Londoners are pretty spoilt for choice when it comes to Japanese restaurants at the moment. There were several great new openings last year (you can see our top picks in our handy map here) and right at the end of 2017 came Yen, which opened in a new building just off The Strand.
The London site is the sister restaurant of Yen in Paris, which has a great reputation, so we were excited to check this place out. Yen specialises in soba (buckwheat) noodles made fresh in-house before every service, although they also have plenty of other dishes on offer too.
We kicked off with some home-made tofu, which wasn’t the dense rubbery blocks you might be used to, but instead had a thick creamy consistency almost like yoghurt. It was an absolute winner – even if you think you don’t like tofu, you should definitely give this a try. We spotted a sushi chef at his own little counter in the corner so also ordered a selection of beautiful nigiri and sashimi that absolutely hit the spot. You could happily just come in for some lunchtime sushi if that’s your thing!
[URIS id=100222]Of course we couldn’t leave without trying the soba noodles. There’s a range of dishes served hot or cold but we stuck to hot versions as we’re not such a fan of cold soba. The noodles were so fresh, with a good bite and dunked into a rich broth that was full of flavour. There’s also some more pimped up versions with roast duck and tempura in that we’d love to come back and try.
Yen is smart place with slick service and some seriously good food. We’ve got a feeling they’re aiming high for a Michelin star and on this evidence we wound’t be surprised to see them get one.
190 Strand, London WC2R 3DX
yen-london.co.uk