76-77 Watling St
EC4M 9BJ
Tel: 020 7236 0236
Date of Last Visit: Early December
The Victim: Paulo
Paulo is my friend Michael's friend. They went to high school with Vince Vaughn. Paulo is Italian but American in a non-Italian-American-kind-of-way. He's Italian-Italian. Which is funny because he made friends with Michael, who's German-German, but who also grew up in the US. Anyhow, I digress. Every so often, Paulo and I hang out. This time, we met up for sushi at my favorite little sushi place, which Craig from Australia found one night as he was wandering through the streets of London.
Kurumaya is very non-descript. It's in the basement of a building off bow lane. The space if very simple. Be prepared to be under-whelmed. But–there are real Japanese people who eat there, which I take as a good sign. The chef is not Japanese, for sure, but he's very good at what he does. I find this fascinating.
Regardless–his tuna in kimchee sauce is amazing. As is the softshell crab and the sauce that comes along side it. These are probably my two favorite things. The regular sushi combo is pretty non-descript, if you ask me. So I would stick with items that aren't combo-packages.
I've eaten here five or six times now, and it never fails to delight me. In particular, I enjoy the generous serving of edamame with the sea salt AND pepper on it as a starter. I'd see if you could have the chef cook for you–I've done that a couple of times now–it's pretty reasonable in price–30 GBP each or so.
The Verdict: I'l go again and again, but I could see how this place might not surprise and delight others. It's mellow. It's low key. It's perfect.
