Going Japanese at Soho’s Bincho

I have to admit that for a long time my understanding of Japanese food centered around overpriced sushi from Pret, and samey noodles from Wagamama. Oh, how wrong I was. I had no idea that Japanese cuisine could be so inventive and delicious – and often as simple and tasty as some expertly grilled fish or skewered spiced chicken.

Bincho on Old Compton Street is a perfect advert for the kind of Japanese cooking that has changed my mind, and will change yours.  We were at Bincho to try out their house sake and their nominated Cherry Blossom Festival dish – grilled sea bream or ‘tai’.  But we got a lot more out of it than that.

The place looks the part – funky wood décor, classic Japanese lanterns, oriental art on the walls with an a open kitchen/bar arrangement at the front and more traditional seating at the back. The smell as we walked in was incredible – delicious flavours and essences of ginger, garlic and grilled fish.

Our fantastic host Mal kindly explained all about the famous Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan, an almost blink-and-you-miss-it extravaganza of cherry blossoms that lasts for just two weeks from March to April. The sea bream is the traditional dish of the Cherry Blossom Festival because it is at this time the fish turns a sumptuous red colour. Bream is often known as the King of Fish in Japan and the tai caught off the coastal city of Akashi, on the Inland Sea, is considered the best. It was very fitting then that the sake we were drinking was named after this special bream, Akashi-tai.

We were lucky enough to have our sake served as it traditionally is in restaurants, in a glass a little larger than a shot glass placed inside a small cedar-wood box about 8cm wide. The sake is poured into the glass and allowed to overflow into the box – the sake can then be drunk straight from the glass, or from the box which gives it a distinctive woody flavour.

The sake was fantastic, easy to drink and fresh tasting, and at £4.65 a glass, excellent value. It went well with the sublime sea bream, cooked to perfection – £2.30 for a fillet. The skin was crisp and full of flavour while the flesh just melted onto our chopsticks.  A wake up call to the very best of Japanese cooking.

We also indulged in a number of other dishes at Bincho including Japanese greens with tamari sauce, fresh grilled eel, chicken breast with shishito pepper and duck with spring onion and wasabi. Everything was delicious and the traditional Japanese method of ordering as you went along meant you could try a wonderful range of dishes.

I really can’t recommend Bincho enough – excellent service, decor and, most importantly, a real taste sensation. It will change how you feel about Japanese cooking, and don’t wait for next year’s Cherry Blossom Festival – get yourself there now!

Bincho
16 Old Compton Street
Soho
W1D 4TL

Tel: 020 7287 9111

www.bincho.co.uk