This is a bit of a brief post, I went here a few months back, wrote my skeleton thoughts when it was still fresh in my memory but then didn't get round to fleshing it out. Unfortunately the detail was lost from my mind when I went to write it up properly. I did consider just deleting my notes, but hey, this is a blog not a proper publication. I also wanted to publish the post as I had a great time, this place had some attention at one point but then seems to have slipped off the radar for a lot of people and deserves to be better known. That said, it wasn't struggling for custom, oh well, I've written it now...

This place is a very authentic feeling Izakaya sort of place on Gray's Inn Rd, not short of a Japanese businessman or two using it mainly as somewhere to get drunk. Fair enough. The décor is plain wood with Japanese posters and lanterns on the walls, fit for purpose and comfortable enough. When we went on a midweek evening there was a busy atmosphere and service was friendly from the word go. All the staff smiled constantly, were always around to get another beer but never intrusive.

It was clear from the menu that it would be possible to let the bill get out of control here, but by exercising a little self control we ate well and reasonably. This appears in Time Out's 'Cheap Eats', and on london-eating, reviews range from 'very reasonable' to 'a bit steep'. I'd have to say I'd side more with the latter, we had to order pretty carefully to keep within our stated aim for the night of 'cheap and interesting'. (As ever london-eating is utterly useless due to not having a feel for any of the writer's tastes, as another example, reviews for this place also range from 'I'm Japanese and this is the most authentic Izakaya in London' to 'I lived in Tokyo for 5 years and this is nothing like the real thing', but I digress).

We started with a delicious tempura, which contained various vegetables including aubergine and courgette, both of which avoided bitterness or sogginess. There was also prawn which was not overcooked, but was delicate in flavour and really very good.

We then had something which was new to me but I'm very glad I tried it. I didn't write the name down, just the ingredients, but a bit of internet research suggests it was Ochazuke and apparently it should be eaten at the end of a meal to prevent hangovers. No matter, it did very well as a shared starter. Basically it was rice in a sort of tea broth with pickled plums. The tea was weak and therefore not overpowering but the plum had a very strong flavour. The plums were sometimes sweet, sometimes sour and always compelling. This was very different but really moreish.

I then had great ubon noodles, the texture was lip-smacking and very slurpy and they came in a good tasty broth with no shortage of chicken and vegetables. I'm afraid I really can't remember what my friend had, but I do remember she was happy. We enjoyed a fair few beers as we were eating, which seemed to be the done thing, but kept the bill at just over £20 a head. Clearly it could very easily creep up, but we really enjoyed what we had so it was no chore to order carefully.

On the subject of cost it was nice to see service at only 10% suggested, I know its normal to have none in some Japanese restaurants, but hey this is Britain not Tokyo and I thought this was very fair (remember when it was always 10%- howcome after the introduction of the minimum wage its virtually everywhere gone to be suggested at 12.5%, and increasingly, 15%?). Also refreshing was that there was no attempt to fool you into leaving a second gratuity on the chip and pin machine. This, along with the happy atmosphere, cheerful staff and the good food all contributed to a very enjoyable experience. I will definitely be going back.

(Although obviously I haven't, so little time so many restaurants, I'm hungry though, sod it, I'm going there for lunch...feel free to imagine the sound of a door slamming, running steps fading away, a pause, running steps getting louder, door being unlocked...)

Went back for lunch with a friend and we both had the set tempura and sushi at £11 each. The tempura again was excellent, the star again was two big prawns, sweet and perfectly cooked, along with various veg. The sushi unfortunately was a slight disappointment, the rice was ok, but the texture was a bit hard and a bit cold. The salmon and tuna were fine, well cut but lacking any real depth of flavour. There was however also a piece of mackerel nigiri which had much more going for it, great melting texture and lots of flavour. There were also a couple of california type rolls which were fine. On the side was a bowl of very good miso soup, not overly pungent or cloying but with a good delicate flavour.

Just to be clear there was nothing particularly wrong with the sushi, it was fine and reasonable value. But its in the warm dishes that the real interest lies at Aki, and for those I can heartily recommend it.