Earlier this year, Little Clarendon Street was named one of the coolest places in the UK. The glowing report cited shops like Wild Honey and The Jericho Cheese Company, as well as community hub, Common Ground, and the now departed Wilding restaurant. Happily this prime venue has not stayed vacant for long. Kibou, the Japanese Kitchen and Bar, has opened its latest outpost in Jericho, and I went along to try out their contemporary and very stylish take on Japanese classics and street food.
The first thing to note is the impact of the reworked interior. As soon as you step through the doors, the sense of ambiance is immediate. Notes of traditional and modern Japanese design are apparent throughout, but without any of the naffness of a theme-bar. This is tasteful and beautiful and has been cleverly designed to lead you through the various spaces within the interior; from the café-style dining of the front, to the booths and more intimate tables in the central section, through to the light, buzzy conservatory and the outside space which has been zoned into dining spaces and lounging areas which I’m betting post-work cocktail-seekers will make the most of, to soak up the last vestiges of the light evenings before the clocks go back.
Second, I have to talk about the welcome, and commend the entire staff for being friendly, knowledgeable, attentive, and clearly not just passionate about what they had to offer, but very proud to be part of a great team. Mel – who helped us make some very crucial culinary decisions – knew her menu inside out, but more than this, she made us feel cared for throughout; water glasses never empty, regularly checking in to see if there was anything we needed, and clearly genuinely wanting us to savour every sip and relish every mouthful.
With sips in mind, I have a question. Why had I never come across sake colada before? Kibou’s cocktail list is full of very appealing concoctions and their mocktails are just as tempting. Sake colada was a revelation; all the sharp lime, sweet coconut and fruity pineapple of the original but swapping rum for sake, and minus the rich coconut cream which can make it a meal in its own right. This is now my favourite way to colada.
I haven’t even got onto the food yet and it is so good that it feels rude to not have started by at least giving it a quick shout out. With Mel as the angel on our shoulder, encouraging us to try more than we could possibly manage, we ate our way around the menu, starting with a selection of the sharers and small plates including Dynamite Prawns (fat, sweet prawns smothered in spicy sauce); Takoyaki (dumpling pops of pure umami scattered with bonito flakes); Tuna Tartare (a masterclass of contrasts; the melt-in-the-mouth clean taste of raw fish against crispy, chewy deep-fried tempura nori – kind of a hot take on fish and chips); duck bao bun (all the flavours of crispy duck pancakes but elevated by a bun which was plumper than a five star hotel pillow); and the sushi tacos with a choice of fillings of which I highly recommend the prawn, is served in its elongated shape and in a light tempura batter.
Next up came the mixed platter of sashimi, futomaki and nigiri with an additional plate of the Wagyu Truffle Nigiri on the side. The futomaki was Kibou’s signature spider crab in all its briny glory with a sly kick courtesy of sriracha mayo; and the fish nigiri and sashimi were exactly what they need to be – flavoursome, fresh and clean. The star of the show, though, was the A5 grade wagyu truffle sashimi. In fact, it was so good, that I inadvertently swore when I tasted it…smoky, luxuriously rare, marbled meat with truffle mayo, delicately chopped chives, a dash of wasabi, and the scantest suggestion of tempura flakes adding a critical morsel of crunch. Completely seductive, sinuously rich and silky-slippery in texture.
We were stuffed, but just had a look at the dessert menu so as not to be rude. The yuzu cheesecake looked very tempting, but we thought we couldn’t do it justice. Happily Mel disagreed. Because I was with my daughter, who was celebrating ‘birthday week’, Mel brought one over the table, complete with a celebratory sparkler, and let me tell you that together we managed to demolish the whole creamy, biscuity, citrus-scented portion.
All of this, and we didn’t even try the ramen, or the katsu curry, or the chicken karaage. Plus, the charred aubergine looks yummy, and I need to check out their cucumber salad. Kibou, I’ll be back.
kibou.co.uk
