"Disappointing"

A review of Ikkyusan by Bento lover written on Sunday 25th of May 2008

A disappointing experience. Reports about un-itemised bills are, I'm afraid, absolutely true. We were brought a bill that simply presented a total, with a couple of pieces of paper stapled to it that named the dishes and drinks we'd ordered... but not their prices. The total seemed quite a bit higher than the menu prices would suggest so we asked for an itemised bill. When this was produced it clearly showed that the "total bill" included a substantial service charge. There had been no indication on the original un-itemised bill that it already included a service charge: in fact it was placed on a tray with a note attached that "tips are always appreciated". I have no idea if this is official restaurant policy or simply some enterprising staff trying to get double tips... but it does leave a rather sour after-taste.

The food itself was a mixed experience: I ordered a bento box which contained (at different times) a lovely piece of teriyaki salmon and some decent soft shell crab (if they had managed to produce both items together I'd have been quite happy.. see below for further explanation). It was accompanied by some very nice miso soup, which was livened up by some mushrooms (dried ****ake, I think) in addition to the usual tofu and seaweed. It was let down, however, by the salad, which came slathered in some ghastly substance that resembled salad cream rather than eg the ginger dressing that you often get in nice Japanese restaurants.

The food was also spoilt by poor service. They initially got my order wrong, bringing a box containing a rather greasy piece of deep fried chicken (well, I think that was what it was, although it was hard to tell under the breadcrumbs). When I pointed out the mistake the waitress insisted on taking away the box. We did try to suggest that they could simply bring the salmon separately, but the waitress insisted on taking the whole thing away. I twiddled my thumbs for about 10 minutes, watching my companions tuck in -- and then the waitress brought a box that contained the aforementioned lovely piece of teriyaki salmon. This would have been great, except that the rest of the box had simply sat in the kitchen while they replaced the salmon and my softshell crab was, by that point, cold and unlovely.

I think that this restaurant probably gets a lot of business from large groups who are going out for the night and are probably a bit too tipsy to notice the un-itemised bills and aren't that fussy.Or can't make up their mind whether they want Chinese / Japanese / Thai food.

If you do go to eat at Ikkyusan, I would suggest you triple-check to make sure that the waitress has your order down correctly (I wasn't the only person who had problems with this -- and we were all sober, spoke clearly and also pointed to the item on the menu). But I wouldn't recommend this place -- the food is ok, but it's not great value even before the service-charge issue.

If you are in the centre of town and want Japanese food, try the Tokyo Diner (nearby, authentic, friendly and less expensive) or, for Thai, I'd recommend a branch of Thai Square. And, for Chinese, you've got the whole of Soho to choose from... (Mr Kong's is ok) though for good value (and friendly service) I'd head south to the Dragon Castle (the Elephant & Castle isn't as far away as you might think, honest)..

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