City Eating

Sake And Skewers At Hi Sushi Izakaya

Last we promised you some photos of Hi Sushi Izakaya, and here they are. We popped in for a quick bite to eat after work but ending up staying for two hours, happily munching our way through the menu. To their credit, the staff didn't try to rush us and that's a rare treat in Covent Garden. The restaurant is tucked away from the touristy piazza on Catherine Street, literally opposite the Theatre Royal, and it was pleasantly quiet mid-week with just a few smart couples tucking into some sashimi. On the ground floor, there are a few small tables and a sushi bar with a colourful display of fresh fish underneath the glass. We were led upstairs, past some cosy semi-private dens, and settled into the sunken tatami-style seating next to the waterfall. (Note: Ladies in short skirts may want to request a non-sunken table, unless you're comfortable flashing your companions).

The menu is extensive and includes every dish a London food fan would associate with Japanese food - sushi, ramen, tempura, grilled skewers, etc. Even my accomplice - someone who has visited real izakayas and speaks Japanese - was overwhelmed. So we sipped ice cold Asahi beers and devoured hot edamame beans while our lovely waitress gave us some recommendations. Here's what we had:

 

- Rock shrimp tempura: This was a real winner. Tasty bitesize shrimp in a light tempura batter studded with smashed wasabi peas to give it a bit of a kick - the sort of dish you could pick at all night. These were great dunked in the spicy mayo or with just a squeeze of lime juice.

- Minced chicken skewers: If you want to eat cheaply here, go for anything on a stick. All the skewers are under £2 and you can choose from classics like miso-glazed tofu and prawns or try something more adventurous like chicken skin. The minced chicken skewers look a bit like sausages in the photo but were surprisingly tender and coated in a sticky-sweet sauce. No need for all that undressed rocket though.

Coming Soon: Aqua London Arrives In Soho This Autumn

2009’s new openings have been a bit of a mixed bag, with most places opening to very little fanfare and generally playing it safe. However, that looks set to change in the autumn when Hong Kong’s aqua restaurant group launches its first project outside China on Soho’s Argyll Street.

The top floor of the former Dickin & Jones department store will be transformed into two ultra-glam restaurants and a pre- and post-dining bar. The aqua group’s owner, David Yeo, said: “aqua london will combine great food that lets the flavours and freshness of the produce speak for themselves with approachable service and an exquisite ambience - qualities that have always been at the fore of all our restaurants.”

aqua kyoto will specialise in modern Japanese cuisine, complete with sushi bar and sumibiyaki charcoal grill; while aqua nueva will offer contemporary northern Spanish dishes inspired by the San Sebastian area. The pre-dinner drinks destination for both restaurants will be aqua spirit – a welcome addition to the West End bar scene. One of the venue’s biggest draws will be its roof terrace which will offer unrivalled views of the West End and beyond.

Lets just hope that the aqua group choose substance over style because we’ve all know how these glam Asian-fusion restaurants can fall flat on their face. (Does anyone remember Kyashii? No? Thought not…)

Falling For The Cadogan's Charms

When it comes to turning unloved venues into crowd-pleasers, Ed and Tom Martin seem to have the Midas touch. Since 2001, their ETM Group has been steadily expanding with some venues (like The Botanist) enjoying overnight success and others (like The Well) quietly plodding along. The former was as busy as ever when we passed it last Friday and seems to have casually beaten the neighbouring brasseries into submission.

While The Botanist is a stylish stable for Chelsea’s Sloaney ponies, The Cadogan Arms is definitely a pub at heart. Tucked away at the quieter end of the King’s Road, it’s a refined but comfortable space with plenty of dark wood, an old brick fireplace and a taxidermy collection that gives it the homely air of a hunting lodge. Upstairs, the billiards room has been lovingly restored and furnished with three eight-ball tables to keep the local dandies busy in the evenings.

The menu is reassuringly short - (never trust a pub serving more than ten main courses ) - and classics like fishcakes and the pint o’prawns are all present and correct. My companion fared well with the soup, which had retained that delicious roasted tomato flavour and benefited from a decadent swirl of crème fraiche and basil oil. A real simple pleasure. I drew the shorter straw with a mushroom tart which was tasty enough, with its fine shavings of pecorino and light truffle dressing, but suffered from being over-salted and not quite hot enough.

