JinJuu (Soho branch)

Jinjuu is an upmarket Korean restaurant opened by celebrity chef Judy Joo. It has two branches in London and one in Hong Kong. It has a modern atmosphere than your usual Korean restaurant in London but still serve a range of traditional Korean food.

I unexpectedly visited the Soho branch one Sunday afternoon. Just walked pass the restaurant and decided to catch lunch there. I was not dress for the atmosphere of Jinjuu as I was in my jogging top and trouser.

We started with Jinjuu’s Mandoo (£8 for four pieces), which are also known as steamed dumplings. There is choice of meat or vegetable fillings to select. We choice for the meat filling which was a mixture of beef & pork.

They were nicely presented with each dumpling served in an oriental looking spoon. You can pour some of the soy dipping sauce and eat straight from the spoon with no further plates needed!

We also tried the Sae-woo pops (£8.50). These are crispy fried round prawn cakes served on sticks and served with creamy gochujang mayo. Although I did not find any thing special about the sae-woo pops, each one was nicely fried and went well with the dipping sauce.

The one dish I had to try was Jinjuu’s signature Korean fried chicken (£9.50) which you can choose to have boneless chicken thighs, wings or a mixtures. I have seen Judy Joo on TV cooking programmes making her version Korean fried chicken, so it was interested to see how it taste.

Compared to other Korean fried chicken I have had so far, Jinjuu’s Korean fried chicken has a thick batter coating. It did reminded me slightly of the batter coating found on a battered fish and chips. The fried chicken comes served with two signature sauces – Red gochujang and Jinjuu black soy.

Korean food can not be with out Bibimbap (£11.50) and for those who is not familiar with Korean cuisine. Bibimbap is a traditional Korean rice dish that is served in a traditional stone bowl. The bowl is filled with white rice and topped with vegetables and topped with a fried egg, served with gochujan sauce.

At Jinjuu, for extra charge you can add kimchi, beef, chicken, pork belly, prawns and tofu.

Jinjuu offers a range homemade iced teas (£5 each) – Matcha & Manuka Honey, Korean Red Ginseng & Honey, Chamomile Flowers & Agave.

Overall it was a nice restaurant but would not be my choice for having a traditional Korean food which could be cheaper. This would be a place I go for a special occasion than my usual Korean fixture.

(Menu and prices correct at the time of dining)

Jinjuu (Soho)
15 Kingly Street,
London,
W1B 5PS

www.jinjuu.com

Casita Andina

Casita Andina is a Purvian picanterias in London Soho that serve dishes inspired by the Peruvian Andes. The place is small and one where the dishes are great for sharing.

We started off nibbling on avocado fritters (£3.50). There was some seasoning but it was slightly on the bland side. The texture reminded me of banana fritters.

It was then follow by the raw bar with Cobia Titradito (£9) – Farmed black king fish served with pineapple tiger’s milk and nori chilli dust.

From the hot kitchen we tried a variety of the dishes on the menu.

Tamal (£6.50) – pork in a corn dumpling with coriander, onions and tomatoes.

Aji de gallina (£9) – free range chicken served with amarillo chilli, botija olive and quail egg.

Maca Lamb lion (£14) – Annatto marinated lamb sirloin served with garlic uchucuta and spicy cancha powder

Rocoto Rayado (£12) – Skate wing, seco criollo, rocoto chill, queso fresco. It was not exactly what I expected which was minced fish. If you not in to a fishy dish then not one I would recommend to order.

We finished the meal with trying the full range of dessert on the menu.

Choco-sauci (£6.50) – Peruvian Alto El Sol chocolate ball, elderberry gel, chocolate crumble. This is a dessert for the chocolate lover. The rice krispy gives it a crunchy texture that worked well with all the other texture on the plate.

Mango chia & chicha pot (£5) – Mango, chia, purple corn granita. I was not too sure about the flavours which made it my least favourite dessert.

Strawberry and avocado (£5) – Avocado, strawberry, yacon, basil cress. I thought the combinations of all the different ingredients worked well together.

There are a range of drinks including Chicha Morada which is a Peruvian drink made from purple maize. There is also smoothies made up with some interesting ingredient. We tried some of these which had unique flavours and not was all to my taste buds.

Overall I thought the presentation of the food was good. Some dishes I thought was better than other dishes we tried. But each one the combinations of the different ingredients worked well together.

(Menu and prices correct at the time of dining)

Casita Andina
31 Great Windmill Street,
London,
W1D 7LP

http://www.andinalondon.com/casita

DOZO Soho

Dozo is a Japanese restaurant with two branches in London and one of these is located in Soho. The restaurant serves a range of sushi including morden sushi maki rolls that are known as Dozo rolls.

