Japanese Tokiya Sushi Bar
74 Battersea Rise
London SW11 1EH
http://www.tokiya.co.uk

Tokiya Sushi Bar

We have already reviewed this authentic Japanese restaurant almost two months ago and found it quite good. This time we ordered Agedashi Tofu (Deep fried Tofu with Tempura Sauce – £3.80), Makazushi 5 pieces each of Deep fried Chicken Roll (£6.50) and Grilled Salmon skin with spring onion Inside out Roll (£4.00), the Nabeyaki Udon (White Udon noodle with Deep fried Tempura in pot – £12.00) and a Prawn Tempura (Deep fried Prawn & Vegetable Tempura – £9.50). As drinks we had a cold green tea and a calpico. The cold green tea (in a can) was excellent and refreshing, the calpico which is a milky sweet drink, was good. It is a drink for kids normally but as I lived in Japan for 4 years as a child I wanted to get that drink again. In Japan, I knew it as calpis. This was the same though, so I guess either rebranded for marketing reasons, or a rival brand.

Agedashi tofu

First to arrive was the agedashi tofu appetizer. It was nice and hot and well garnished with nori seaweed and green onions. One of my favourite light starters, Tokiya does this dish very nicely.

Makazushi 5 pieces of deep fried chicken roll

Close-up. Fresh hot wasabi at the left.

Grilled salmon skin with spring onion inside out roll

Close-up

The makazushi was also very good. We had ordered two types, both of which were inside out rolls. The first to arrive was deep fried chicken, which was nice and crispy and very tasty. A little later came the grilled salmon with skin rolls, which were quite nice as the skin was crispy.

Prawn Tempura (deep fried prawn & vegetable tempura)

The tempura was great: perfecly cooked, not too much batter so no greasy feeling, and the amount of tempura sauce was very generous. Often I find the sauce to be insufficient but at Tokiya it is more sauce than needed! The rice was good too.

Nabeyaki Udon

Tokiya’s nabeyaki udon was a work of art. Many other Japanese restaurants do a cut down version of this dish, which basically means some tempura atop your udon noodle soup. At Tokiya, you get the full works – there is a bit of everything in this soup bowl. I recall egg, crab, bok choy as well as the usual tempura shrimp and vegetables. Really a meal in a bowl, and a mighty fine meal at that. Definitely a dish I will order here again.

Cost and conclusion: it was £40.30 and no “optional” service charge automatically added to the bill. We appreciate it. The food was great, nice atmosphere and service too! Highly recommended!