I love sushi, but we haven’t been to a new Japanese restaurant in months because I have exhausted all the Japanese restaurants around us. All that’s left is West London, which is far! Lol. I’d come across quite a few Japanese restaurants in West London but there was always something missing (most of them just didn’t have enough on the menu for Shiima). Then I found Kiru.
Kiru is a contemporary Japanese restaurant in Chelsea. It’s located on a quiet corner a few minutes away from South Kensington station, and it’s beautiful. It’s an elegant restaurant but it does have an edge to it, especially with the very beautiful mural that’s prominently located. The staff is very friendly as well.
Kiru’s menu is really clean and simple to understand and the restauant offers a very good selection of dishes – a lot of what you’d expect and quite a few more innovative dishes.
What we ordered
We ordered Padron Peppers and Dashi Gyoza for appetizers. Popcorn Shrimp and Chicken Karaage from tempura. Chicken and beef anticucho miso kushiyaki skewers. Chicken teriyaki and balsamic miso pork belly from the signature dishes. For my sushi, I ordered a piece of all their signature sushi, unagi sashimi, and the signature Rainbow Roll. Seems like a lot… if you don’t know how we get down lol
Review of the food
Appetizers
The Dashi Gyoza was a tad tasteless, because we couldn’t really taste the chicken and prawn filling, but the padron peppers were decent, what you’d hope for when you order them.
Tempura
Both the chicken kaarage and the popcorn shrimp were excellent. Actually, the chicken kaarage was beyond excellent and it’s the best we’ve ever tasted. The tempura on the chicken was the perfect amount and tasted very light, leaving you to enjoy the superb flavour of the chicken. It was served with a selection of sauces, which were all excellent especially the spicy sauce.
The popcorn shrimp was really good too. Like the chicken kaarage, the tempura was very light and the shrimp was very fresh. It got served with a selection of mayo, and I loved the wasabi mayo.
Skewers
I ordered the beef and Shiima the chicken. I had a little piece of Shiima’s chicken and the chicken was succulent and had the right amount of anticucho miso, but I would’ve wanted it much spicier as it didn’t have any kick to it. Same with the beef… soft succulent beef, perfectly marinated, but I would’ve preferred it spicier.
Signature Dishes
My balsamic miso pork belly was incredible. As you can see it’s beautiful, but it even tasted better than it looks. Soft melt in the mouth pieces of pork belly perfectly marinated in balsamic miso. I loved it, and I can’t wait to have it again.
Shiima’s chicken teriyaki was excellent. Their teriyaki sauce is perfectly balanced and not too sweet, it’s one of the best we’ve had. The amazing teriyaki sauce matched with perfectly grilled succulent chicken makes for a winning dish.
Sushi
The signature sushi were all excellent, but the added extras to each piece of sushi didn’t really stand out or move me… what stood out was the freshness and the taste of each piece of fish, which in each case overpowered the extra.
Eel (Unagi) sashimi was excellent as always.
The Rainbow roll was exactly like the signature sushi, in that each unique piece of fish that topped a piece of roll overpowered the roll with its freshness and taste. I was happy with this because I love fresh raw fish, but if you’re not so much into raw fish, this might not be for you.
Dessert?
We looked at the dessert menu, but as we expected, we weren’t intrigued by any dessert on offer.
Verdict
We really enjoyed our dinner experience at Kiru. The restaurant is beautiful, the food is even better at the service is very attentive and friendly. We recommend for anyone who enjoys Japanese food, foodies, dates (both romantic and casual), family dinners, and groups (a lot of their tables seem to sit 5-6 people). Do bare in mind that Kiru is expensive.
Cuisine: Contemporary Japanese
Dress Code: Casual
Shiima’s Star Dish: Chicken kaarage
Amen’s Star Dish: Balsamic miso pork belly
Price: £50+ per person
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Kiru
2 Elystan Street
Chelsea Green, London, SW3 3NS
Book at OpenTable
Or call 020 7584 9999
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