and totally immerses you in a Japanese bubble for a couple of hours. The staff were really friendly too and we even managed to persuade our waitress to give us a shot of sake at the end of the meal! The food is tasty and pretty reasonably priced for Central London, giving a fun taste of Japan without lots of sushi fear!
To view menus visit ichibuns.com.
Rating:
[pipdig_stars rating=”4″ align=”center” color=”#FAAEB7″]
