Style and substance are both evident in abundance at the tucked away Japanese fare that is Bincho. The former, it has to be said, is rarely lacking in restaurants from this part of the world. From the chefs tending to various delectable titbits on an open grill to the accompanying minimal house, this is has all clearly been carefully thought out.
The dining areas are simplistic - wooden tables with dim lighting - but the sense of cool remains, helped along by tunes that would be equally at home in a roof top terrace in Miami.
And so to the food.
First, the negatives; the menu prices are deceptive, seemingly incredibly cheap until you notice the small print which demands a minimum order of two for any dish. Why not simply have dishes comprising two portions and have a menu that thereby reflects the true price of the food. The portions themselves are a little dainty; skewers of various meats and vegetables are Bincho's speciality and one would want them a little more substantial.
That said, the real reason for our continual ordering of new dishes was the quality of the food. Sublime skewers of eel are accompanied by more conventional delicacies like pork belly and minced chicken meatballs. A particular highlight was the asparagus and pancetta combination, albeit again the size meant the skewers arrived and were consumed in the blink of an eye. Along with the smaller dishes come other delights such as spinach, parmesan and pancetta salad and salmon and squid sashimi salad. There is little on the menu that does not catch the eye and the small dishes are an advantage in the way they encourage diners to sample the maximum variety. This truly was terrific food and very reasonable for a midweek dinner in central London.
The service was a little patchy; at one point after a waitress had placed a skewer into a wooden cup a member of the party had used for sake consumption, the manager emerged to tell us that this was the function of said cup and that replacing the sake was "expensive". He did reluctantly replace the drink, but the episode did not fill us with confidence should we have had a real complaint to make. Otherwise, the waiters and waitresses were pleasant and keen to discuss the various dishes and their merits. The food arrived consistently, clearly being brought out as it was cooked and this made for an extremely enjoyable and drawn out evening.
Ratings
Ambience: 8
Decor: 8
Flavours: 9
Presentation: 8
Service: 6
Total: 39
Price: £20-£40 per head depending on how greedy you are with skewers and sake.
http://www.bincho.co.uk/about-bincho-soho
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