Taro
61 Brewer Street
W1F 9UW
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, July 16th, 2009
The Victim: Me
The Damage: £10
The Background: I have the day off of work. Why? Because I need to go shopping. My friends Richard and Mireia are getting married in Barcelona on the 18th and I need some nice outfits. Plus, about 10 hours after I return from Barcelona, I have to head to Chicago for work and BlogHer. In short, it's time to update the wardrobe.
And although I'm really trying not to eat so much these days, the Pret Smoothie I try to pass off as lunch isn't really communicating with my brain or my stomach. My body wants food-food. I'm sorta by Brewer Street so I figure some sort of Japanese food might be nice. And there's Taro right there in front of me. So in I go.
The Entrance: Taro is packed. They try to seat me at the bar, but I'm not having any of that. There's a large man at the bar and I've got all my shopping. Borrowing a trick from my friend Yusuf, I don't say anything when they offer me the bar seat. I just stare at the server, and at the bar, and then at my bags. Like magic, it works. They give me my very own table.
The Food: Pork katsu don for me. It's okay. The egg is good. The pork tastes old. The breading tastes old. Eh. I'm not so impressed.
The Verdict: People seem to love this place. It was packed! Not my favorite.
9 comments
Should have gone to Kula Kula down the road
Ah, I was definitely considering that. But I'd been to the other branch of Kulu Kulu in Covent Garden and I wanted to try someplace different!
Ten ten tei is down the road and do the best katsu don
The place mats are interesting.
Don’t know that they’re my taste, but it’s a statement.
I've been to Ten Ten Tai but did the sushi the one and only time I was there. Will try the katsu don. Thanks for the tip!
It doesn’t look good to me, and as you mentioned, it’s always full.
The problem is most of the costumers are young and they will eat anything + they believe that since is Japanese food = ‘healthy’ (which is not always the case).
Unfortunately Japanese food is usually not good in London but popular because of the ‘healthy’ myth.
I saw Mr Taro once outside the restaurant and he looks exactly like the logo, just slightly older. But I hardly ever go there for Japanese on Brewer Street. I prefer Ten Ten Tei for tonkatsu (curry rice!) or Ryo for cheap and cheerful chuka (nira leba or stir-fried liver and chinese chives, ramen, gyoza, chahan) and yoshoku (omu-rice, croquette).
I saw Toro-san that day too!
Is Mr. Taro Japanese or… Chinese?
Many Japanese restaurants in London are owned by Chinese — they make more money this way.
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