SPOTLIGHT: July, 2007
| Yakitori Sets the Thames Aflame with Burlington Bertie & Shophound Alexia |
2nd Floor, Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House street, SE1 9PH. Tel: 020 7803 0858.
Opening Times: Mon-Fri. Noon-3pm, 5-11.30 pm;
Sats. Noon-11.30pm.
Suns.Noon-10.30pm.
Average Price: £25. Wine by the glass: from £3.
Wheelchair accessible
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Blackfriars, Southwark, Waterloo, Embankment.
 Burlington Bertie's Accommodation Choice:
 Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 2PB.
This is 5-star comfort in elegantly opulent architectural splendour with an unrivalled Thames-side view overlooking Westminster Bridge, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament opposite. Enjoy air-conditioned en-suite rooms and make sure you book a room with Thames view. Relax after sightseeing in the hotel's indoor pool while your partner enjoys a treatment in the spa, before making the pleasant five minute riverside walk to the Skylon Restaurant at the Royal Festival Hall. Boat trips upriver to the 15th Hampton Court Palace Summer Festival or downriver to the 11th Greenwich and Docklands Festival, (see Out & About in London June for details) start from the Millennium Pier just opposite the hotel.
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South Bank dining has just gotten better! And if, like us, you have a taste for Japanese cooking, it's gotten better still!
There are now over 100 Japanese sushi bars and restaurants in the West End, City and Docklands. These range from the Metropolitan Hotel's expensive Nobu in Park Lane to the ubiquitous Wagamama and Yo Sushi chains dotting London's High Streets. Japanese chefs are sparse upon the ground south of the river however. With the exception of one nondescript establishment at Greenwich and the excellent Edo at Dulwich, exponents of Japanese cuisine have not crossed the Thames.
Until now! Welcome Bincho Yakitori!
Bincho opened its doors on the 2nd floor of the Oxo Tower this week, where it joins the select company of our favourite Oxo Tower Restaurant.
Yakitori. Wikipedia photo.
Yakitori is the Japanese take on the Turkish Kebab or Georgian Shashlik; bite sized pieces of surloin beef, chicken breast or Pacific prawn marinated and skewered on bamboo and then seared on red hot coals. Yakitori is immensely popular in Japan and visitors will see yakitori charcoal grill stands in the streets of every town. Beef cooked this way is seared just enough to singe the outside to a crisp crunch while leaving the inside tenderly succulent. Chicken breasts are brushed with a soy sauce marinade during the cooking to keep the meat moistly tender and are served up a delicious golden brown. The Japanese spice up their soy marinades with ginger, garlic, chives and rice wine or sherry.
As might be expected of any restaurant at the Oxo Tower, the view from the window tables is stunning. The proprietors expect and hope however that the sights, sounds and smells of the open fire charcoal grills, as they cook your order aromatically before your eyes, will prove more diverting than the passing river traffic.
At the time of writing the restaurant's website gives little indication of the culinary pleasures we can expect to accompany the aromas emanating from their grills, but the Proprietor promised us that by the time you read this, full details should be online. Expect however variations on the charcoal fired grill theme with a variety of meats and seafood. As with most Far Eastern dishes, yakitori meats are cooked fast and served piping hot to the plate.
Bincho is in distinguished culinary company at Oxo Tower and we hope for great things. The secret of great Japanese cooking lies in the quality of the meat and fish used and we are promised the best. We look forward to dining at the Bincho grill. But if you eat there before us, send us your review!
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