Food Review: Kintan japanese BBQ London

I am going to talk about one of my favourite Japanese restaurant to eat in London.

Kintan, London’s first dedicated ‘yakiniku’ restaurant. (I certainly have not encountered something like this place before.  When I go to Japanese restaurants in London, it's always been sushi and noodles.) Yakiniku is Japanese for grilled meat, and the Japanese version is adapted from Korean barbecue. 

I went on a weekend with my sister Claire. It restaurant is easy to find, just head to Chancery Lane station and once out walk 5 mins! The place was big and because we went slightly after lunch time, it was not busy! 

Checking out the menu!

It's all DIY here: they bring you plates of lightly marinated meat and you cook it on an electric grill sunk into table. The table with a grill kind of reminded me a Korean bbq grill but it was not a hot plate where you throw your meat on, it was a grid style grill with a pot of water underneath to catch all the oil and grease! Interesting!

We ordered the Value BBQ Course

STARTERS:

Edamame - a must in Japanese cuisine, these were lovely warm and lightly salted!

Kintan salad - Nicely presented but we did not eat much of this because the other food were much more appealing and... tastier. It was an average salad really. I personally think this dish was unnecessary in the set meal.

Garlic fried noodles - DELICIOUS! These garlic noodles may sound very simple but they were absolutely delicious. My sister and I demolished the whole plate. It was very favourable! Must order! Although, it did get quite greasy towards the end, shame! We wanted more!

Tuna tartar volcano - Now, I am not sure how to describe this. It's kind of like sushi but different.  The rice below had a crunchy texture and the tuna on top was raw and lightly spiced . It tasted good, but was slightly filling. I would have been happy to try just the one piece.


Selfie, of course!

Halloumi cheese - a very random choice. It got burnt on the grill and left residue that caught fire - would not recommend eating this until the very end.

Sorry guys! I had to! XD

Miso Soup - A very typical soup in Japanese cuisine. It had the usual seaweed and tofu. The soup was average, but that's miso soup to me.

NOW, THE MAIN COURSES!

We were presented with dishes of meat and seafood.

DIY - grilling the meat!

 My favourite was the 'Premium Kalbi Short Rib - Tare Sweet Soy'  -It was so so so gooood! I love rib meat, the marinate was strong and very favourable. Really enjoyed this!

Tiger Prawns - Garlic:  I'm not usually a big fan of prawns so these tasted average to me. Maybe too bland.

Yes, it was pretty much beef galore. Maybe too much beef. I would have loved to try pork or chicken in the set meal. Don't get me wrong, it still tasted amazing...

BONUS TREAT:

This was the star of the whole meal - Japanese Wagyu beef!

Here is a definition of Wagyu Beef:

Wagyu beef is intensely marbled with softer fat, has higher percentages of monounsaturated fats, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and is lower in cholesterol than commodity beef. The combinations of these fats deliver a distinctive rich and tender flavor compared to other beef.

Now don't let the word FAT or FATTY scare you. Although, I would be too if I had not tried Wagyu before. It truly is the best type of beef... the best I've ever tried anyway. It's soooo soft and it literally breaks down/melts in the mouth. I was so amazed. First time trying Japanese Wagyu beef and I certainly was not disappointed. 

Check it out, just chilling nicely on the grill ready to be eaten...

The manager came over and explained to us that this dish was imported specially from Japan! Wow! I felt lucky ^_^ if this imported piece of beef tasted so good here, imagine eating the actual stuff in Japan? That would be my goal one day.

After the main courses, we were utterly stuffed but still made room for dessert.  The menu states "Ice Cream" and I was secretly hoping for Japanese flavours, such as Matcha or Black Sesame.

Turns out it was only Vanilla........ did I say only? The vanilla ice cream actually tasted really good.... I can't explain what the flavour was, I think it had caramel? Well, whatever it was... the vanilla ice cream hit the spot!

I had a very satisfying and enjoyable meal. Thank you Kintan!

Let's conclude this!

Service:
 Service was fast. Staff were friendly and the food was served very quick!  Additionally, the manager was super informative, told us the difference between Japanese Wagnu and Australian Wagnu. I won't start, don't worry! There is so much to learn about... beef!

Interior:
I was comfortable, the place was big and spacious and perfect for big groups.

Any other comments?
YES! I DID NOT STINK! This factor is very very important to me. One of my biggest dislike in BBQ restaurants is that I always come out smelling like burnt bbq meat... my hair, my clothes, everything! :( it's horrible and off-putting, especially if I have plans after dinner.  The grill in Kintan is different. Like I said previously, we did not need to cook the meat in fatty oil, it was done dry therefore less smoke, but the manager pointed out a secret fan around the grill that 'absorbed' all the smoke that comes out of the meat. LIKE LIKE LIKE! We walked out meat-scent free :)

Price:
Quite a pricey set meal, nearly £40 per person... which is more than what I would usually pay. But you don't need to order as much as we do! :) A few dishes are affordable. The quality of food is good, you get what you paid for right?

Location and Contact details:
34 High Holborn, London WC1V 6AE, England
Contact number: +(44)020 3150 2501
Nearest tube stop: Chancery Lane!

Website
Facebook

Opening hours:
Mon-Fri 12:00-15:00,17:00-23:00
（HAPPY HOUR 17:00～18:30）
Sat 12:00-23:00     （BRUNCH TIME 12:00～17:30）
Sun 12:00-22:00     （BRUNCH TIME 12:00～17:30）

Kintan is an international chain, you can also find them in the USA, HK and of course, JAPAN!

Thanks for reading :)