Charco Charco Yakiniku — Restaurant in London

Fake Japanese restaurant!!! If you know what “Yaliniku” really means and really is, this is not the place for you! It’s all Northern Chinese way of cooking but presented in a Japanese way! This is not an angry review, I’m just sharing the facts:

Environment - overall good and the tables are spacious and nice. The built in Grill is quite nice and very few restaurants would actually use real charcoals, even in Japan. However, this didn’t add any points to this restaurant as they completely messed up the meat!

Service - Quite attentive, but the staff got disorganized even during low velocity. I was there past noon peak but had to wait at the door for about 10 mins to be let in. I highly doubt the hygiene of this place as I saw their staff went out to smoke as a group during their break. Your meat or Sushi could be sliced or made from their unwashed hands! How filthy!

The food (BBQ Meat only) - Meat wasn’t fresh enough as you can tell from its colour. The worst part was that ALL meat was heavily seasoned! It’s the northern Chinese style as you see garlic and cumin seeds on the meant coated with just oil, and the chicken is also overly seasoned! The problem is, this kind of method is not supposed to be used to cook in direct fire, my meat and chicken burnt quickly, and the heavy seasoning covers the unique flavor that is cooked from charcoal. So what’s the point of using charcoal to cook all these salty and soggy meat?! The only way I see it would work is if you only ordered their Wagu which is of course overly priced!

The dipping sauce - 3 Kinds of sauce served in one long plate, only one was normally used for Yakiniku, the other two I just never had them in my life - Wasabi Sauce and Korean Kimchi sauce? Excuse me?!

I can’t believe this place has an overall 4 star rating. I just wanted to share my experience with those Yakiniku lovers and hope you know what you are getting into if you really fancy that sizzling charcoal grilling meat! Defiantly not here and I DO NOT Recommend! This is a 100% Chinese place and is not even close to what it says as a Japanese restaurant. Save your money for something...

I always knew there was a Japanese BBQ joint near my office. Every time I walked by, it looked pretty good. Finally got the chance to try it with some friends recently. Here's what we had and how it went: Aussie Premium Beef Ribs: tender and juicy, cooked just right. My friend was very satisfied. There was also Thinly Sliced Ox Tongue—-really thin slices, “melt-in-your-mouth” tender and tasted like it had been marinated, and with their sauces, even better. We then ordered Spicy Pork Belly, and it’s juicy and flavourful, with just the right amount of spice. Perfect for anyone who loves a bit of heat. Also to mention their vegetable platter. I love grilled veggies, especially Mediterranean-style ones. Theirs platter felt fresh, especially the king trumpet mushrooms, which I mistook for tofu at first. It’s light and tasty, great with the BBQ. We also ordered Shoyu Chicken which is flavourful and juicy with crispy skin, and that special sauce they use (teriyaki?) is good. We have also tried Urchin Cake. I'm a fan of sea urchin, and this cake was rich and creamy, with a nice mix of sea urchin's freshness and the cake's sweetness. I also really like Sashimi Platter, because of its thick slices, I especially loved the fatty tuna. Also I want to mention Amaebi Sweet Prawn which is fresh and sweet, I think it's even better without the wasabi. Urchin Fried Rice, well, personally, I really liked this, it's their specialty. I have to say it’s not the prettiest dish, but it's got that lovely fried sea urchin flavour. We also ordered Soft Shell Crab Salad Roll, a delicate little dish, balanced mix of meat and veggies, I think it is a good appetiser. And they have a Lychee Yakult drink that's definitely worth a try! Overall, in my opinion, Charco Charco is a restaurant that...

I visited this place just before Christmas, and I regretted it as soon as I stepped in. But I made a reservation so I didn't want to seem impolite. Please DO NOT BELIEVE in all the ads on Instagram and the influencers. They clearly put a lot of money in marketing but not in the operation of the restaurant.

This is a Chinese-style Japanese restaurant - not a huge issue as some people do it well. That is not the case here. First thing I spotted was a member of staff wearing his mask on his chin during a PANDEMIC. Luckily he didn't serve us otherwise I would be horrified.

The staff were not presentable and professional at all (except for the manager), they walked like zombies. When we were deciding what to order, I saw the sushi chef and 2 more staff from the kitchen went out together to have a cigarette at the front door. Really? Is that what you want your customers to see?

After these horrific scenes, I decided not to go overboard. I order a couple of bentos which I considered to be a safe choice. The sea urchin fried rice was fishy and the sea urchin had a weird texture like tofu, it was probably fake... Unagi don was mediocre. Wagyu bento was probably the good one but it was covered in cumin and spices which is clearly a Northern Chinese style of cooking.

The manager realised we weren't happy with our food so I told him my honest opinion. He was very apologetic and offered us free drinks to compensate. I can tell he's trying very hard but I am afraid he got a lot...