Japanese restaurant Akasiro
8 Little Newport Street
London WC2H 7JJ

I reviewed Akasiro 6 times but it has been two months since the last review so how are they doing now? As usual it was just time for a quick lunch. We took Katsudon (pork cutlet with egg sauce topped on rice, served with miso soup – £6.50) and Yaki Udon (£5.90). As drinks, we had an Asahi beer (£2.90) and a green tea (£1.50).

Yaki Udon

The Yaki Udon is a meal made of fried thick udon noodles with seafood. It was very tasty. Nice crispy bean sprouts, good range of seafood (mussels, shrimps, calamari…).

Katsudon

The katsudon was also very good – surprisingly tasty and even quite crispy, which is quite a feat considering that the tonkatsu strips are cooked in an egg sauce atop rice.

Cost and conclusion: as usual, a good meal at reasonable price from Akasiro. Their lunchtime prices really are good value. It was £16.80, not including tip. For reading the previous reviews, please visit the list of restaurants in alphabetical order page. It only lists London based restaurants.

Japanese restaurant Tokyo Diner
2 Newport Place
London WC2H 7JJ

Tokyo Diner

Tokyo Diner is probably the largest Japanese restaurant located in Chinatown. At first it looks small but there are rooms downstairs and upstairs. I used to go often there, especially from 2005 to 2007, then I had 3 not so good experiences and decided to go to Zipangu next door. I still go to Zipangu now named Akasiro but I wanted to check how Tokyo Diner was doing.
We ordered 2 Asahi beers (£3.80 – that is a very good price) and 2 Kara Fry Bento boxes (£31.80). I used to take the Kara Fry Bento box in the past so it was a good way to use it as a benchmark. I was quite disappointed and it is sad to see this place going down. In the past the pieces of chicken were so large that I could have trouble eating it all. They were also freshly cooked with a nice crispy skin. Now they were not really warm with a chewy texture (even the skin) which makes me wonder how long ago were they cooked… The salmon sashimi used to be 3 larges slices. Now it was ridiculously small, like the size of a single slice in the past divided into 3 pieces. Worse, they were room temperature instead of being on the cold side. The only thing that did not change size was the rice but it was dry, and was long grain rice which really isn’t suited to Japanese cuisine. The pickles and the aubergine agé bitashi were good while the su-no-mono was not. The beer was not very cold too. They used to do so much better.

On the upside: the service is friendly and I like they give you the bill when they serve your meal so after eating you do not have to wait and can go directly to the counter to pay. Also, they give you green tea for free and refill it too. If you like green tea, you do not have to order any drink. They have a no tipping policy, like in Japan, which is nice.

Asahi beer and green tea

Kara Fry bento

Details of the bento box

Pickles and aubergine agé bitashi

Cost and conclusion: it was £35.60. The Kara Fry bento is way overpriced at £15.90 for what you get now. It is the price for two pizzas and two drinks at Franco Manca (in Brixton), it is currently the price for a two course set menu at Bellevue Rendez-vous (in Wandsworth Common) where the quality of food is high. It is also a lot more than the other Japanese restaurant Akasiro next door. It is now the 4th consecutive time I have had a bad experience at Tokyo Diner in the last 2 years. I have also friends who have noticed the same problem and we did not eat together. Also, they do claim they are open 365 days a year from 12 till 12 but we got refused at 11pm one night. There were still people eating and it was far from being full.

Japanese restaurant Okawari
16 Lisle Street
London WC2H 7BE

Japanese restaurant Okawari

Instead of going to our usual Akasiro we decided to try Okawari which is on the same street as Tokyo Diner and Akasiro. From outside (see photo above) it does not look great but inside it is a lot more spacious with a modern design, although a little bland. It is possible to eat on a tatami on the floor (see photo below). Despite the place having a Japanese name, the people who served us were not Japanese but Chinese.

