Twice in the past month, I've encounter people who say they love Japanese food, just not in Japan.
They say this with an unapologetic shrug, seemingly oblivious that their statements are much the equivalent of professing a love of Italian food, but not being able to stomach the grub in Naples, Rome, or Milan -- I mean, who on earth makes pizza that thin, and can you believe they didn't stuff the crusts with cheese?
In this case, the offending item most cited was chicken gizzard, in the form of yakitori. Now, yakitori, as I understand it, is not haute-cuisine. Come on, it's served on a wooden stick. Dipped in sticky, more-ish, tare sauce. But it's a highly effective way of serving up every piece of the chicken you can get your hands on: liver, skin, cartilage, heart, and all.
Granted, their reactions weren't entirely their own faults. Our supermarkets and restaurants conspire to make us a believe a chicken is composed of solely breast, thigh, and drumstick. I order a whole chicken in Nandos, and when it turns up, think: where's the other 45% gone?
[Tip: if you order a whole chicken take-away from Nandos, ask them not to cut it up. You get more chicken (and the good bits) that way.]
Now, I'm a bit of a citizenship snob. In that, if someone recommends me a restaurant, it holds more weight if they're from the country that gave birth to that cuisine. So sue me: I'd rather take a fish-and-chip shop recommendation from the local pub owner, than a passing tourist from Timbuktu. So when a bona-fide Japanese family friend recommended Yoisho, my ears pricked up.
I went on a Sunday evening, which already made me happy. (The only other Japanese restaurant in Central London I know of that opens Sundays is Sakura.) Ordered a selection of yakitori, including gizzard and quail eggs, an okonomi (fried pancake thing - a smaller, thinner, oval-shaped version than the usual), ryoshidon (sashimi on normal white rice) and nasu dengaku (aubergine with miso-topping). Good food, good value, good-sized portions.
The restaurant itself is small, with ground-level and basement seating, and verges on the dark-and-dingy school of Japanese restaurant interior design. The word 'izakaya' (Japanese pub, kinda) seems to crop up in various online reviews. On a busy night, the order system seemed a bit clogged, especially for drinks, and service was perfunctory rather than effusive, but we were there for the chicken innards, not the three-star treatment.
Verdict: Only a quick walk from Tottenham Court Road, and round the corner from Goodge Street tube station, definitely one for the post-Christmas-shopping dinner before hopping on the tube home.
£20-30 for dinner for two, including service.
Yoisho
33 Goodge Street
London W1T 2PS
020 7323 0477
Open for lunch Mon-Fri, dinner Mon-Sun.
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