We’re continuing our series of restaurant reviews! Going out and eating delicious food, then writing about it. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. And the best thing is, now YOU’LL know where to go to eat delicious food.
Yumi Izakaya on Shaftesbury Avenue is the sort of place Lucy Liu would choose to go on a date. And that is NOT the sort of thing we’d say lightly. Lucy Liu is famously picky not only in who she dates, but in WHERE she dates. She’d choose it for its ambient, soft lighting, effortlessly cool cosmopolitan interior, and several varieties of saké. We feel like having several varieties of saké would be one of Lucy Liu’s top priorities, not just on a date, but in life.
I actually took a date myself. Well, my boyfriend, if that counts. Yes that does count doesn’t it. He’d never been to a Japanese restaurant before, so he was quite excited. And to be honest, my knowledge of Japanese restaurants doesn’t extend much further than grabbing a hungover chicken katsu curry from Wasabi, so it was a nice unique experience for me too.
The concept of Yumi is quite tapas-esque. You get a variety of smaller dishes that arrive at various times, and you sort of nibble at them over the course of a couple of hours. Which actually suits me great! I’ve always infuriated friends and family by taking hours picking at food and pushing it around my plate, so this set up was ideal.
We got six dishes, recommended by a refreshingly sunny waitress; chilli fried cauliflower, pork & ginger gyoza, chicken thigh, soft shell crab, yumi fries and a meatball creation. Just READING that gets the saliva glands going doesn’t it. It was ALL delicious and I’m not just saying because this is a review. Believe me, if it hadn’t been, I’d say. But it WAS.
I love a strong flavour, possibly because I smoke too much. And this was packed with strong flavours. Brazen, salty, aromatic flavours. A taste of the East! The highlight was the Yumi fries. Not only are they gorgeous and covered in some sort of heavenly Japanese gravy that I’d like to be embalmed in when I die, but they DANCE in front of you. They actually do. They move. You’ll realize what I mean when you order them. The meatball with the raw egg, while perhaps not sounding the most appetizing, was another unforgettably delicious creation.
So in short, get down to Yumi! It’s a hop, skip and a jump from Soho, and perfect for a pre-night out gossip and munch with friends.
• Yumi Izakaya is at 67 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 6EX. Open Monday – Sunday, 12:00 – 00:30.
