Review
Price: 2 people, £40-60
Out
with friends in South Kensington a while ago and so far from hungry, I was told
I absolutely had to eat at Dozo with them. The sushi was amazing, they said.
The sunken floor, small space and charming service would thrill me, they said.
Stuffed from a lunch a couple of hours earlier, I plumped for some endamame
beans and a few pieces of salmon nigiri. Not overly adventurous. But how
disappointed I was that I wasn’t hungry! The nigiri was perfect at just above
room temperature; soft, sweet, moreish. I decided I had to get myself hungry
and bring my darling here for dinner sometime soon.
We
ventured out on the only rainy day of the summer for an early dinner. The small
space and welcoming staff screams that the food on offer will be comforting and
simple. We decided to push the boat out and order everything we fancied. The
menu is so designed, that food will arrive as and when it’s ready. We plumped
for spicy endamame, gyoza, black tiger prawn tempura, salmon roe nigiri, salmon
nigiri, California maki, volcano maki and a chicken katsu. A bit excessive, but
I was all pumped up and we got carried away.
The
nigiri was just as I remembered it. The endamame, a comforting treat. The gyoza
were packed full of their well-seasoned, wonderfully balanced minced meat,
vegetable, ginger, wine mix. Brilliant up until now, we meet the stars of the
day. The black tiger prawn tempura started out as the longest, plumpest prawns
that you could ever hope for. A good start. And then the tempura batter was
light, crisp, in many layers and keeping those little pink darlings in their
own sweet moisture. The katsu was everything you hope for when you settle on Japanese
but are so often not presented with – the chicken fillet was thin and crispy
but still moist and the crumbs were non-greasy. The rice sticky and with a tiny
bite. A fresh crisp salad. And there we have a wonderful chicken katsu - but
the delicate pickled peppers add a crunch, sourness and sweetness that put a
zing and extra life into everything else. And thanks to the bento box serving
style, I was transformed into my 13-year-old self, barely able to control my
excitement.
Despite
all this, I still haven’t got to the revelation of the meal. We had decided to
go for the volcano maki on the recommendation of a friend. Not a terrible fan
of eel at the best of times and intrigued as to whether an eel sauce mixed with
a mayonnaise on top of what we hoped would be delicately prepared and balanced
maki, would be too heavy and too sickly. We should have had no worries. The eel
was soft and sweet, the avocado brought a real freshness, the leek and cucumber
a little bite. But the eel sauce and mayonnaise was moreish and not in the same
neighbourhood as heavy. Slightly warm and already thin, it was just the perfect
slightly sweet, slightly sharp, creamy sauce to marry the fish and veg.
We
did turn up famished and ordered a lot, so spent a fair amount. But we felt we
had experienced something very special and that a normal appetite and ordering
would leave you spending £40-60 for dinner for 2 people. At which price, I
would eat there twice a week if I lived any closer. This is an absolute must go
if you’re in London.
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