Inside the Okawari at Leicester

We were quite hungry so we decided to take two starters plus two bento boxes. We ordered the Agedashi Tofu (5 pieces, deep fried brean curd with ginger and spring onion served in a sweet soy sauce – £3.80) and a Tuna Tataki (raw tuna lightly cooked on the outside served with ponzu sauce – £9.90). The tofu was very good, quite warm and even a little crispy on the outside. The tuna tataki was very good too, and nicely presented with the sauce stored in the red pepper in the centre of the plate with all the slices of tuna around it. See the photos below!

Agedashi Tofu

Tuna Tataki

The two Bento boxes we had were the Bento box B with pan fried fish, tempura, pickles, steamed rice and fried vegetables (£10.50) and the Bento box E with tonkatsu, tempura, pickles, steamed rice and salad (£10.50). We also had two Asahi beers (£5.60). I have to admit my choice with the Bento box B wasn’t the greatest as it had too many fried food. The grease got me quickly and I was not feeling very well. That said, my friend who took the Bento box B started with the tempura and the grease got her too and usually she can handle tempura quite well, so it was not just me. If you go there, take the Bento box A with deep fried chicken, sashimi (6 pieces), pickles, steamed rice and salad (£9.80) as it looks more balanced… The salad was full of mayonnaise, soaked in it in fact and it contributed to the grease factor. See photos below.

Bento box E

Bento box B

Detail of the way too greasy tempura

Fried fish

So few pickles and nasty salad overdone with mayonnaise

Bill and conclusion: the bill was a little over £44 including a service charge (not that visible since it was only written sc on the bill) but when I was handed the machine to pay with the credit card they dared to make it ask for a tip! I am already against the service charge automatically added to the bill but I never had a situation with a second service charge requested. Also, the waitress took my bill for putting the amount into the machine but did not give it back to me as I expected! When I asked, she just wrote the names of the dishes we ordered on a piece of paper. Another first time for us too!

Akasiro Japanese restaurant
8 Little Newport Street, London WC2H 7JJ

Reviewed on Monday 27 April 2009 late evening.

After two weeks in the South of France and a long weekend in Paris, it is nice to be back to London! Why again the Akasiro? 1) it is good 2) it is late in the evening 3) it is just a few tube stops from St Pancras Eurostar station 😉
As starters we ordered the age tofu (£4.50) and the spicy sushi salmon (£4). Both were good but it is better to eat the age tofu first because after the spicy sushi (with some really hot bits) you do not feel much of the age tofu taste.
For the main courses, we took again the tempura udon (£8.50 – see previous reviews to see why “again’) and tried the Bulgogi which is a Korean barbecued beef (£10). The tempura udon was like everytime: fine. The bulgogi was good but I found it a little too salty, probably because the meat was marinated in the soy sauce (as it should be).
I had a green tea ice cream (£3.50) as dessert. It was very good, not too sweet nor too creamy and a little bitter.
The drinks were two Asahi beer (£5.80) , served chilly as usual.

Asahi beer

Spicy salmon sushi

Agedashi tofu

Hot tempura udon

Bulgogi

Cost and conclusion: another very decent dinner for £36.30 which is a good value for money. The service is very nice and despite the late time we were not hurried to leave at all. It is the 5th time I review this place

Japanese restaurant Akasiro
8 Little Newport Street, London WC2H 7JJ

Reviewed on Monday 13 April 2009 evening

The dining experience at the Marquess of Anglesey was so bad that we needed to finish the evening on a better mood so we went to the regular Akasiro This time we went in the basement as all tables were full on the ground level. The restaurant was quite busy, refusing people as it became full even downstairs. The design downstairs changed a lot compared to what it was when the restaurant was called Zipangu. It is much better now.

As it was our second dinner we ate “light” by just ordering two tempura udon and a green tea. The tea was really good and the tempura udon great as usual, and very spicy as we abused of the chilli powder. For more details about the Akasiro, please go to the list of restaurants by alphabetical order since it has been reviewed many times.

Green tea

The hot tempura udon

Tempura udon

Cost and conclusion: for £18.50 the value for money is good, and more important, the food is great!