Rating: 4/5
Type of Place:
It's fast food. With a twist. And a tiny dab of wasabi. And a dash of relative quiet.
Food:
Mm, fusiony! Normally I hate fusion so much, but in this case it's absolutely darling and full of fun touches. Cold noodles with burnt sesame seeds were juxtaposed against soybeans with fresh sesame seeds -- indeed! 'Food' is mostly cold bentos out of the fridge -- there's also miso soup brimming with healthy-looking vegetation.
For fast food, it's brilliant, and it manages to adapt Japanese food for a smarmy international context without descending into general soy sauce mush -- that's why it gets four whole stars!
Atmosphere:
Pink, white, black, right angles, the ultimate in International Japanese on a shoestring. Generally, the atmosphere is calming, which in the middle of Piccadilly is a good thing.
Service:
It's fast food.
Unique Point:
Itsu is a chain (so I shouldn't really be reviewing it). The Chelsea one is quite convivial, but the Piccadilly one is purely somewhere to dash into while doing stuff around Piccadilly.
Heavy Metal Download