We tried the Tiger Maki (8 pieces) – tempura prawn, tobiko, cucumber, avocado & lettuce (£13.80).

My favourite is the Volcano Maki (8 p pieces) – eel, leeks, bonito flakes, eel sauce, avocado & mayonnaise (£15.80). Combination of all the different flavours with Japanese mayonnaise makes a sauce that is addicting.

As well as sushi the restaurant also offers a selection of noodle and rice. We tried their Curry Tori Don deep-fried chicken cutlet in breadcrumbs with Japanese curry sauce on rice (£8.80). I felt the curry sauce was on the watery side. Compared to the sushi the presentation of this dish was lacking.

Overall sushi was better than their non-sushi dishes and it will be the Dozo rolls that you will want to order when you visit.

Dozo Soho can be a popular place and I do advise that you make a reservation. We did turn up and managed to get a table for three people with no wait. However we only had the table for an hour and half.

Dozo Soho
32 Old Compton Street,
Soho,
London,
W1D 4TP,
UK

http://www.dozosushi.co.uk

Tombo Poké & Matcha Bar, Soho

Tombo opened a second store a few months ago in London Soho. The store has a much smaller menu than their original cafe in South Kesington. The Soho branch concentrate on serving Poké, their popular Matcha drinks and desserts. 

Poké are basically sushi bowl served in a contemporary way. Tombo offers it with black and white rice or courgette noodles. The courgette noodles is the lighter version which is nice alternative to a salad in the Summer weather.

There are a variety of hot and iced matcha drinks including teas, latte, matchiato, juices and milkshake. It is defintely a place for matcha lovers.

The most popular items on Tombo’s menu has to be their dessert. Their matcha soft serve ice cream comes in the choice of a cone, pot, sundae (£5.40), manaka (£3.90) and affogato (£6)

Tombo sundae comes with matcha soft serve, red bean paste, matcha brownie, rice crispy bottom and a waffle stick. The matcha soft serve  is less milky than places like Tsujiri and has a stronger green tea flavour. It is perfect for those who prefer less milky and stronger matcha flavour soft serve.

Although it is not as milky, the soft serve is still creamy and not watery base like the one I had at Kanada-Ya. The ice cream itself was not too sweet but I did find the matcha brownies very sweet.

Getting a soft serve does not come cheap, even on its own the price starts at £3.50. The sundae itself in the takeaway portion is even more expensive as it priced at £5.40. But the price is comparable to other places in London that serves matcha soft serve. It is defintely a luxary ice cream.

(Not Sponsored. Menu and prices correct at the time of visit)

Poké & Matcha Bar – Soho
28 D’Arblay Street,
W1F 8EW,
London,
UK

http://www.tombopoke.com

Tsujiri London – Matcha drinks and dessert

Tsujiri is a Japanese traditional tea brand which serves its matcha (green tea) tea in variety of desserts and drinks. It is originated in Japan and has branches in Singapore, Canada and now in UK.

Matcha ice cream seem to be getting popular in London, especially with the Oriental community. It is no surprise as it is an Asia flavour. There seem to be madness with any thing containing matcha.

The shop is small which is located in the Soho area of London. There are only a few seats which are usually filled during the busy hours. But when there is so many people it can get stuffy that you would rather just eat on the street or at a nearby park.

Tsujiri is popular for their soft serve ice cream which comes in two flavours, Matcha (£3.95) or Vanilla (£3.45) in either a cone or cup. You can also opt to add toppings for additional charge – Kinako (roasted soy beans powder), Red Bean, Kuromitsu (dark sugar syrup), Shiratama (mochi), Marron Glace (sugar syrup chestnut candied).

If you want some thing a bit more fancy than the Matcha Sundae is a good choice. There are three to choose, Crispy Sundae (£4.95), Shiratama Sundae (£5.45) and Chiffon Cake Sundae (£4.95).

The Chiffon Cake Sundae consist of corn flakes, a piece of green tea chiffon cake, red bean paste and of course matcha soft-serve ice cream.

If you are like me who some time want a drink but still want an ice cream than the float (Small £5.45/Medium £5.95) is a good option. There are six to choose, O-matcha float, Houjicha float, Yuzu float, O-matcha milk float, Houjicha milk float and Red bean float. All of them comes with a choice of vanilla or matcha ice cream. It is definitely a good choice to get cool in the warm weather.

There are also a variety of drinks including hot or cold ice tea and latte. For some thing to cool down in the warm weather but more on the icy side than the ice blended (Medium £3.95/Large £4.45) could be the one. Just like the float it comes in six different flavours. however if you want some thing a bit more tradition than there is O-matcha.

(Not Sponsored. Menu and prices correct at the time of visit)

Tsujiri London
47 Rupert Street,
London,
W1D 7PD

http://tsujiri-global.com