Ichibuns
Japanese
22 Wardour St, W1D 6QQ
££
I first heard of Ichibuns through onehungryasian's Instagram post of their Sashimi Udon, and vowed that I would pay them a visit soon and have that very dish. However, as it so often happens, time went by far too quickly and before I knew it the overwhelming heat of July had transformed into the blistering breeze of November. We visited Ichibun's following The Vinyl Factory's new exhibition at Store X: an incredible venue, with 0 central heating. By the time we had finished the exhibition (over 2 hours) we were starving and cold - which made the concept of a big bowl of Udon and a Burger all the more inviting.
Upon entering, we were blown with hot air and a stench of glorious things to come. We took a counter window seat, facing out into Chinatown, which was fun and airy, given the rest of the downstairs floor is pretty dark and kind of cramped (in a trendy way of course...) The kitchen is open, meaning you can watch your food being prepared, and the service is friendly and attentive, despite the joint being pretty busy for a Sunday at 4pm. The restaurant itself is decorated with various Japanese cartoon memorabilia and is an explosion of colour and graphics, a stand out contrast to many of the bare, whitewashed, table-clothed joints surrounding. Upstairs you have more decor, with plants and interesting lights setting the scene, as well as a large table with pillows instead of chairs and the most marvellous toilets I've ever seen (see photo below for various functions).
Once Tom had finally returned from a very entertaining stint on the bog, we ordered the Chicken Karaage (£6) and some Prawn Gyoza (£6) to start. The Chicken was perfectly crispy, containing just the right amount of breadcrumbs, which gave way to a juicy and succulent thigh bursting with flavour. The breadcrumbs themselves were composed of reds, greens, browns and blacks, showing that thought and spice had gone into the seasoning. The Gyoza were also tasty, with great flavours bursting from the filling although I felt could have been slightly more crisp and they could have had more solid bits of prawn within the parcel.
We followed these orders with The Ichibun Burger (£12.50) and Wagyu beef Udon (£14.50). Japan is often famed for its Wagyu beef, but admittedly we didn't really know what made it so special, so asked the waitress who explained it is a cut from a special Japanese cow, which has a more marbled effect and has been massaged (I assume the meat, not the cow). My Udon came with a suprisingly cold and undercooked poached egg, which I ended up pushing to the bottom in an effort to get rid of the slimy egg white and cook it a bit more (it ended up just breaking apart and I lost it). The broth and thinly cut beef tasted more like a rich casserole than anything else, and I was slightly disappointed with my choice. Tom's burger, on the other hand was very good and came with a generous helping of sweet potato fries (+£0.5) which often save the day.
Ichibuns is a fun and quirky place to get some quality Japanese food in the centre of Chinatown. Stick to the beef in your burgers and potentially try their sushi and sashimi for a more thrilling experience, but the tasty starters make it well worth a visit.
OVERALL RATING: ****
http://ichibuns.com/
