Hare & Tortoise

The Hare & Tortoise in Bloomsbury is one of four outlets in this unusual and modern Asian chain. While Japan purists may be appalled by its blending of different Asian cuisines, Japanese format prevails and the deviations from tradition, such as spicy maguro maki sushi, are very welcome to the more open minded.

An evening with three old friends was the perfect occasion to sample a good cross section of the menu, which is vast in terms of its range, offering all sorts of sushi, sashimi, tempura, ramen and rice dishes. JA went for the classic miso ramen, except at the Hare & Tortoise it is made with a twist - generous dollops of garlic and chilli oil make it all the more flavourful and the perfect antidote to glum autumn weather. Meanwhile, LS (who has recently acquired an astonishing taste for fried food) went for the duck and bok-choi on rice. "But that's more Chinese than Japanese" I hear you say. Perhaps, but the presentation is don-buri style on Japanese rice and the meat is done in a similar way to tonkatsu making it a rare but happy combination of Sino-Japanese cooperation .




AM also went for Japanese style ramen while I opted for the special "laksa" ramen - a rich, very tasty, very spicy, coconutty Malaysian broth that plays host to pork, chicken, prawns and noodles. Sadly, it normally includes cucumber but I always have it without, cucumber being the one food I simply can't stomach. Cucumber in ramen - it's just wrong! The side order of prawn and chive gyoza was good too.



And on the liquid side, the drinks menu boasts a good range of Western beverages alongside umeshu (plum wine) and some good ginjo and kyotu-fu sake. Unfortunately our waitress brought us umeshu sodas for some reason... not sure why she did that but the service is pretty poor generally. The staff are mainly drawn from China and Southeast Asia and good command of English is clearly not given too much importance in the recruitment policy. I seem to remember some unordered dishes arriving on a previous visit too. But as AM pointed out, "it's cheap and the service is cheap and not very good but it doesn't really matter. It's good value and it's good." It is indeed - about 5 or 6 pounds for a superb main course that defeats most people with cheap and cheerful side orders for less.

The obvious comparison is with Wagamama's but the Hare & Tortoise is more unusual and intimate, and the food is more authentic, and better - even the crockery is nicer. And why the pub-type name for an Asian/Japanese diner? I haven't the foggiest but nousagi to kame would just be a failure.