The menu offers a host of manly mains – burger, steak, veal chop, etc – but as it was Friday, we both chose fish. The haddock was a fine specimen but its batter lacked the crispness I was craving - perhaps the Adnam’s Broadside they use is better in the glass than in the kitchen? Still, the Jenga-style stack of chips were spot on and the minted pea puree should be served as a dish in its own right. Full marks for the generous pot of tartare sauce too.

          

Snap Of The Week: london-eating's Lebanese Feast

Ever wondered what the london-eating team do at the weekend? Well, this Sunday we were suffering from 'restaurant fatigue' - a condition which, you'll be pleased to know, rarely lasts longer than a few hours - so we did a bit of home-cooking. Inspired by our recent meal at Yalla Yalla, here's our Lebanese feast.

On the big platter, there's a pile of fragrant pilaf studded with toasted pine nuts, coriander and parsley. In the centre, there are fried onions and peppers which are hidden by our tasty chicken shawarma (which was marinated in a blend of spices, lemon juice and olive oil and then grilled).

Coming Soon: Hi Sushi Izakaya Arrives In Covent Garden

Following the success of Keelung – the Taiwanese tapas restaurant we visited last month – the Leong family is getting ready for another new opening on July 20th. The latest addition to their impressive portfolio will be the seventh branch of the Hi Sushi chain in Covent Garden. With a location you can’t help but describe as ‘in the heart of Theatreland’, the Catherine Street site is opposite the Theatre Royal and just a few doors down from the recently opened fourth branch of Sagar.

In an attempt to distance itself from the carbon-copy chains in the area, Hi Sushi Izakaya’s décor will be unique to this branch and was inspired by traditional Japanese Zen Gardens. Set over three floors, the venue will be a moody mix of dark oak and bamboo and will feature a floor-to-ceiling waterfall. Window-side sushi bar seating will offer solo diners the chance to snack on sushi and sashimi whilst doing a bit of people watching.

While the tatami-style sunken seating sounds nice enough, one of main draw will be the bar where West End drinkers can watch the sun go down and sip Champagne cocktails, sake and Martinis. On the lower ground floor, a second yaki bar with chefs dishing up freshly grilled meat and seafood will appeal to teppanyaki fans.

The head chef will be Eric Fu (ex-Roka) and the menu promises traditional crowd-pleasers like black cod with miso; duck tataki with plum salsa; wasabi prawns; tempura; and noodle dishes. At lunchtime, locals might be seduced by the teppanyaki meal served with soup, salad, rice and green tea for £6.80, or a steaming bowel of ramen for £5.80.

The press release is ambitious, assuring us that Hi Sushi Izakaya will capture ‘the intimacy of traditional Japanese drinking and eating houses, allowing contemporary patrons to re-discover the lost ‘sixth sense’ in food – unami.’ That’s all well and good, but in Covent Garden all they need to do is be fast and affordable and they’ll soon corner the pre and post theatre crowd.

From 20th July to 31st August, the restaurant will be running a special ‘Opera Meal’ deal. Priced at £19 per person (normally £60), it includes an Opera roll (salmon, avocado and tobiko); a mixed sashimi platter; prawn tempura; chicken teriyaki; and a glass of Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut Champagne.

Stay tuned for photos and our review next week.

Chain Reaction: New Branches For Old Favourites

Even London’s adventurous eaters like a bit of familiarity. (Have you ever seen an empty Starbucks or Pizza Express?) Maybe that’s why new branches of popular chains have been popping up across the City. Some are more inspiring than others, but each has its place and most are likely to outlive some of the more unusual openings we’ve seen this year. If you want to stick to what you know this weekend, here are some new branches of old favourites for you to try:

Tike - Turkish restaurant chain Tike have opened their first restaurant, bar and grill in London. They have 18 restaurants across Turkey and 5 in Europe but despite the expansion their food and service standards have remained high. The London branch is located next to Fenchurch Street station and will be offering charcoal grilled dishes and traditional Turkish fare.

Napket (Piccadilly) – The fourth and largest branch of Napket recently opened in Piccadilly Circus and is the first location to offer table service for breakfast, dinner and afternoon tea. At lunchtime, it’s a self-service eat-in or take-out affair and, despite the sleek décor and glam website, it’s essentially a posh Pret-a-Manger offering quality soups, salads and sandwiches. You can order wine in the evening, though, so it might be worth a try as a post-shopping hang-out.

Natural Kitchen (City) – Another new kitchen, this time in the New Street Square development between High Holborn and Fleet Street. Like the original in Marylebone, it’s part food-store, part feel-good café with an emphasis on free-range, organic...you know the rest. On the menu, the tapas dishes seem a bit pricey at £4.95 each but we like the look of the buttermilk pancakes and NK eggs for brunch!

