Kirazu

Japanese tapas in Soho

Launched back in the summer only a few months ago, Kirazu is a tiny restaurant in Soho serving Japanese tapas in a very casual setting just off Rupert Street. Having seen the great review from the Evening Standard, I was eager to test out the place as Japanese tapas itself is a pretty new concept in London. A very welcoming addition to the usual sushi and ramen places.

Kirazu

It took me almost three weeks in advance to get a booking, clearly Kirazu has already created a bit of a buzz thanks to some positive reviews from the press. We ordered a mixed selection of cold and hot tapas as well as some specials from the board. The major problem we had was when I asked questions on some of the dishes, the waiter really struggled to explain what they were which I found fairly embarrassing for them.

lotus roots and mozuk seaweed

Anyway onto the food, we started off with a selection of cold tapas: Grilled coger eel with cucumber which was pretty average, nothing spectacular with the vinaigrette sauce which balanced off the sweetness of the eel. The sauteed lotus roots on the other hand was fabulous, a little crunchy with a great sweet and sour texture. Sea bream sashimi was fresh and had a wonderful richness.

Grilled coger eel with cucumber 

Sea bream sashimi

On to the hot tapas: The deep fried prawn tartare was well fried but lacked any of the interesting flavours that I was expecting with the shichimi curry sauce.
I found the grilled pork belly was a little over cooked which resulted in the meat being a bit dry. Chikuwa tempura has to be one of the biggest rip off dishes of the evening, £5 for two slices of chikuwa which tasted pretty much like the supermarket version that I usually get. Beef tataki however was delightful, the beef was tender with lovely seasoning. Agedashi tofu was also a real winner, very settled in taste with a lovely soft texture.

Deep fried prawn tartare

Grilled pork belly

Chikuwa tempura

Beef tataki

Agedashi tofu

We finished off with a miso ramen and a mini rice bowl, I found the miso broth for the ramen was a touch far too salty but the ramen itself had a great smooth texture. The mini rice bowl was wonderful, nicely cooked Japanese rice with a hint of sourness and the roast pork on top was heavenly, good seasoning with a good balance of meat and fat.

Miso ramen

Mini rice bowl

So to sum it up, I found the food was bit of a mixed bag, it was decent but definitely not as good as I expected. And the major let down was the service, they've clearly got no hospitality skill whatsoever, no knowledge on the food and lack communication skills. This was by far one of the worst services I've had in London this year and we all know these days service is just as important as the food in a restaurant, sadly I will not return.

Food 5
Service 1
Ambience 4
Value 4

£22 per head

47 Rupert St, London, Greater London W1D 7PD

http://www.kirazu.co.uk/en/