Japanese Dining at Kyoto Kitchen

If you didn't already know, my all time favourite food is sushi and I could 100% eat it all day every day if I had my way. I've heard of a few nice places in Southampton and eaten in a couple but never ventured out of the city to try any Japanese delicacies.

Kyoto Kitchen in Winchester delivers the knowledge of Head Chef Shunji Irokawa with his diverse expertise and 40 years of experience combining traditional and avant-garde techniques. The Sushi chef is a 25 year old Romanian with a natural and elegant ability, using refined skills to create the perfect rolls. The restaurant has been open for over 4 and a half years and has been featured on TV, in local magazines and even on Japanese television!

I took Alice with me for lunch and we enjoyed a great service, in the fairly small but cosy space. We both enjoyed a glass of wine (me Rose wine and Alice a White wine) and were introduced to the traditions by the friendly manager. Our spread included some amazing food and it was accompanied by fresh (yes you heard - FRESH) wasabi that is grated at your table in front of you! It's a tad spicier than normal wasabi but was a really nice personal touch and I've not seen this in a restaurant before.

We started with the Ebi Tempura, and anything in tempura is good with me. This was shrimp tempura fried and delicious. We then enjoyed the Poppy Crusted Tuna Sashimi and this was so fresh and tasty I could have eaten the whole plate! Next was the Nanbanzuke (such a speciality t's not on the menu so request this one) which is tender pieces of salmon in vinegar with onion and vegetables which sounds strange but trust me it's lovely. This came alongside the Scallops Ume Shiso (which also isn't actually on the menu, you have to ask for it it's that good!) which was also extremely refreshing to have food that was so tender and flavourful.

The last two dishes were the full masterpieces, starting with the Winchester Roll (which is also available gluten free as well) accompanied by the Sashimi Trio which uses wasabi leaf instead of seaweed to hold it all together. It's such a delicacy and uses wasabi leaf and trout from Europes only local farm in Winchester. The second was my absolute favourite and as I'm writing this I'm contemplating ordering a takeaway it's THAT good. The Salmon Miso Teriyaki is a sight to behold as well as being so warm and inviting I was gutted i had to share it (sorry alice). The grilled salmon was cooked to perfection and the golden potato cakes are literally to die for so I would 1million% recommend this dish.

Thank you so much Kyoto Kitchen for a lovely meal and it was so nice to visit a restaurant with such a focus on quality and having that authentic and personal touch.

Find their website here: www.KyotoKitchen.co.uk

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Complimentary meal for review purposes, plus I'm obsessed with sushi as you know!