Konnichiwa Japanese Cuisine — Restaurant in London

Low quality food at higher prices than other nearby restaurants.

I'm pretty mystified by the rave reviews of this place. I came here on a weekend lunchtime. We were the first guests to arrive, but no others came in after us despite us being there for over an hour. That would imply that they did 2 covers of dine-ins across an entire weekend day lunch service, which is really crazy.

My experience was that the food was of low quality, not fresh, with ingredients that were often stale, and that it was a little on the pricey side (and really poor value for money considering the quality).

A few specifics:

All of the vegetables on all of the dishes were either frozen, unripe, or stale. Tomatoes were tasteless, almost bitter. Broccoli hot in places but still very cold in others and barely cooked. Carrots desiccated on the surface, same with radishes. All terrible signs of low turnover, indifference to quality, cost-cutting, poor storage, poor cooking.

Chicken wings had a nice peppery flavour but barely cooked, cold in places, no crispiness whatsoever, and quite obviously not fresh off a hot grill. That's really poor. I specifically asked if they were freshly cooked and was told that they were "homemade". I assumed at the time that that was their way of giving a truthful answer without telling me they weren't fresh (obviously my mistake for ordering them regardless), and I assume that was the case given how they came out.

Miso soup was utterly tasteless. This is inexcusable as good packet miso soup correctly diluted has a strong flavour. Either cost cutting or incompetence.

Salmon teriyaki bento was a generous portion of rice with a pretty small portion of fish. No maillard on the fish, swimming in a generic, sticky, teriyaki sauce. Accompaniments were onion and cucumber pickle (neither Japanese), some low grade vegetables, and a lousy tamago. Very unimpressed.

Ordered the mutton curry because the waiter told me the family running the restaurant were Nepalese. Mutton curry was fine, shame to see it bulked out with potato given the high price (£17), and the meat was very small pieces which were moderately tender but also a bit dry. You can get something better and at half the price in any of the restaurants around Turnpike Lane.

Bill came to £48 for 1 starter and 2 mains (no drinks), including a cheeky 10% service charge. That's way too much given the low quality of the food. At £32 I would have felt that the food wasn't good, but that it was harmless at the price point. At £48 I find it offensive enough to write an irritated review.

Service was fine, although

1. it's a little unprofessional for one of the waiters/owners to be working on their computer in the dining area,
2. I don't like that when asked for recommendations I was pointed to 3 of the most expensive dishes on the menu,
3. when I asked whether the wings were freshly made, I should have been given a...

Very sad to post a bad review. I was very excited to eat here because the reviews made it seem promising. Little did I know of how bad the experience was truly going to be…

When we entered, we opened the door to a very sad, old, and decaying interior. We payed little attention to this however, as we don’t judge a book by its cover. The thing we did pay attention to though, was the dirty table that was just left there even though there were only 2 customers in the entire restaurant. This table was left dirty all the way to the point we left, with the staff standing and doing nothing.

Anyway, when we asked for water, the water arrived with white particles floating around in the water, dirty, and the man who brought it left some white greasy stain with his finger prints on the outside. Turns out this was nothing compared to the abomination we were served.

I ordered salmon and avocado uramaki. The sushi rice was completely unseasoned- not a hint of rice wine vinegar, salt, or sushi seasoning. This lead to the sushi having absolutely no structure. It fell apart instantaneously once touched. The flavour was severely under-whelming. We ate it however, and did not complain.

The next giant let down was the salmon sashimi. We waited for 25 minutes whilst the restaurant was completely empty, with no salmon sashimi in sight. That’s when we went and asked them about it- to which they said it’s defrosting. They didn’t even think to let us know it will take a while, or that they’re out (which would have been fine) after almost 30 minutes, it finally arrived. The quality was shocking. We sent it back as we had to go, and when we got the bill, there was no formal apology for the wait, which would have completely avoided the review. As I don’t like leaving bad reviews. But clearly this place is filled with fake good reviews that make it look great. That’s why I need to let you all know, DO...

Disclaimer: I spent less time photographing the incredible food and more time enjoying it!

In this picture there's sushi (eel, prawn) alongside edemame beans and a delicious mango mojito drink, plus the a look of envy :-)

Outside of the frame there's cucumber Maki, a firm favourite with the kids.

My wife and I ordered the Nepalese options from the menu: pork Momos as a starter and Himalayan mutton curry for our main. Momos are delicious - just how I remember them during my visit to Nepal back in 1998, when I learned how to make them with a chef at the hotel where I stayed in Patan, Kathmandu.

Even though that was a long time ago, I remember how much I loved the Nepalese cuisine. Sadly, I've not experienced much like it in the UK ever since. So, after having found a Nepalese-run restaurant in Hornsey just recently, serving both Japanese and traditional Nepalese dishes, I can't emphasise how much of a hidden gem Konnichiwa really is.

We are also blessed thanks to its close proximity to both our kids' schools. It makes for the perfect treat at the end of a long week.

My suggestion, if Konnichiwa would be open to it, would be to expand the Nepalese options on the menu. Japanese is a long-established and popular food both here and globally, but Nepalese cuisine would open the doors to an entirely new world of discovery for many, arguably something that we could do with more of.

Namaste to all the...