Fumiko — Restaurant in London

On Sunday we had the pleasure of visiting Fumiko a new Japanese restaurant in my hometown of Hornchurch. The restaurant is located on the corner of Hornchurch high street and Abbs cross gardens. I’m now very pleased to say that we had a fantastic dining experience where the food , cocktails and service was excellent.

When we entered we received a nice welcome before being shown to our table. Once settled we then met manager Galina who along with her team looked after us throughout our lunch. We started by enjoying a fabulous cocktail. My wife had the Shogun Pepper Crush and for myself the Cherry Spice Negroni. The cocktails were very good and a great way to begin.

We were looking at the menu which has a wide range of appetisers , sushi rolls, sashimi , dumplings , platters , main courses and desserts. They also have a lunch menu of Bento Boxes. Galina then asked if we were happy for them to choose the dishes we were going to have. We delightfully said thank you that’s a nice gesture and gladly accepted. We started with a selection of three dishes from the Appetiser’s. They were the Nasu Dengaku , grilled aubergine with sesame paste , Chicken Gyoza and the Flamed Kissed Scallop. All the dishes were absolutely delicious and perfectly cooked.

This was followed by the Volcano Roll , shrimp , avocado , cucumber , chives , tobiko , dry chilli , unagi , volcano sauce and I have to say it was amazing. Then we were presented with the Sashimi Selection including salmon , tuna , yellowtail and sea bass. Before the main courses we enjoyed two more cocktails. The Yuzu Spritz and the Yoicha Old Fashion.

Now it was time for the main courses which started with the Pork Belly with green beans and korean hoisin sauce. Along with this came the Lamb Cutlets with spicy korean chilli sauce. These dishes were accompanied by sticky rice , noodles and kimchi.

After a little break and a nice conversation with Galina we moved onto dessert. Here we got to have a selection of my favourite Mochi Balls. The flavours were coconut , green tea , mango and vanilla. This was followed by a a selection of Sake for us to try as a digestif.

This brought to an end a fabulous afternoon at Fumiko a great new addition not only to Hornchurch but to Essex. The food is amazing , the cocktails are very good and the service led by Galina is very friendly which is everything you want from a local restaurant. I would highly recommend a visit and am looking forward to returning very soon myself. Thank You Galina , Mamun and all your team for a fantastic lunch and look forward to seeing you...

Possibly the worst meal I’ve ever had—like, truly a masterclass in how not to run a restaurant.

It started with some greasy appetisers, which took 2.5 hours to arrive. By the time they showed up, hunger had been replaced by sheer morbid curiosity. Then came another hour of waiting for mains that turned out to be, well… inedible.

The lamb? Cooked to the texture of a hockey puck. The black cod? More bones than fish—if I wanted that kind of challenge, I’d have signed up for an archaeological dig. Every bite was a test of skill and luck, like playing Operation but with my own throat on the line. Both came with a sauce so cold it had clearly just been defrosted—or maybe they were going for an avant-garde “refrigerated drizzle” vibe.

Cutting the lamb was an Olympic sport, so I asked for a steak knife (they do serve steak, after all). Turns out, they don’t have steak knives. Presumably, their steaks are softer than their lamb, which is saying something.

The bill? Wrong, obviously. And since no one seemed interested in bringing it over, I had to get up (again) to sort it out—because by then, we had spent nearly four hours in this place and eaten nothing of substance.

To their credit, they did acknowledge that the food and service were terrible, so we didn’t have to argue over the bill. Small wins.

Now, let’s talk about the facilities. The toilets had no working hand dryers and no tissues. What they did have was a single roll of blue industrial paper, which we had to ask for—at which point the staff just laughed and said, “Oh, those dryers haven’t worked for months.” Ah yes, hygiene and customer service, both firmly in the bin.

As for the atmosphere, there was live music. Somewhere. The speakers suggested the singer was upstairs, but from the sounds of it, a very distressed cat was being strangled up there. The high notes? Truly ear-splitting. Fawlty Towers would have been impressed. At least we had a laugh—just not the one we were hoping for when we booked.

In summary: Would not recommend (unless you’re conducting a study on patience, or masochism).

Other good reviews suggest this could have just been a bad night, but frankly, as bad nights go, this was like the Titanic’s maiden voyage—except instead of hitting an iceberg, we hit the...

Fine dining has arrived in Hornchurch! Not just a great meal, this was an experience, with CGI type cocktails, theatrical food presentation and fantastic service. If you haven't been already, you need to try this absolute gem.

The only minor thing I'd say is reconsider the grey painted walls and hold off on the strongly flavoured mayo served on the sushi.

Our whole evening was great. Ellie, our waitress was so welcoming, polite and knew what she was talking about. I'm a curious old so-and-so but Ellie was always on hand to advise, answer questions and ensure we were well looked after. We never felt rushed as well. Just brilliant!

Another waitress, Liri was also lovely, very welcoming and unpretentious. Nothing was ever a problem.

Now onto the food - beautiful flavours, presentation and execution. The sashimi was divine - perfect temperature, great quality and fresh. Just wish there was more of it on the platter. The sushi rice - nicely flavoured and ideal consistency. The sushi rolls were a great combination of fresh ingredients that complimented one another and definitely tantalised the taste buds.

A big thank you to the team for accommodating a food allergy as well.

My only feedback was a tad too much mayo on the sushi. For me, the strong but still tasty mayo combinations slightly overpowered the sushi itself. Removing it really allowed the food to pop. Just a personal preference, and a minor point.

The cocktails are a different level - a lychee martini and Japanese inspired Old Fashioned were sublime. The latter had a real wow factor when served, but I’ll stop there as I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Summing up, I would highly recommend a visit and will definitely return. A massive thanks and congrats to...