Hazuki Japanese restaurant
43, Chandos Place
London, WC2N 4HS
020 7240 2530

Reviewed on Friday 15 May 2009

Hazuki Japanese restaurant

We have been to Hazuki many times. We ordered, as usual unfortunately since there are so many other choices, the Menu A (£16) and the Menu B (£16). Both include rice and miso soup, the appetizer of the day and an assorted tempura. It is just for the last course (pork ginger, tonkatsu, chicken teriyaki, salmon teriyaki etc) that there is a difference between the two menus. We chose the chicken teriyaki and the salmon teriyaki, and two Asahi beers (£6.60).

The miso soup was good, better than at Toku, and similar to the one at Akasiro. The appetizer of the day was tuna and it was quite good. The assorted tempura had just one shrimp and the rest were vegetables. It was a little small but I think it is better that way since tempura can get you with all the fried stuff. Plus this was just the third starter after all. The salmon teriyaki was very good and surprisingly big too. Maybe it needed to be slightly more cooked to have the skin crispier but it was quite good the way it was. The chicken teriyaki came with pan fried soja. It was a little bland, and would have benefited from a more flavoursome teriyaki sauce (or just more of it).

Interior of the Hazuki on the first floor

Miso soup

Appetizer of the Day (tuna)

Details of the tuna. I already ate one bit before taking the photo...

Tempura

Tempura

Chicken teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki

Salmon teriyaki

Overview of the two meals

Cost and conclusion: it was £42.50 including the “optional gratuity @10%” as written on the bill. I wish restaurants in London would stop pre-empting the customer with the “optional gratuity” in the total bill. It should be up to the clients to decide if the service was worth the gratuity or not, and how much too. By the way, the service was efficient here so I would have chosen to tip (I just hate being coerced).