Chisou

I am slowly being convinced that there are some pretty decent Japanese spots in London. Its not Tokyo, and its not New York (ok, besides Umu, the best Japanese restaurant ever)…but I really like Chisou. It is traditional, unforced, a solid menu, everything is fresh, and you can order the real Japanese stuff and they actually have it (applause!) and it is really tasty. I am always so disappointed to arrive in a Japanese restaurant all excited and the only thing that is good are the tuna rolls. It is irritating.

The only Chisou issue is that they do make the sashimi slices extremely thick, but that is like all of the Japanese places in London. I find this so strange! Nevertheless, I really cannot find much fault with Chisou in any way besides this. It is a sweet little spot.

To start, I ordered the Ankimo Ponzu (monkfish liver) which was served with a light dressing of yuzu, rice wine vinegar, and spring onions. It was not the best Ankimo I have eaten, but to be able to actually order the stuff, and its taste is pretty good, makes me happy enough. It is rare to find this dish in London, and honestly in a lot of good places anywhere, so I really appreciate it when I see it on a menu. It had a slight fishiness to it, just a little hint, but it was actually very good and perfectly satisfying.

I also had the Hiziki, which is a type of cooked dark green seaweed normally prepared with dark sticky soy sauce, mirin, and sake and sometimes with carrot and fried tofu to sweeten it up. This was a much cleaner version. But it is always prepared pretty much the same, as it is very traditional, and their Hiziki was perfectly fine. It was a really nice combo with the Ankimo in fact.

Then came the Salmon Yukke, which is basically a very fine tartare. This was really outstanding. The salmon was simply beautiful. Served with a quail egg yoke to mix in with some miso, nori, spring onions, and with a slight hint of sesame oil. Truly decadent. I cold eat that stuff all day long.

The sashimi came next, which was simply a large portion of blue fin tuna. I ordered some Ikura sashimi (salmon eggs) to go along with it, which is my very good habit. It was served to thickly sliced, again, but extremely fresh and with lots of shiso leaves and grated radish. Very satisfying.

I also ordered my ultimate favorite- Uni sushi (sea urchin) which was the usual “sublime explosion in your mouth” experience and very much appreciated. If you are an Uni eater, you will understand this proclamation, but beware once you try it you are hooked, which is not a bad thing. It was perfectly fresh and very simple, as you want it to be. In my book, if the Uni is good and the Ankimo is even on the menu, you get extra points no matter what. Also, in general, the sushi and sashimi selection was excellent and I would love to go back and just eat the pure raw fish next time. The salad menu looks great, as are the chef’s specials, so there is a lot to pick from. Everything I ordered on this particular visit was really very very good.

Lastly we had the yellowtail cheek and collar. This is a very typical Japanese dish and it is always so strange to me how westerners just don’t get how incredible this is. The cheeks of fish are incredibly soft from a lifetime of wiggling back and forth. You can imagine the tenderizing. So the flesh is very soft and sweet, and when grilled it has this contrast in flavor that is really spectacular, bringing out it’s sweetness. You don’t even need salt, lemon, nothing. They eat a lot of fish cheeks in Iceland in fact, but of a different breed of course and it much more meaty. Anyhow, there is something about a grilled yellowtail cheek that is just overwhelmingly awesome. It is quite large as well, as yellowtail are very big, so it is a lot of flesh, not your thimble sized sea bass quantity by any means. Also, the simpleness is key here, and Chisou sticks to this tradition on all levels.

This place is really nice. It’s got everything you want if you find yourself a bit of a Japanese afficionado, but just don’t expect a scene or anything creative. It’s focused, fresh, and elegant. This is like the go to sushi spot for a Japanese craving that wont break your wallet like Defune and Umu, and can be very casual for a business lunch or a quiet dinner with a good friend.