New restaurants are ten a penny in East London and as fast as they come, they go, because let’s face it, not all of them are much cop. The latest new opening on Kingsland High Street (that’s High Street NOT Road) in the heart of Dalston is inspired by yakitori joints across Tokyo, and whilst the decor is simple it’s pretty bloody cool.
The menu is set out simply too. There’s a small plates section, which might be small in size but are certainly not in flavour. A punchy sesame and chilli cucumber started us off, followed by the crack-like addictive Koji fried chicken with nori salt and lemon, a crunchy salty skin covering soft flesh, whilst the crab and corn croquettes were perfectly formed, creamy fishy parcels. The only grumble we had was the katsu scotch egg had run out – we will be back for that bad boy.
[URIS id=59553]Moving on to the yakitori section, we sampled the Tsukune minced chicken with egg yolk that is mixed to emulsify then coated on the soft meat, and the thigh and spring onion sticks. For dessert, the ginger ice-cream with miso caramel, sweet potato crisps and black sesame praline was the perfect end to a faultless meal. Get into Jidori before the story gets out…
89 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB
www.jidori.co.uk