AUN — Restaurant in London

As a former chef, it is always a gamble to eat at this price point. The cost of the meal gives you some basic expectations about what level of skill a restaurant will be demonstrating. My dinner at Aun last night fell short in several ways.

Wagyu Croquette- covered in so much demiglaze I could not taste the croquette, nor did have any indication if Wagyu was used at all.

Dengaku Nasu - I make this at home because its really easy, but they did a great job on this and took it to the next level: smokey with a very complex red miso. However, the flavours were too similar to the previous demiglaze course (strong tangy, sweet) so it didn't stand out.

Salmon nigiri - superb, excellent cut and flavours

Grilled duck - the duck was cooked ok but the flavours were not inspiring at all. The ‘ankake’ sauce fell into a similar flavour profile of the first 2 courses, tangy /sweet, and there wasn't much else in the dish to contrast the slices of duck. It was hard work getting through this.

Matcha soba + tempura - This was by far the worst course. Bad presentation and it was submerged in a very strong spicy tahini sauce that took over every other flavour. The tempura was oily and heavy. What is the point of using ‘matcha’ soba when you cover it up with spicy tahini sauce? I could have eaten thin rubber tubes and I would not have known the difference with such a strong sauce - a one dimensional course.

In general the quality was not up to par at this price point. The flavour sequence from course to course felt like a continuation of a similar thing rather than taking me on a journey. The attempt at the end to “spice” things up was a failure. Also the staff never even asked what we thought about the food, with a business as usual vibe in a beautifully designed restaurant.

Final detail, can you please provide a holder for the chopsticks? Placing the chopsticks on the table or on your napkin after each course is messy.

I think there is a lot of potential so I may visit again after the...

I have had my eye on this cute little restaurant for a few years since walking past during Covid (when I had the joys of weekly testing to attend medical school and IT work) and I am soooo glad I’ve finally been able to visit with my friend. So much so that we enjoyed the food and forgot to take photos of all the dishes for you to feast your eyes on! I remember during lockdown they still had take away service at lunch time and I managed to get some chicken bites or wings which were so yummy, despite my butter fingers dropping them on my kitchen floor we saved and savoured them 😅

If you are up by Clissold Park, definitely worth a visit. Though it is higher end of the price range for the area, it works out at just under £10 for each course (£48 for the set menus, which people can see on their window before they walk in so the low reviews about the menu I think is really down to the person not looking at the menu or thinking before they walk in and sat down) and we’re paying for their expertise in blending the flavours and cooking, attention to detail as well as the service. It came to £50-60 each because we had wine and dessert with the meal.

I love it for their menu simplicity where you choose a set menu (we went for the Tuna and Iberica), the dishes were arousing for the eyes and tastebuds. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and was content without being overfed.

Staff were fast, friendly and attentive.

Please keep up...

Cosy, authentic, cute, Tasty little dishes. Very friendly staff and some lovely Japanese touches. I was a bit dubious about Japanese tapas given that most plates are discrete already though this didnt disappoint. For me the best dishes were the cheaper ones, where simplicity of flavours won over dishes that were unusual but perhaps a little elusive. The winner was the spicy salmon tempura followed by the spicy salmon dasha - where you pour the broth over the salmon and rice. The best dishes matched the style of the place - cosy, simple textures that are reminiscent of sunday roasts in the UK. Most dishes were between £6 and £11. We had 3 each, so 6 in total and had 3 beers and 1 glass of prosecco. Total bill was £75 so for me about right for the quality of food and service. We booked the night before and without asking got a table at the window and a hand written calligraphed reserved sign... only downsides for me were the tofu dish which was instantly forgettable and the micro toilet which was only just big enough to turn around in. Otherwise cant...