Tampopo Fitzrovia — Restaurant in London

Came here on a Thursday evening with a reservation for two, greeted and shown to a booth table as soon as we walked in. We started with a friendly female server who asked if we’d been before and when we said this was our first time she took us through what the menu means (grey box means popular items, allergens QR code at the bottom, curry and wok dishes need rice or noodles ordered with it and drinks on the back), which was helpful.

By the time it came to taking our order we were served by Lorenzo instead, who gave me recommendations when I asked, drinks came quickly. Starters came with the main which I thought was not ideal because there was no break/breather between the sharing platter and our mains with sides and I ended up eating my mains at the same time as the starter so it wouldn’t go cold before I was ready. The food was hot and tasty, the pork belly in the sharing platter was marvellous crispy skin and meat was melt-in-the-mouth, the kimchi cucumber salad was fresh and flavourful; the Singapore laksa noodle soup was spicy but not too much so still plenty of flavour (might have been better if the lime was already squeezed in as it gets messy once it’s soaked in the spicy coconutty soup).

We did have to ask for the menu back for dessert rather than offered and it did take a long time to arrive (30 mins for a waffle and a few scoops of sorbet), and from the smaller selection of desserts relative to savoury dishes the main menu seems to be their focus (which is done very well!). Mango sorbet tasted like real mango and was smooth and sweet.

Asked for the bill which was promptly provided and when I asked if they do student discount I was pleased to hear they did and the new receipt showed a 20% discount! Also given a card after paying with the waiter’s name requesting a review, I had planned on doing one anyway but this gave me the prompt and a name to our waiter.

Definitely would return here again, I love the broad selection of dishes they have from different cuisines (Japanese, Singaporean, Thai, Indonesian…) and how tasty they were as well as the interesting offering of homemade...

Appalling service, good food, ultimately not worth going to again.

As a group of three we had booked for pre theatre - there was no need to book. This is a very casual place with happy hour.

Most tables were empty, and yet we waited 45 minutes to have our drink order taken at 6 pm. There were about 6 staff milling about drying dishes, but nobody seemed to be waiting table (or at least doing so effectively). Very poor management.

When a staff member did come to our table there was hardly enough time to ask questions or take an order, they were in such a hurry, despite the restaurant being mostly empty.

We finally placed our food order and food eventually came out which was very nice indeed. They ‘were out’ of the Sichuan pork belly, but the Bali pork belly was delicious. My pad Thai was delicious, and my husband’s steak was perfectly cooked.

The starter came out after the main, after some questions about it. My kid’s food never came out, so I started to hang out by the kitchen area. The one person in the restaurant who seemed to care (the manager?) noticed and asked what was wrong. He then informed me that the ramen ‘wasn’t available’ and seemed surprised that none of the several waitstaff has told us.

He worked quickly to get a new order (keep in mind that we were almost finished with our food) and delivered it straight away, along with two free cocktails. He was so nice, I just felt bad that he was literally running the place on his own!

The icing on the cake was that two friends of the waitstaff were sat behind us and got THE most attentive service from all the waitstaff - whilst we were struggling to get drinks and food, or even get the waiter’s attention, they were being brought bottles of fizz and snacks.

Overall, no way would we go back, given how many decent places there are in this area. But I do appreciate the work the manager was doing in trying to make up for his completely useless team....

Staff we welcoming, friendly and informative - happy to chat to customers about the menu and to consider dietary requirements.

The venue is aesthetically fun, stylish and relaxed, comfortable lighting and the chairs weren't the uncomfortable type.

There was mid-volume music on, creating a nice atmosphere, I arrived early so wasn't talking but the volume was perfect for other tables to talk easily and for me to enjoy the music. Poppy RnB type bangers.

The food was good, I ordered an iced Vietnamese coffee which took a while but I was advised this when I ordered so didn't mind at all. It was very sweet and pretty strong (I'm a bit of a decaff girl these days so that'll be me jogging off the energy for the next hour or so)

I had two small plates and a side, rather than opting for something from the brunch menu - which sounded delicious and I'll try if and when I come back.

The pork gyoza were nice - I wouldn't say they were exhilarating, but they tasted good. Portion size was decent for around £8 in central London. The sweetcorn fritters were tasty, I would probably order them again. The only thing I would have liked with them would be maybe a spicy/sweet dip like a gochujang or a spicy Thai chilli jam.

The side of cucumber kimchi salad was a good size and tasty.

Overall I've given the food a good, but not amazing, score - because it was definitely tasty, but I was hoping for bigger flavours, maybe more of a kick of spice or sweet or umami.

I would come back and try some of the brunch items, and some of the large plate items though as they sound nice - I would recommend coming here, don't be discouraged that I didn't give the food a 5/5, it's a nice spot and...