"Mitsu calls itself an izakaya, which is what European restaurateurs always say when they mean the Japanese-influenced food isn't too po-faced and you can get really tipsy on sake. As well as sushi, sashimi and grilled meat mains, Mitsu's menu also features lots of tasty little snacky things', the very good' chicken tsukune among them. Not that the place isn't serious about its sushi and sashimi there's plenty of good unagi, hamachi, chutoro and so on but there are also a lot of tasty little snacky things, such as very good chicken tsukune (meatball) skewers to dip into sweet tare sauce and two Shoreditch-requisite sandos: pork belly with mustard and wagyu with tonkatsu sauce, both in rich, milky shokupan."
"Nobu was gargantuan, moodily lit (that is, pitch black), woundingly expensive and terrifically hard to book, despite having something like 797 seats; it was also one of the most soulless London restaurants of the past 25 years. Nobu Shoreditch felt symbolic: it was where all the raffish hope of the 1990s YBA crowd and the early noughties electroclash heads went to die. But that was then, and now, in 2026, the Aethos crew has deftly brightened and lightened the mood of the room, making it actually cosy and adding a twinkly central bar; there's an open robata kitchen and roomy booths, as well as a pretty Japanese garden."
"From the robata, you can have a porterhouse steak with sansho pepper sauce or a pork tomahawk with kanzuri miso. Leading the kitchen is Aaj Fernando, ex of La Bodega Negra, which back in 2012 was a mega-hot, secret Soho restaurant under a fake sex shop, which was also impossible to book. It's still there, apparently, although these days no one seems to care about it much, least"
Mitsu occupies the former Nobu Shoreditch space in the Aethos hotel in east London. Nobu is described as large, dimly lit, extremely expensive, difficult to book, and lacking atmosphere. Mitsu is presented as a clear improvement through brighter lighting, a central bar, an open robata kitchen, roomy booths, and a Japanese garden. The menu is framed as izakaya, offering sushi, sashimi, grilled meat, and many snackable items meant to pair with sake. Noted dishes include chicken tsukune skewers with sweet tare sauce and two Shoreditch-style sandos. Robata options include porterhouse steak with sansho pepper sauce and pork tomahawk with kanzuri miso, with sushi and sashimi also emphasized.
#london-restaurants #japanese-izakaya #sushi-and-sashimi #robata-grilling #food-and-dining-atmosphere
Read at www.theguardian.com
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