Villandry Kitchen – Following the success of the original Villandry on Great Portland Street, the team have now opened a slick all-day eatery in Holborn. Comprising bar, bistrot and charcuterie counter; Villandry Kitchen serves breakfast, Provencale-style pizzas (really?), and French classics like steak frites and Croque Monsieur. It’s most likely to appeal to the business lunch crowd but we’re not sure it will draw foodies away from Holborn’s more interesting ethnic eateries.

Masala Zone (Bayswater) – Ok, it’s not the most authentic Indian food you’ll ever eat in London but it’s cheap, it’s fast and it’s pretty reliable. The new site in Bayswater used to be a bank but is now a bright and airy curry canteen promising to feed diners for under £15 a head.

Coming Soon: Look out for The Orange – a new Pimlico eatery from the people behind The Thomas Cubitt and The Pantechnicon; more healthy Pod sites, another Grand Union venue in Kilburn, and the Covent Garden izakaya branch of Hi Sushi Salsa. More about that last one later…

Yalla Yalla: Beirut Via Brewer Street

The phrase ‘seedy Soho’ was probably invented for side streets like Greens Court. The quiet alley off Brewer Street is home to a tattoo parlour, a shoe shop specialising in stripper heels, and Yalla Yalla - a new-ish Lebanese café that lurks in the shadows like the proverbial diamond in the rough. Inside, it’s a cosy candlelit space with only a few tables and stools to perch on. When we visited, two businessmen in the corner looked as though they might need a crobar to get out again but seemed happy enough with their mezze.

                

To combat the early evening heat, we chose a jug of tap water (happily handed over, no up-selling), a glass of (slightly warm) white wine, a Bloody Mary, and a vodka cocktail made with lemonade, honey and crushed ice. From a menu packed full of the usual suspects, we shared deliciously salty grilled halloumi; soujoc - spicy sausages with tomato, parsley and lemon juice; and batata harra – sautéed potatoes with a warming chilli kick.

Snap Of The Week: Chillin’ Out At Freggo

The unwanted heatwave last week gave us a great excuse to try out Freggo - the new Argentinean ice-cream bar next to Gaucho on Swallow Street. It's just a stones throw from Piccadilly Circus and open until 2am - perfect for satisfying those late-night sugar cravings. Inside, it's like a tiny purple cocktail bar (minus the alcohol) with only a few seats, so take-out might be your best option when it's busy.

There are some savouries on the menu like empanadas and media lunas (savoury crossiants), but lets face it - you're unlikely to be queuing up for those. The ice-cream comes in your choice of cup or cone (£3.95 for two flavours) and can be taken away in massive tubs (up to 1kg!) or funky trays that hold six flavours. There are great flavours like white chocolate and passion fruit on offer but we recommend keeping things Argentinean with a tub of dulce de leche with chocolate chips or a scoop of their Malbec & berries.

The dulce de leche is milk-based and sinfully creamy with a flavour that's pretty close to caramel. You might want to combine it with something lighter as it's very rich. The Irish cream was less successful but the raspberry was a big hit because it actually tasted as though some fruit might have been involved in the process. It took a while to get served and pay but we're definitely going back to try out their milkshakes.

If you're looking for ice-cream elsewhere, check out our Ice-Cream & Froghurt list which was recently updated to include newcomers like Yu-foria in Covent Garden and Snog in Soho.

Celebrate Canada Day In Trafalgar Square

We must be on the wrong Canadian mailing lists because we’ve only just found out that today is Canada Day in Trafalgar Square. The event, now in its fourth year, will be celebrating the country’s 142nd birthday with ten hours of sport, live entertainment and food. It’s free, no tickets required, so you can just turn up when you feel like it.

From 12pm, Trafalgar Square will host street performers, arts and crafts for the kids, and high-speed street hockey games where teams from across the UK will compete against the event sponsors. If you’re stuck at work, you can go along after 6pm when some of Canada’s most-loved comedians and musicians like The Stereos and Amy Nelson will take to the stage. Cover band Gasoline Alley will also be in attendance, performing hits from Canadian artists like Nickelback and Alanis Morrisette.

The Sleeman brewery are bringing the beer and the barbeque stands will be dishing out bison burgers, Sloppy Joes and steak sandwiches until 9.30pm. If you miss out you can grab a drink in London’s Canadian pub, the Maple Leaf, or head for Bodean’s in Soho for a late-night BBQ bash.