Mr Tanaka's — Restaurant in East Hertfordshire

I've just come out from paying for a lunch at Alley Katsu and feel a bit like I've been done over by Dick Turpin. While, of course, prices are on the menu, it wasn’t until I had to pay that I realised quite how much such little fare had cost. But it’s not just the price, it’s how limited the choices are in this tiny back-street cafe. And let’s be clear on this – it’s NOT a restaurant it’s a cafe; and barely that. It’s probably the smallest eating place I’ve been into in a long time. There is also very little choice – which is sort of okay for a one-off meal – I knew I wanted to try the katsu curry. But that is pretty much all there is to choose from. There are some specials on a board but also quite costly so that by the time you supplement your main meal, you can come out with a £50 bill if two of you are eating and have a few dumplings and a couple of side dishes. Which is fine if you’re eating in restaurant and it’s an evening, but for a quick lunch there was definitely that ‘ouch’ moment when I came to pay. The food was okay but not amazing especially since I’ve eaten the same dish in a number of well respected London Japanese restaurants and paid a similar price. Worst of all this place does not accept cards which I find outrageous considering they are not cheap. The least they can do is get set up with a card machine. To put this into some context, the chocolate shop next door manages to have one. So you can spend £3 on chocolates and pay on a card but £50 in Alley Katsu and have to hand over cash to them. As you can probably guess I wasn’t impressed by the whole experience and wont be...

I have eaten here 5 times - 4 times in the restaurant and I have had takeaway 1 time.

The food never fails to impress.

The chefs clearly know Japanese food - letting the ingredients speak for themselves and treating each individual part of the dish with respect.

When it is open as a restaurant then look for the specials - they seem to change each fortnight and they are beyond delicious and allows you to regular have new dishes to try

As a takeaway the quality of the food remains the same impeccable standard as you would receive in the restaurant. The service when collecting food was also faultless - food was ready for me to collect at the alloted time, quick payment, no items missing.

Alongside the delicious food they also have a range of authentic Japanese alcohol and soft drinks - all delicious in their own right and perfect along with the food.

Seriously, don't hesitate eating here - you will not regret it - stop reading this and eat the food from...

Ordered Mr Tanakas as it was advertised through GoGetters at 5.10pm delivery. I placed a large order of approximately £80.00. I had an update to suggest the delivery would be at 6.50 - 7.20pm even though i had ordered at 4.50pm, and it was advertised as delivery 5.10pm via GoGetters. I then had to waste 40 mins of my time trying to establish if this was an error by the system (wrong delivery time) or in fact actually the time even though they stated it would be alot earlier - all through live chat on my phone (how frustrating!). Guess what it was, it was the actual time of the delivery. If they can't deliver within a reasonable amount of time, why bother advertising your services on a delivery website. You have both earned yourselves 1* review for poor service. So frustrating spending 40 mins on live chat to find out this proper let down... Be...