Jin Kichi

I have been eating at Jinkichi for the past 4 years or so.

In general I had and I still have a good impression about the place. We know that Japanese restaurants are a bit pricey in London, but Jinkichi has a good taste, nice yakitori and nice sushi.

Despite that, I wanted to share my opinion about an incident that took place today and was not very pleasant.

This was the first time I went to Jinkichi for lunch (Sunday 30th of March 2008).

We booked a table for four people at 13:30 and went there first with my wife.

Unfortunately our friends got stuck in traffic and were not able to make it on time.

This was also unpleasant to us, because we ordered several dishes and had to wait there with a lot of food sitting on our table. At 14:30 we were informed to our surprise that the restaurant is actually closing at 15:00 and we should make our last order. We did order more food, expecting that our friends would arrive shortly.

Our friends were still stuck in traffic and could not make it until 14:50!

We were paying our bill as they arrived and we knew there was not much time for them to eat since they were late. We stayed there until 15:15 having a few quick bites and asked to take away the rest of the food.

One thing that really struck me was that one of the waitresses who served us, was standing behind us staring at our table at a very unpleasant manner all this time. In addition, the people who worked there started collecting bags of rubbish, throwing them down the stairs producing extreme noise next to our table, as if we were not there at all.

For me this is offensive and it would certainly not be tolerated in Japan. I am aware of Japanese standards, food and customs as my wife is Japanese. The attitude of the stuff in this case was not acceptable, even though we left a little later than the closing time.

I'm sure they will take my comments very seriously and improve their attitude at such unfortunate occasions.

Nevertheless, I hope I will eat at Jinkichi again in the future
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SK
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Sunday, March 30, 2008

The best sushi I have eaten in the UK so far.

I took my mum and antie here for dinner (they had come to see me from Tokyo), and they were also impressed.

The quolity of the sushi/sashimi can vary depending on what is on offer / how fresh the fish is in the market, but this restaurent seem to serve good sushi/sashimi most of the times

But I did find eating here was pricey. If you are tight, eat a bowl of noodles and move onto sushi/sashimi.

A great place, after all.
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Hiro - Japanese
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, December 25, 2007

So far this is the best Japanese we have had in London. It is authentic and real bang for your money. You must make reservations for lunch and dinner though. It's always booked. Only drawback is that the sushi aways takes the longest for some reason.
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NYCMel - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Saturday, August 04, 2007

Beautiful food, nice atmosphere - a little cramped but that almost adds to the place. Advisable to book!
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John Smith
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, May 10, 2007

Great food but a bit slow on the service front normally but charming staff to make up for it. Too much smoke always though, can't get away from it!
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SBL
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

I am a massive fan of Cafe Japan over the hill in Golders Green but I must say the Toro I was served here is the finest I have ever had and I've has Sushi from San Fransisco all the way to Osaka and places in between.

The place is small , the service slow , the staff charming and the wait well worth it.

Only down side is the price but , If I died tomorrow , I would have died knowing just how good the best Toro can be.
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argot - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Thursday, March 15, 2007

One of the delights of Hampstead. You should not go anywhere else to eat at night, but would rather you didn't as it would mean I would have to wait even longer for a table. If you have to wait, it is worth it. We booked once, and the table was not ready, so we had to take a walk 30 minutesa (not too much of a pain in Hampstead). We joked to the manager that we hoped that there would be some sushi left for us when we came back. We were very disappointed when we came back and ordered that they had run out sushi rice - so no more sushi. We were gutted, but to our delight, the manager came back and told us that they had set aside the last of the sushi rice for us. We sated our sushi lust after all.

They are justifiably famous for their grilled dishes, but they are good all round, although maybe not the best in town.

The room, both upstairs and downstairs, is rather cramped, but the place is always buzzing with a lively atmosphere. You will become quite cosy with your neighbour if you sit at the sushi bar. Although they have many celebrity autographs over the walls, I have never spotted any myself (for which I am thankful). I have been going to Jin Kichi for many years, and have never been disappointed or felt ripped off. Have always come out feeling that we really should live to eat, and a very satiafied smile on my face.
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Wokhei - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

wonderful--well worth the trek. wish they had a branch in notting hill.
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butter
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, January 27, 2007

Great food - service could be better!!
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Richard
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Friday, January 26, 2007

If you are prepared to wait a bit...the best Japanese food. Its is made to order...the sushi, the skewers everything.

So its a sacrafice you need to make....wait.

However...a good tip is to go in the week from Moday to Thursday either early or after 930pm

Then you have an average waiting time.

I avoid it on the weekends, as you will wait an hour for your food

Ciao
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Duncan
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Thursday, November 02, 2006