Just off Trafalgar Square you’ll find a new(ish) Japanese restaurant named Watatsumi. LondOnTheInside may have over looked this street given it’s constant segue of tourists, not that a budget backpacker would use a class joint at the back end of the prestigious Club Quarters Hotel as a common room.
There’s more to Japanese food here than just Sushi and Sashimi with plenty of hot dishes on offer and not just fish and noodles. To start we opted for the tempura prawns coated in a batter so light and crispy that it melted over the meaty prawn – one of the best tempura prawns we’ve eaten and we’ve eaten ALOT! The accompanying sauce was the perfect match, thick and creamy almost like a flavoured mayonnaise with a spicy kick. Thumbs up.
For mains the pan fired Sea Bass with Shiso butter was like a piece of art, three small pieces of pieces of fish balanced on top of one another with a dribble of sauce, we almost didn’t want to eat it – almost! But the winner was the miso glazed roast black cod so fresh and flaky it fell to pieces on impact – our only grumble was that it was hard to eat with chop sticks.
For dessert we opted for a chocolate fondant served with green tea ice-cream and a Fire and Ice cocktail. The cocktail was a mixture of booze, chilli and ice-cream; thus fire and ice. The result was a milkshake like drink with a hot after taste, a good alternative to a dessert.
Watatsumi is one of the most authentic Japanese restaurants we’ve visited in London. The open sushi bar means you can watch the sushi being made to order and the selection of fresh fish is impressive. Some of the dishes are slightly more expensive such as the Black Cod and Wagyu Beef but then you get what you pay for!
7 Northumberland Avenue, Trafalgar Square, WC2N
www.watatsumi.co.uk