Tosa

The food here is really good and the service was quick. The portions aren't massive but i would say the value for money's good. One of the best places in Hammersmith for a casual bite to eat I reckon.
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_Dave_ - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

This is one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in London and it is definitely the best of the West London choices. The dishes are fresh and delicious with a nice range of sushi, grill and noodles.
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Jamie Lehrer
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

This restaurant is o.k. but nothing special. Portions are very small with the sushi rolls especially so.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Thursday, September 13, 2007

Tosa is one of my favourite London restaurants. When I lived in Hammersmith I was a regular. Now that I am not, it is somewhere I always look forward to visiting with friends.

Their speciality is a wide selection of grilled dishes from the robata. The wide variety of skewers is a delight to explore with high quality ingredients, well flavoured and expertly cooked. My particular favourites however are the grilled fish at the bottom of the grill section - grilled salmon cheek, gilt head sea bream and mackerel are all outstanding.

The menu also offers many of the Japanese standards (sushi, sashimi, noodle and rice dishes etc) and those that I have tried have been very good if not in the league of the grills. There is always something interesting on in the specials menu so be sure to ask for it (they only ever seem to have one copy of the menu as far I have worked out and it is not consistenly distributed).

Prices have always seemed quite reasonable to me, especially in relation to other Japanese restaurants in the area (never mind the West End!). Value for money is excellent on the basis that I have always enjoyed the feast and felt somehow I was underpaying when it came to the bill. It generally seems to work out at around £50-55 for two on a very wide selection of grills, mixed sashimi, some onigiri, a few staples and the odd special, bottomless cups of green tea and maybe a large sake.

The venue and decor are innocuous and there is little in the way of atmosphere. It can be fun to sit at the seats along the grill. While the seats next to the front windows would seem to be the best option I find the large lamps above them uncomfortable to sit under and I prefer to be at the back.

The staff are attentive but unobtrusive and are very friendly and helpful if you engage them. The owner/robata chef is not the chatty type but is clearly passionate about his cooking. His wife is an excellent front of house. Both have lived and worked in Japan for many years but their staff are from all over Asia.

In general service is very good though when they are very busy (which to be fair is now much of the time) it can get a little ragged and food off the robata can arrive in dribs and drabs. I once went very late on a bank holiday Monday evening and they had run out of nearly everything. They were very helpful making clear what was available and accomodating us as well as possible. We still managed a satisfying meal despite its limited range.

In summary go for the food not the atmosphere, go early or on a slow(er) night if you are not a patient diner, balance the grills with a wider selection to tide you over any waits, ensure you are with good company when you go and do ask the staff for their recommendations. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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Sean
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 9
Monday, September 03, 2007

I want to like this restaurant as their intentions seem well, but I can't. The service was poor, with a 15-20 minute wait between each dish we had. The portions were small and the food average. The price considering all of the above was therefore quite unjustified.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Sunday, July 22, 2007

Authentic food. But the all dishes are so small and they are not cheap. For example, if you compare the price of Yakitori(grilled skewer chicken), you will get a tiny one skewer in Tosa when you can get 3 for the same price elsewhere. To be fair the atmosphere and the service is not bad. It's just the portion of dishes and the price. This is not a restaurant for a ' want to eat a lot' person like me.
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AVJ - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Monday, April 16, 2007

I am so excited to have this lovely little restaurant on my doorstep. I used to live in Japan and it's a pleasure to have such authentic-tasting fair accessible to me. All the ingredients are of a high quality and it's a fantastic place to go for people who are a bit suspicious of sushi as you can mix and match between sashimi and sushi plates and 'safer' food like noodles or onigiri (rice triangles). One of the reviewers criticised the service, but I have to say it's also very authentic - very unassuming - which I guess could be mistaken for unfriendliness, but shouldn't be. Japanese speakers might find it tricky to practice their langauge skills as the staff are a mixture of Thai, Chinese and Japanese. The french owner/chef speaks the lingo though!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 05, 2007

Thanks to Tosa and a few other gems in London I need not hurry back to Japan every year. Food mean a lot to us Japanese, and I mean A LOT. Despite the fact that there are not many Japanese staff in Tosa, the quality here is high enough to satisfy the very picky Japanese clientele. It's a good sign to see 'reserved shochu bottles' on the shelf by Japanese businessmen regulars.
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Akiko
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 16, 2007

This is a great restaurant. Japanese food isn't just about sushi and here you can experience some Yakitori barbeque style cooking which is delicious. There are some other interesting things on the menu including what you may also expect as standard in a Japanese restaurant. The staff are friendly and helpful. The prices are not on the low end but you will be paying for quality.
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Jen
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Friday, January 19, 2007

Food - excellent (though I think over priced - £2.50 for Miso soup) - service - really poor - not welcoming - no attention (and I discussed at the time) - we asked if they could do a smaller portion of a starter - "no" - very inflexible for prices they charge. Atmosphere OK - liked the visible kitchen and the great smelling food but (Great food + Poor Service)/ Average atmosphere = no repeat visit.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, January 08, 2007