London’s restaurant scene has borrowed from just about everywhere for so long now that culinary firsts are frequently just menu typos – but nevertheless, the capital now has its first neo-izakaya. And based on this one? Frankly, we hope there are a lot more to come.
And Nudge Members (plus a lucky guest) are getting a complimentary sake and dessert for the entire opening month of February.
You’ll find HIMI in a quiet corner just off Carnaby Street, brought to us by husband-and-wife team Tamas Naszai and Tomoko Hasegawa, who between them have worked at some of the best restaurants on earth (the three-Michelin-Starred L’Abysse au Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris, Ginza Shimon in Tokyo, and Sake No Hana in London, to name but a few), before opening the top-tier omakase spot Roji a couple of years ago.
So what is a neo-izakaya? The idea behind HIMI is that it serves very tasty, modernised upgrades on traditional Japanese izakaya (roughly translated as ‘pub’) food. The more old-school staples, like crispy chicken karaage, are zipped up with inventive preparations and flavours.
Step inside, behind the small Japanese-style noren curtain, and you’ll find a small sleeve of a space with a long bar up top and a smaller seating area on the lower floor. The kitchen staff behind that bar will all shout out a merry ‘irasshaimasé!” to greet you before diligently returning to whatever task is at hand. You’ll feel the radiant heat from the charcoal in the grill lapping away at your skin from just a few feet away, and you’ll immediately hope they seat you at the chef’s counter.
Sitting there is like getting a chef’s table experience, right in the heart of the action. You can watch as they work, beavering away – nothing is rushed, and nothing is stressed. No shouting, no barking orders. It’s almost contemplative, with a near-forensic attention to detail. But you never need to wait long before a dish is ready. They seem to epitomise the slow-and-steady mentality. Like the tortoise, but with knife-skills.
On the menu, you can get the likes of a gorgeous, flash-cooked hand-dived scallop tempura wrapped in seaweed; a dish with two types of crispy fried chicken; and sushi platters with a classic trio of tuna (moving from the bright minerality of lean cuts, to the buttery medium fatty, to the melt-in-your-mouth-and-widen-your-eyes otoro), as well as tender squid with bergamot & salt, sea trout, mackerel, and more. It’s all genuinely lovely, and you can fill up with a chargrilled wedge of ‘onigiri’ rice laid inside a bowl of intensely flavoursome & nourishing dashi broth.
And those desserts? They include soba chocolate sorbet with cocoa nib crumble and puffed cocoa buckwheat; quince & ume (Japanese plum) sorbet; sake lees & hōjicha ice cream with adzuki beans & chestnut paste; and walnut biscuits with sake lees cream.
On the drinks list, there’s a house beer on draft, plus cocktails, a solid lineup of organic and biodynamic wines, and some exclusive sakes imported from the legendary shop Kimijimaya Yokohama.
So there are couple of firsts there, too.
NOTE: HIMI is open now, Tuesday to Saturday. You can book a table (or a seat at the counter) and find out more at the HIMI’s website.
PERK: Nudge Members (+1) are getting a complimentary sake and dessert for the entire opening month of February. Find out more under the ‘Member Perk’ banner above. Not a Nudge Member yet? Sign up for a free 7 day trial.
HIMI | 4 Newburgh Street, W1F 7RF
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