Abeno — Restaurant in London

Although the shop front is unassuming, Abeno has a welcoming, clean and cosy atmosphere where the staff greet you cheerfully upon entering. The staff are polite and helpful, happy to talk you through recommendations and explain the shop's specialties and the ordering process. Our server, Matthew, attended to us diligently and with a smile, patiently explaining the ingredients, ordering and cooking process; even allowing us to practice our meagre Japanese with him.

The menu is available in English or Japanese, via a QR code on the table. As a handy bonus, all the staff appear to be bilingual so there'll be no communication issues whether you're English or Japanese.

The menu is varied and authentic, offering many delicious variations of Okinomiyaki -(this was the first Okinomiyaki specialty restaurant established anywhere in Europe, I'm told)- along with many other classics of Japanese fare. We ordered the chicken Karaage, a beautifully elevated version of this classic izakaya staple featuring a yuzu pepper seasoning (which I regret not asking for the recipe of) along with the tempura which was light, crisp and airy, not heavy at all, and the dipping sauce it came with was savoury and complimentary.

For our mains, of course, we had Okinomiyaki. One Osaka and one Tokyo flavour- these were both delightful and well made, and having them be cooked on the grill in front of you is a joy, bringing an authentic yet deeply personal feel to the meal. It is definitely worth a try if you've never had it- Abeno's ingredients are all organic and it definitely feels much more like something I could eat every day than the usual high-sodium japanglish food available in most London eateries. They make truly beautiful food here!

Speaking of beautiful food, don't skip out on the pudding. Gorgeous sundaes, hotcakes and even more traditional Japanese desserts like red bean anmitsu await you- extremely rare for this type of specialty restaurant! Some desserts available include homemade mochi (I had the anmitsu with this in and I can honestly say I was genuinely upset to finish eating it) and house-made matcha ice cream- almost everything here is organic and made from scratch & in house.

All in all this is now one of my favourite restaurants, and made all the more special by Matthew and the other wonderful staff who were knowledgeable, attentive and cheerfully diligent with caring for us, even without a reservation.

Thanks a lot everyone & we'll see...

quick premise: this is not a typical japanese restaurant, you won't find sushi or many other staples. this is one of those places where they specialize in doing only one thing and doing it extremely well (although they do have some other things on the menu). in this case, the one thing is okonomiyaki, a pancake/omelette made with a number of fillings and ingredients mixed with cabbage, scallion, egg and flour and cooked on a hot plate on your table right before your very eyes. the food is excellent, i had an okonomiyaki with natto and konjac, and another with a mix including konjac, lotus root, pork and beef (the latter was tender and juicy). do not underestimate the size of each okonomiyaki: a super deluxe alone is enough to fill a regular belly to the brim! they also had umeboshi onigiri which i was very happy to peruse as i absolutely love umeboshi. i tried the dried fish flakes and didn't mind them, and i generally utterly detest fish so this is a memorable occurence. service: if i could exceed the 5 star rating i would, absolutely on the top 3 of best services i ever had in a place (probably only on par with an anonymous and empty pizza restaurant in georgia, usa). joel was both our server and our chef as he cooked our okonomiyaki all the while discussing their origin (they're a typical dish from the kansai region) and making pleasant conversation. the rest of the staff has been extremely pleasant as well. also of note a great consideration for allergies and preferences, joel asked us beforehand if it was all right to use the same instrument set for all the okonomiyaki (it was fine in our case but we appreciated the gesture a lot). it's unfortunately a bit on the expensive side but all in all we still think the quality of it all was worth the price. bottom line: absolutely consider visiting, try to reserve in advance if you can as the place is a bit small and quite popular at the same time. we'll definitely return on one of our coming...

Visited as a solo diner on a weekday afternoon. The staff were polite and friendly. I was offered hand sanitiser as I arrived and was seated quickly. Since it was my first time eating okonomiyaki, the server gave an informative explanation of what okonomiyaki is and how it's cooked. I ordered the Osaka okonomiyaki and a glass of plum wine soda. It was interesting to see it prepared in front of my own eyes and the end result was delicious - a flavourful and rich pancake with a wonderful mix of flavours. The quality of food was unquestionably high.

What really let the meal down was the value for money. As a solo diner, I paid just under £30 (after the 12.5% gratuity) for a meal and one drink that still left me feeling hungry. While they do offer a larger size, the already high prices deterred me from ordering it. Additionally, the way the gratuity (12.5%) was snuck in on the bill without me seeing the menu itself was downright dishonest. Since first posting, I have reviewed the PDF menu on Abeno's website, and the gratuity is buried 3/4 down a page of blurb. Disappointing that yet another restaurant would taint the diner's experience by requiring them to be on their guard instead of enjoying a relaxing experience. This is a tradition imported from America that needs to die. If a restaurant needs higher prices to be sustainable for the business and its staff, just raise the prices and be honest about it. Don't mislead customers with a hidden 'gratuity' and then leave diners feeling awkward when they realise the meal was even less value for money than first advertised.

All in all, I left with an appreciation for okonomiyaki as a dish, but with no desire to return to Abeno as a restaurant itself. The value for money simply wasn't there.

Review edited following...