Tajima-Tei

Recommended by several people, including a Japanese foodie, I was definitely looking forward to this one.

Food

There are several options. You can pick a la carte, or choose from one of their many sets of bentos or set coruses. We decided to try a bit of both. We got the Tokujyo Nigiri (£20) - Assorted nigiri sushi (10 pieces of nigiri sushi) as we knew the sushi was a specialty, and we were not disappointed. Consisting of a mix of Toro - Tuna Belly, Sake – Salmon, Hamachi - Yellow Tail, Amaebi - Sweet prawn, Maguro – Tuna, Ikura - Salmon roe, Suzuki - Sea Bass , Ebi – Prawn and 2 generous Tamago - Egg Omelet. The fish was so fresh and as generous slices, unlike those paper thin ones you get at Yo-Sushi, with just enough wasabi to bring out the flavour. The Tajima-tei Bento (£18.80) - Sashimi (tuna, salmon, sweet prawn), Deep fried dish, Yakitori, tempura, salad, Sushi (tuna, salmon, prawn, salmon roll), Miso soup was very big. The best things on the dish were the sushi and the sashimi, the rest was nice but not too special though.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

The signs were good even before I entered. Two black cabs had just stopped off to deliver a bunch of Japanese businessman at the entrance. It’s an out of the way place, but the place was full and buzzing, so it must mean people come here just for the food. I didn’t hear the familiar "Irrashaimases" when I entered though. It’s a small space, decorated like a typical Japanese sushi bar. You can sit at the bar or at the table. Our table of 8 was pretty cramped in, but you put up with it for the food. The only oddity was that they have these very low hanging light that hung down from the ceilings….the lights themselves weren’t on, and they got in the way, I wonder what function they serve?

Rating - 1.5

Service

For a London restaurant, excellent, for a Japanese restaurant, terrible. I’d asked several times for tea, and they took a long long time to deliver. They weren’t very polite, but they did trust us after we’d paid the bill and instead of counting the money, just asked us how much was there.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Japanese is always expensive, especially when you are talking sushi and sashimi. We paid £47 for 2 people including green tea, which is expensive for a normal night out, but the portions were very generous and the food very good quality, so it was good value for money.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 13.5

Info

Unit 1, Doorington House
9-15 Leather Lane
London
EC1N 7ST
Phone +44 (0) 20 7404 9665
Website