Food: Jin Kichi, Heath Street, Hampstead, London, 26th June 2007

Emily was visiting from Paris and so we went to this popular Hampstead Japanese for dinner. In attendance were Jessie, Jess Bramhall, Amanda, Linda, Emily and myself (yes, I did feel privileged to be the only man there).

Food

Sashimi set, Miso Soup (Jess Bramhall)

Grilled Skewer Set A [grilled skewers of: fresh asparagus and pork rolls, shiso-leaf and pork roll with teryaki sauce, chicken and onion with yakitori sauce (x2), chicken meatballs with yakitori sauce, prawn, asparagus with special sauce (this replaced shitake mushroom)] (Jessie and Linda)

Some sort of noodle dish (Amanda)

Assortment of sushi, duck and spring onion skewer (Emily)

Prawn skewer, duck and spring onion skewer (x2), gyoza (grilled pork dumplings) (Me)

Drinks 

Plum Wine (Jessie, Linda, Jess Bramhall)

Beer (Emily, Me)

Water (Amanda)

Total Cost: £102

All in all this was a good meal food wise. Jin Kichi is well known for its skewers (my dad thought that it was hilarious that we went out for “Japanese Kebabs”) and so we ordered quite a few. We took a long time ordering because we were chatting a lot and started off waiting for Emily (we gave up on that when she called to say that the Picadilly line was closed, she was coming from Baron’s Court). In addition, the grilled skewers take a long time to arrive so I would advise anyone who is interested in having these and is hungry (as we all were!) to order quickly. Since we were so hungry, we tended not to share- we just ate what was put in front of us with great gusto- and so I can’t give a detailed breakdown of all the dishes but only my impressions! Of my own dishes, the gyoza (s?) were really tasty; they were garlicky and had sweet spring onion inside and were also quite spicy which was a really nice combination. I have them almost every time I go to a Japanese restaurant and these were the best that I have had. The skewer was also very tasty, a nice combination with an interesting, slightly sweet sauce on it. My grilled prawn was a little dull but very large and cooked pretty well.

Jessie and Linda’s selection of skewers went down very well. I think that they were both very pleased with everything that they got (notwhithstanding the fact that they were very hungry when it arrived). In retrospect I wish I had tried some of their pork skewers (no surprise there!) but que sera, sera. Jess B really enjoyed her sashimi which was beautifully prepared and Emily enjoyed all of her sushi. She has only been eating it for a little while and mainly in lunch style boxes I think so I should have got her thoughts on it! Also I have no idea what Amanda thought of her soup- she was very quiet on the matter: leave some comments guys!

Apart from the wait, the only issue was the price. It was a tad more expensive that I would be happy to pay for regularly. I probably felt like this for two reasons: 1. the portions were not very large (though the food was largely very good) and 2. Asa Kusa is so much cheaper (albeit in “cheaper” surroundings). I think that we have been somewhat spoilt by finding Asa Kusa as it is ridiculously cheap (I’ll have to write it up so everyone knows about it!). This wasn’t an expensive place really, but probably not a regular haunt, just somewhere to go when you get a craving for skewers and dumplings!