Hare & Tortoise

This place has amazing food very clean and well priced, only tiny problem is sometimes they make mistakes in take away otherwise excellent and fast service.

Las 4 esrrellas significan que no está mal por ser una cadena, pero no creamos que es el mejor restaurante japonés del mundo! Las porciones son grandes y los precios decentes, así que es una muy buena opción cuando nos apetece japonés pero no queremos gastar demasiado. El karaage está normalito, pero el katsu curry estaba súper bueno :)
No nos ofrecieron carta de postres, así que entiendo que no hay.

Please, before you commit yourself to a mediocre interpretation of Japanese cuisine — take a look next door to Hare & Tortoise.
Literally, right next door, is a genuine Japanese restaurant called Tomoe which has exceptional sushi and traditional dishes. Take a leap and experience authentic Japanese cuisine!

This place is great. You walk in and it almost looks like a school canteen, nothing fancy, all fairly basic décor…then you order your food.
The menu has pictures which in this case I found really useful as it’s hard to quite picture what you’ll be getting with a lot of the dishes. There are loads of fresh juices if you’re wanting something sans-​alcool (I went on a Monday and was trying to be vaguely healthy) and the food is incredible. Amazing variety and such good flavours. I had an octopus starter which wasn’t quite what I expected but was so much better, tasted fab, followed by a tuna main with seaweed side. All really good. The girls with me both had a seafood broth thing which was full of seafood and tasted great. Good prices too… a must visit!

I’m on a extended vacation in London and have fallen in love with these restaurants. I was at this location with my girlfriend on Dec 6 and the food was amazing as usual. The Malaysian Chicken Curry and Curry Laksa are great dishes if you love a bit of spice. Can’t wait to go back!

I really enjoy this place. The curry chicken cutlet is so tasty as it is just spicy enough. The sushi is quite fresh. I love the eel role and the rainbow role. It is my go to place. I used to go to Wagamama once in awhile. But, now I go here at least once a week. It gets a bit crowded and I have yet to reserve a seat but I may need to in the future. It is well worth the wait.

Great yakitori skewers! The sushi is good, but the rice still doesn’t have the right consistency and taste for me. Not enough flavour, not enough sticky!
That said, it’s a solid option if you are looking to please a group of people. It has enough sashimi on the menu to keep the sushi-​purists happy, and plenty of cooked dishes for anyone fussy about raw fish.
It’s reasonably close to work, so I’ll be back for another lunch or two.

The main attraction here are the noodle and curry dishes. The fried noodles have a delicious smokey flavor and the noodles have a pleasant springy texture. The SE Asian curries are phenomenal, especially the laksa noodle soup and Malaysian chicken curry.
One star is deducted because they do not have the best quality of sashimi.

The Hare & Tortoise name conjures up images of a quaint English pub but this place is actually a pan-​Asian eatery. This was confirmed when I rung to book a table and got a typically surly reply (for an Asian eatery) that if I don’t turn up within 15 minutes of the booking, I’d lose my table
Andrew M and I arranged to eat here before we went to listen to Hannah W play in the Wandsworth Symphony Orchestra. The place was pretty empty when we arrived, hence my puzzlement about the surliness on booking the table
The Hare and Tortoise had been recommended to me by fellow Unilocaler Christie K, who said that Malaysian friends of hers had called the char koay teow here the most authentic they had tasted in the UK
So, char koay teow went on the waitress’s order pad along with laksa to counteract the cold weather billowing outside. I couldn’t resist an order of avocado and unagi (eel) roll as well as some chicken karaage
The sushi was great — generous amount of sweet, rich eel sitting atop a tightly packed roll. The chicken karaage was crispy and the batter well seasoned
The laksa was warm and comforting — exactly what was needed on that cold day. The flavoursome coconut broth contained a nice assortment of seafood and beancurd pieces to accompany the egg noodles
As for the char koay teow, which are broad rice sticks fried in a fiery wok to char the edges is hard to cook well. The version here was yummy. Not quite the best in the UK but not bad at all
Thanks to Christie for a good recommendation!

I’m always a bit sceptical of places in London that sound like Japanese salaryman haunts, especially when they are a chain. Sure, they may be «authentic» but rarely does the food excel and instead mimic the quality of our standard British pub grub. That being said, it came recommended by a fellow Unilocaler and, given our extreme lack of knowledge about food options in Putney, Yee Gan and I decided to try it out.
And wow, this place is good. I don’t mean that it merely exceeded by decidedly low expectations for the joint, but more that it blew my socks off. We opted for a mix of Japanese and Malaysian, starting with a unagi (eel) and cucumber roll that boasted thick slices of rich bbq eel on each piece. We also got some kara-​age which is basically fried chicken but done miles ahead of anything else in London. The bite-​sized chicken pieces were perfectly cooked and each juicy bit was coated in a light crunchy tempura batter. It seemed to be served with takoyaki sauce — a great tangy accompaniment to the bits of fried chicken.
After cleansing our palates with some freshly squeezed orange juice, we moved on the Malaysia portion of the meal. Here I’ll have to defer to Yee Gan as to exactly what the noodle dish was called but I can tell you it was pure awesome. Thick noodles stir fried with fresh veggies, Chinese sausage, and prawns in a very moreish sauce were served in a bowl easily large enough to feed a family of four. I particularly like the sweet Chinese sausage with and slightly spicy bite. After looking at the menu, I think what we had was Char Kuey Tiew — definitely a recommended dish!
Next to it, we received a bowl of chicken laksa which could have doubled as a second Olympic swimming pool in a pinch. Given that we had gorged on the noodles, I almost didn’t have space but decided on a taste anyways. The rich hearty laksa was delicious and warmed you up from head to toe. If only it wasn’t so heavy!
By the time we were done, I could barely get up from my seat and was in serious danger of curling up in the corner for a food coma nap. But, alas, we had a concert to attend in which our very own and talented Hannah W was performing. More on that to come (and yes I’m reviewing it!).
Other thoughts… décor wise it’s pretty Spartan and the staff are friendly and helpful but need a bit of encouragement to attend to you as they seem to have perfected being non-​obtrusive. Prices are very reasonable especially given the sheer amount of food you get. I’d suggest ordering 1 – 2 mains less than the number of people if you are in a larger group as you’ll easily get enough to stuff yourself without the guilt of wasting food!

