Kami, NW5 2ES
- 020 7485 7078
- 8 Fortess Road, NW5 2ES (streetmap) (osm) (gmap) (bingmap) (streetview)
- kamilondon.com
- noon-2:30pm 6pm-10:30pm Mon-Sat; closed Sun
Japanese restaurant in Kentish Town.
It's very small, seating only 16 people in a narrow room with a semi-open kitchen running along the side. They also do takeaway and delivery, with online ordering via Deliveroo.
Kake visited on a Tuesday lunchtime in August 2014. There was one other customer in when I arrived around 12:45pm, and four when I left around 1:15pm. Music was playing, mainly the more easy-listening type of instrumental jazz; this wasn't too loud, but augmented by the sound (and smell) of frying from the kitchen.
I went for the lunch sushi set B (£15), which included salad, miso soup, 7 nigiri, and 6 pieces of maki.
The salad photo was crisp and fresh, with a tangy, savoury dressing; I very much enjoyed it. The miso soup was fine, though nothing special.
The sushi photo included a good mix of fish — 2 salmon nigiri, 1 tuna, 1 seabass, 1 cooked prawn, 1 yellowtail, and 1 butterfish. The rice was generally quite good, with distinct grains, not mushy, and the seasoning present but not overwhelming. The fish was fine with the exception of the seabass, which had a very chewy section in the middle. The maki were inside-out salmon and avocado rolls, cut just a little too big for my taste, but the avocado was just right.
When my sushi arrived, the waiter immediately poured soy sauce for me, but she used much more than I wanted, which made it difficult to get the right mix of soy sauce and wasabi. Service was fine other than that, though. A 10% service charge was auto-added to the bill photo.
Kake's verdict: I might come back if I was in the area. I was particularly pleased to see a good diversity of fish in the sushi set.
Accessibility: Can't remember if there was a step to get in. Access to the toilet is quite narrow and involves turns and a (tiny) step.
See also:
- Kake's photoset on Flickr, including photos of the menu as of August 2014
- Eat Drink Man London review
- Kentishtowner review
- Another Kentishtowner review