Salad in Winter

This Monday, as normal, I had rehearsal for a play that I'm performing and afterwards, a few of us fancied some dinner. It was a freezing cold and rainy night and we ended up very nearby to our rehearsal venue in Hakuba, a snazzy looking Japanese restaurant on Great Russell Street, just off Tottenham Court Road.

Hakuba feels like it should be in an upmarket dining complex or on an upper floor of a skyscraper hotel - tall wine glasses on every table, immaculate staff, an inviting bar area and a dimly-lit interior with sleek, dark wooden partitions.

The menu, however, is less impressive. A fairly standard line up of sushi, some bento-box type bog standards (the inevitable teriyakis...) and predictable side dishes. Even the "Hakuba signature dishes" involving fried calamari, scallops and marinated sashimi didn't look especially exciting. And, as well as their predictability, the prices put me off trying any of the standard stuff, £14.90 for salmon teriyaki - yikes! Nothing wrong with standard fare but a restaurant that so obvsiouly tries to be something a little special might do well to put as much effort into its choice of menu as it does into its light fittings.

Having flicked through the menu a few times, three of us went for salads while LS opted for a light snack of the gyoza - which actually looked quite good and homemade.


I ordered the sashimi salad and I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived. It was very nicely presented and not quite as small as I had expected (although it did cost £8.90). JA's light fried soft shell crab salad and AM's avocado and tofu version looked equally pretty. On closer inspection, the sashimi was cut incredibly thin and was somewhat dull in colour. It tasted fine but nothing out the ordinary at all. The others gave similar feedback and I suspect that much of our satisfaction came down to our intelligent menu choices rather than any magic in the kitchen. In fact, I could see just from the texture of AM's tofu that it was of the long-life variety.

We all decided that Hakuba would definitely be worth a return visit to properly explore the full range of dishes, drink at the bar, sample the sake and entertain guests. On the condition that it went it on expenses. If it's your money, spend it elsewhere.

Ten Ten Tei

I hate November. The weather is grim, the days are short, and let's face it, everything natural dies. I used to wallow in the misery of dark November days, wear black, listen Morrissey and read Thomas Hardy. Nowadays, I am less of a masochist. In fact, I try and do things, such as drinking and eating, that simply take my mind off the fact that it is the month of gloom.

It was partly with this in mind then that I cycled down to Ten Ten Tei, 56 Brewer Street, last night. In this simple Japanese diner I sought diversion from my moody Novembery contemplations.

Aided by the companionship of JA and RK we surveyed the vast menu that greeted us. Ten Ten Tei seemingly have everything: ramen, udon, soba, sushi, sashimi, donburi, fish, meat and veg dishes. That said, I was mildly disappointed by the lack of cha-han, something I am increasingly craving for (anyone know a place?).

Anyway, we gave our choices to the friendly but firm waitress and were soon rewarded with some exciting dishes. Most comment worthy were perhaps the cricket ball size, very tasty minced pork/potato croquettes. The quality of the fish was excellent too with the standard tuna sushi turning out to be made using a high quality buttery cut of flesh.




The 'tofu steak' was a generous and tasty alternative to the usual deep fried variety while the buta shoga (pork in ginger) and tempura were average but welcome. The niku jaga was fairly uninspiring although JA was pleased with the stock and wild for the gyoza.

My two friends also took a shine to the bottle of Bulldog tonkatsu sauce on the table. I tried to explain the manufacturer's rise to fame as a result of the attempted Steel Partners takeover bid, but probably failed to flesh it out properly - for those who are interested in the juicy details, click here. Perhaps more of a conversational highlight was RK talking about boisterous Ozzies when it later emerged that the two, very quiet, men on the adjacent table were indeed Antipodeans. Woops.

All in all Ten Ten Tei is good for a reasonably priced (about £15 ahead including a drink), authentic Japanese restaurant. It's been open about 20 years and there is a reasssuring presence of afterwork parties of Japanese salarymen.

The mystery of why Brewer Street is a little Japan Town continues....