Goodness it’s been a little over 3 years since I wrote the review and definitely think this place deserves an extra star… esp seeing I go pretty regularly.
H&T has a pan asian menu where you have a mix of Thai, Japanese, Chinese dishes. I really do enjoy coming here often because the food is always consistent. I usually get the Char Kuey Tiew, Singapore Laksa or sushi. Also, it’s really good value. and good!

Rated three and half
Walked down to Putney’s Hare & Tortoise on Upper Richmond Road — one of my son’s favourite neighbourhood restaurants — for a leisurely yet quick and easy Saturday lunch; warranted by half the family away at a children’s birthday party.
Japanese restaurant with oriental and south-​east Asian cuisine, nice and neat with warm and welcoming ambience. Child friendly. We got the table of our choice as we were nice and early. But could see the place fill up even as we were there, with customers having to crowd round the bar waiting their turn for a table.
Service quite courteous and helpful but staff kept busy on their feet — perhaps it’s asking too much for a smile on their face which might help and be good for business and the customers.
Good choice of dishes, tastefully served — my choice for lunch, Char Kway Teow (…stir-​fried rice noodles with egg, prawns, bean sprouts etc) was just excellent. The shared plate of mixed sushi was good but not the best I’ve had. Wished the green tea glasses were refilled without waiting to be asked.
Prices appeared very reasonable.
Maxwell Pereira/​New Delhi/​India

We have been to the Hare & Tortoise in Euston but was in the Putney area so decided to drop by to this one on a weekday. Place was busy for a weekday with quite a few families having dinner. Service was quick and we ordered the maaysian chicken curry and curry laksa. We also had the veg spring rolls which were good. The only complaint was that the chicken curry only had 3 – 4 pieces of chicken when I expected a bit more. Overall it was a satisfying dinner, similar to a Wagamama.

If you like sushi and fancy something new then try the spider crab! Whilst a little scary with little legs poking out of one of the rolls (or artistic depending on your point of view), this soft shell crab is completely edible and scrumptious. So feel free to dare it and eat the whole thing. Although we did get a giggle from the waitress when we asked, which was worth it! All the food we tried was fantastic, fresh and tasty food. With a large selection of different dishes from sushi to ramen, there is something for everyone here Well that is if you like Asian themed food. We details decided on a selection of sushi, noodles and some smaller plates. We had ordered something else, but the waiter recommended that we may have ordered too much! I really appreciated the honesty and advise as what we received was far more than expected without surplus dishes. It also just goes to show the value for money. We had ordered relative to our conception of how much a decent meal might cost, and the bill was far cheaper than we expected. Although I wouldn’t suggest this place is cheap it’s reasonable, however if you order simple rather than the more complicated plates, it can be a bargain This place would have got a higher rating from me, but I found the décor very mundane and boring.

After living in Japan for 4 years, I was in desperate need of finding a good & reasonably priced Japanese restaurant. My mother-​in-​law boasted about the Hare & Tortoise, so my husband & I decided to give it a try.
We ordered a salmon sushi & sashimi plate, duck & rice, ramen, edamame, & green tea. The food came extremely fast & the quality of the food, although obviously not as good as the stuff we got in Japan, was really good. We also didn’t have to spend an arm & a leg!
We will definitely be back when we crave Japanese food again soon!

I would agree with Ninawriter that the service can be a little slow, but I’ve never found them to be rude.
I’m a regular here, probably visiting every couple of weeks, and I’ve noticed that it has got busier over the last couple of years. So if you visit at peak times expect to wait for table and have to catch the attention of the waiting staff if you want something. But this is really the style of place this is, i.e. not a restaurant for a long sit down meal but rather something quick, tasty and good value for money.
The food really is excellent quality for what you pay. I much prefer it to Wagamamas which I sometimes find a bit bland, and it also serves a good selection of sushi in addition to noodle dishes, ramens, and curries. At a guess I’d say that H&T is about 20% cheaper as well. The food is prepared in an open-​plan style kitchen so if you sit at the bar area you’ll be able to see your dish being prepared in front of you.
My personal favorite dishes would include the Tori Gyoza as a starter (£2.80) and the Curry Laksa as a main course (£5.95).
There is a takeaway service too, but beware that there is a £10 minimum charge on cards, so bring cash if your order is less than this.

This restaurant serve mainly Japanese food and some Chinese cuisine, I guess some people would disagree with me. Their menu contains some Chinese chowmein and peking cuisine. The quality Hare and tortoise restaurant is most famous for is its good value for money food and nice décor. It is however not a good place to take guest to and expect to have a good conversation, the reasons for that is as follows.
The place is often so noisy and if you are lucky, you will be able to hear yourself think. Secondly, you get a rushed feeling with the waiters hurrying about trying to create room for people queuing. The unforgivable quality of this restaurant is the attitude of the staff, very rude and unhelpful. If the service is not your cup of tea, then you might just be fine.
Some of the main meal is within the fiver zone and a starting price of about £2.50 for the starter. This is good food and good value for money.
Verdict: Poor service, needs improvement