AjiZen

Supposed to be «canteen» eating where you are supposed to walk in, grab a seat, raise your hand and get serviced right away. Location is pretty good – close to Parliament, London Eye, and near the drop off/​pick up point for a lot of the hop-​on/​hop-​off buses. Food-​wise, though, it’s pretty bad. If we’re talking about a bowl of udon for £6, then I might give it 2 stars, but when you’re talking about a simple bowl of udon starting at £11 and a simple donburi that’s £11+, then it pretty be pretty dang good stuff. Had kitsune udon and oyako-​donburi. The kitsune udon broth was overly flavored – almost too sweet – and the udon noodles were undercooked and almost borderline tough. The oyako-​don was really, really bland and lifeless. It was easily the worst £31 lunch I’ve had in my life. AVOID!

I am not giving this restaurant any star at all. They do have kirin and the miso soup was promising but it was downhill the moment I started to dig in my bento box. The bento box was beaming with salad, peas, tonkatsu, steamed rice, shreaded cabbage, spring rolls, gyoza. None tasted Japanese it was aweful, bland, worse than a canteen food.

Canteen eating, Japanese style, a stone’s throw from the Houses of Parliament. And nicer nosh than on the other side of the bridge one suspects. Straightforward but clean, crisp and efficiently quick. No complaints, even if the waiter got distracted by the Lily Allen video in the background. We’re all human.