Yakimono Robata Restaurant — Restaurant in Epping Forest

It's a shame I'm writing a bad review as the food in this place is gorgoeus, but unfortunately I will not be returning. I gave this place a low review when they first opened and went back to give it another go a had a lovely meal numerous times. Service has always been hit and miss but tonight was appauling. My partner booked a table online for 8.30. He had a call around 8 to say come now as last orders are at 9pm. He explained I hadent finished work yet and we would be there at 8.30. God knows why it was going to take us 30 minutes to order our food. Well. We arrived at 8.25, we sat for 20 minutes with closed menus before somebody asked us if we wanted a drink. To which the young man came over with a pad and didn't say "hi there can I get you a drink". No words, no eye contact, just silence. I gave my full order whilst the man continuously snorted the snot up his nose. Again he left the table with no words. Waited 10 minutes for a large bottle of water and 2 glasses. When the food arrived, I asked the young girl serving for some cutlery and she disappeared and never came back with any. So whilst we waited 5 minutes my partner went up himself and helped himself behind the counter to cutlery. By then our food wasn't hot anymore. Nobody serving in this restaurant this evening wanted to make any eye contact with you nor did they want to say any please or thank you's at the very least. I wanted to leave before we'd even ordered the atmosphere was appalling and the staff need a real lesson on customer service. Shame as I've always loved the food but unfortunately will not...

It's the first day of a new month, which gave myself and a colleague the thirst for some tasty east-Asian cuisine. Luckily, we stumbled upon a cute, dainty Japanese establishment that welcomed us with open arms.

We had to navigate through a narrow room to find our table, which was surrounded by some beautiful artwork, really giving this place an authentic feel. After a quick browse of the menu, I opted for the 'Lunch Set' which came with a star-studded line-up. Some miso soup and chicken gyoza to start, finished off with a chicken katsu curry, all for £16!

The soup was almost like a hug from your long lost nan. Cosy, comforting, delicious. The shitake mushrooms took this to another level. The chicken gyoza was delicate and crispy, quite obviously pan-fired and then steamed, the only way gyoza should be cooked (these guys clearly know what they're doing). Then the main event came out. Crispy chicken was laid upon a soft pillow of sticky rice, next to that was a katsu sauce overflowing with flavour. The sauce had a harmonious blend of savoury, sweet and tangy flavours, a true work of art by the chef. There was a party in my mouth and the Japanese were invited!

This place has stolen my heart with its classy, authentic feel and its show-stopping food, I couldn't recommend it more. Wasn't too impressed with a £6.50 pint of...

Went in for an impromptu lunch on a Saturday afternoon as a party of 3 including an infant. Was seated immediately by a rather timid server. We weren’t offered any baby chair so I parked up our small pram and spent the rest of our experience juggling them on my lap (not great but fine). We ordered some robata options as well as the tempura prawns and the lunch option of the bao buns. The robata we ordered consisted of the chicken thigh and the wings. Both were absolutely delicious! If I had to be a bit picky I would have liked the wings with a little more char on them but they were delightful. Each had about 3 portions (cubes or wings) on a skewer. The tempura prawns was again amazing. The batter was light, airy and not greasy and I could have happily ordered another portion as we were unfortunately sharing. My companion had the bao buns on the lunch option which was 3 varieties. I did partake in a bite of chicken katsu which was nice enough but the chicken was not up to the same standard as the robata. I would recommend this place in a heart beat and unlike the bustle of Epping high street is a nice and serene little place with narrow seating but a simple atmosphere and more importantly tasty food at a...