Jin Kichi

I don't like to travel far for food. Its not that because I am an inherently lazy person, I am, but that is not the real reason I don’t venture too far from Holborn. The real reason is, I think it puts too much pressure on the experience, so it is almost always going to be a letdown. Take The River Cafe. It took The Boyfriend and I at least an hour to get there, 30 minutes on the tube plus another 30 wandering through the residential streets of Hammersmith, begging residents to point us in the right direction. When we did finally arrive, everything about the place was a letdown. Impressive, given I don’t recall hearing anyone say anything bad about the The River Cafe. Ever. The food, the service, the decor (don’t even get me started on that blue carpet), were all distinctly unimpressive. Anyway, this means I am wary about leaving Zone 1, or even heading to the edges, for a restaurant.

This made my trip to Jin Kichi last week, located in Hampstead very uncharacteristic. Whilst I didn’t go just for the food, I went for the company of two friends who live locally, the food lived up to all expectations. In fact, I would happily, make the effort again. In fact, I want to make the effort to go again.

Jin Kichi itself is tiny and from the outside looks like your average Japanese Restaurant. The menu is in both Japanese and English, which is always a good sign. The layout is a bit like Dinings but it is a lot less sleek and shiny.

We started out with an egg and mushroom stew.  Personally, I didn’t love it. It was tasty, and it was interesting to have egg in a miso type broth but I probably wouldn’t order it again.

This was followed by three grilled quails eggs. I wasn’t sold by these all my two companions enjoyed these.

Next we moved on to a selection of rolls – Eel, Spicy Tuna and Salmon and Avocado. The Eel was easily the most average of the three. I felt the eel was lacking flavour and a bit of bite. The Spicy Tuna on the other hand, was to die for. I was so good we ended up ordering another. They minced the tuna which was a nice touch, which made the whole roll melt in to your mouth, whilst the spring onion provided a little bit of bite. The really interesting thing was, I didn’t notice any of the spicy mayo type sauce that is normally present in Spicy Tuna rolls. Instead it seemed as though the spices had been blended with the minced tuna. This is easily the best Spicy Tuna Roll in London. The Salmon was equally good. The salmon was fresh and gorgeous, and the sheer size of the salmon they had put into each roll was outstanding.

Next came Aubergine with bonito flakes. I had never seen bonito flakes before, and was totally entertained by them waving and moving around entirely of their own accord. I later learned that these are actually sold as cat treats in the US, which I'm glad I didn't know at the time. The aubergine was good, if a little on the smokey side.

The black cod really stood out. In so many Japanese restaurants, the black cod is often lost beneath an overpowering, yet delicious, glaze of some sort.  I find most of the time, the actually flavor of the fish is lost. Here however, the glaze was subtle and the quality and the freshness of the fish was allowed to shine. It was perfectly cooked flaking into pieces, after one gentle prod with a chopstick.

The Salmon was good in that it wasn’t covered in an overpowering glaze but sadly this was far too over cooked. It was actually difficult to break apart in the centre.

We encountered only one real problem at Jin Kichi, ignoring the overcooked salmon, which is that dining on a Sunday evening, a lot of what we wanted to try was out of stock. Next time I return, which will be soon, I will come on a weekday.

The bill came to £25.00 a head, which also included a glass of wine each. I think that is a pretty good deal. I genuinely can’t think of any competition in this price range.  I can happily say I wasn’t at all let down by Jin Kichi and it was 100% worth the journey.


Jin Kichi
73 Heath Street
Camden Town,
NW3 6UG
0207 794 6158