Japanese: Life

Corner of Old Street & Aldersgate/Goswell Road
Tel: Unknown

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £30 with a £10 glass of wine

The Story: So for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been walking past this Japanese place at the intersection of Old Street and Goswell Road, waiting for it to open. Personally, I think one of the secrets of opening a new restaurant is to minimize the time-to-launch. Man, did these guys take a long time. Or so it seemed. Or maybe I was just desparate for sushi.

I WAS desperate for sushi. You see, after a week in Sardinia (where seafood is not really the thing, surprisingly), I just wanted something light and refreshing and NOT Italian. So finally I saw that Life would be open for dinner on the 29th. After a good workout (yes, still trying to practice clean living), I made my way over.

The Entrance: I like the space. It’s loft-like. It’s all bare brick walls, and then one wall has this cool wood paneling thing going on. I also like the little chopstick rests–they are little paper-mache bows.

The Service: Is sweet, but TOTALLY clueless. I ask for a glass of wine and she has no idea what I mean. I repeat and repeat and repeat again. I show her the menu. She has vision problems. She holds the menu 3 inches from her face and then proceeds to write down C-l-o-u-d-y-B-a-y-C-h-a-r-d-o-n-n-a-y-£-1-0. (I also think £10 is a ripoff.)

Someone needs to add numbers to all the options on the menu, pronto.

I ask for recommendations and it’s clear that she hasn’t tried anything. She then points to the braised pork and says it’s good. So I go for it. I’m tired and don’t want to think anymore. Oh, I also get a spicy tuna roll.

The Food: The spicy tuna roll is nice. It’s not bad. It’s not particularly exciting either. But they definitely get points for presentation. I liked the platter it was served on.

The braised pork turns out to be some decent sized chunks of very tender pork served with what my mother, the German, woudl call butter noodles. It’s a thick pasta. And I am so peeved at myself for falling for the only Italian Japanese dish on the menu. But you know what? It’s pretty good.

More about The Service: The servers spent more than a little time standing in the entranceway to the main dining room, staring at everyone. This weirded me out. Oh, and then they kept turning down the lights and it was just SO dark. And then when I really needed them, I couldn’t find them anywhere.

The Verdict: I’m going to give this place another shot. It was opening night, so I’ll forgive the service. But they gotta sharpen up. And next time, I’m not asking for recommendations.