Alternative Name: 텐텐테이
Rating: 5/5
Address
56 Brewer Street,
London,
W1F 9TJ
Phone
0871 3328399Type of Place:
Your friends want to have some Japanese food in a Japanese place? Take them here.
Just off the Piccadilly circus, you can't expect more convenient location.
It's not smart or posh, but it's convivial and fun and it keeps it real. (I think that's one of those gangsta type expressions that 'the kids' use these days.)
Food:
Several Teishoku(Set menu) are useful when you are rush to eat something.
Each set menu include small side dishes, like miso soup, rice, agedashi tofu and ICE CREAM!
You also can order the tapas seperately, they are good with Asahi beer!
Food is pretty standard but it's good, sometimes even very good, and you can get things like a tuna fish head ("dig around in it and lots of stuff will come out!" advised the helpful waitress). For reasons unknown to me, they ALWAYS finish up a lovely meal with a horrible blob of generic vanilla ice cream in a cup. There's certainly no culinary reason to do this, so I'm guessing it's either a tax thing or it's some sort of very subtle satire on Western consumerism or something.
Atmosphere:
Pretty authentic Japanese theme around the restaurant including two red lanterns at the enterance.
Tables are a bit too close each others but can be a nice chance to overheard what a group of Japanese young guys talk of. The owner and Japanese staffs work efficiently.
I agree, it's crowded as heck but in a Japanese kind of way, which isn't nearly as aggravating as other kinds of way.
Service:
Good. Feel like you are sitting in a izakaya in Tokyo.
Service would probably be better if it wasn't always so busy. But yeah, it's good and it's very Japanese.
Unique Point:
There is often a long queue. Better to book if you are sure about your schedule.
Ten Ten Tei was one of the earliest in the wave of 'real' Japanese restaurants that swept into London in the 90s. It remains one of the better options and a whole universe above such generic Brewer Street eateries as, say, Taro. The queue is there for a good reason. Join it today.
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