Rating: 1/5
Address
23, Lower Marsh
Type of Place:
This is a generic Thai-run cafe which happens, for no reason, to have a Japanese name and a dust-covered geisha doll in the window. My theory is that it adopted the Japanese look because it's situated right across the street from a larger, less spooky Thai place.
Either way, I can't really imagine why you'd eat here.
They're not Thai. The manager's half-Malaysian. I agree about the food.
They must be from that village in Malaysia where people worship monosodium glutamate. I think I saw that on the Discovery channel or something.
Food:
Sometimes, a shipment of dubious noodles or spoiled MSG comes in from Hong Kong that even Wagamama doesn't dare try to serve. What happens to it then? What is the ultimate fate of the most rancid of all possible noodles? Are they thrown in the river? Burned with fire? Or... does Inshoku have a part to play...?
Ok, it's not that bad. But it ain't good.
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere is that of any other greasy spoon in South London. Actually, to be fair, it's probably a bit better, especially considering that Inshoku is right next door to Steve's Bed And Breakfast And Fish And Chips, which is flat out terrifying. At its best, Lower Marsh is a weird but characterful filthy down-at-heel market street in a depressed area of inner Lambeth, and Inshoku pretty much matches that.
Service:
Service is pretty good, actually. They don't pretend to care about your happiness, but they aren't overtly hostile either.
Unique Point:
Lower Marsh is an interesting street in a tortured kind of way. It has absurdly posh boutiques right next to incredible grease-pits right out of the 1950's. It has legions of braying yuppies in oh-so-ironic diamante T-shirts and it has legions of trudging, plodding, puking Lambeth underclass. It has market pushcarts built in the 1920s. It has one of London's foremost BDSM/Fetish stores and it has a bookshop devoted entirely to books about trains, busses and ferries. It has one of London's greatest Italian restaurants and some of London's most aggressive and scary beggars. It's a great street -- not a nice street, not a fun or happy street, but a great street.
Inshoku, however, is a waste of time.
jj