Abeno Too
Restaurant - Japanese in London
17-18 Great Newport Street
London
Greater London
WC2H 7JE
Contact Numbers
Reviews
AbenOrdinary
Abeno Too is an 'Okonomi-yaki' restaurant. I have no idea of the literal translation of this phrase, but as far as I can make out from my lunch there on Saturday afternoon, it's probably something like "egg and rice patties, cooked on a hot plate in front of you". Which isn't quite as catchy as 'Okonomi-yaki', so I can see why they've gone with the Japanese.Apparently these kind of gaffs are all the rage over in Japan, and it certainly felt very authentic with the all-Japanese waiting staff and wooden bench seating. As for the food itself, well, maybe I'm missing something. I got the impression it was a twisted Japanese take on American food, in much the same way we consider Chicken Tikka Masala to be Indian. I ordered a Pork (actually bacon) Deluxe and a vegetable noodle omelette thingy, the omelette thingy arriving first and rather disappointingly already cooked from an extra hidden kitchen out the back somewhere. It was dressed with what was billed as "Japanese brown sauce and Japanese mayonnaise", but which tasted for all the world like Heinz and Helman's. It tasted pretty much like you'd expect - noodles and vegetables, wrapped in egg.The Okonomi-yaki patty itself was, thankfully, cooked with a bit more theatre. The ingredients arrived raw in a metal bowl, with a whole egg yolk perched proudly on top. Our waiter then unceremoniously mashed up everything together vigorously and poured the mixture onto the hot plate. Once ready, we split up the patty with our little paint scraper tools into bitesize portions and wolfed it down. It tasted, again, rather like you'd expect fried egg and rice with bacon to taste - "familiar" I think is the word. In fact, it's probably true to say that were it not for the extra excitement of seeing your food prepared in front of you, the cuisine at Abeno would be considered too dull to be worthy of a prime location in the centre of our nations capital. I can perhaps see how this kind of thing would work in Japan, where the fusion of European and Japanese ingredients may seem exotic and different, but when I saw the contents of the metal bowl being mashed up and dropped onto the heat all I could think was "I could have done this myself, at home, and it would have cost about 50p".But then again, maybe I'm missing something.
A User - 10/12/2008 | report this review
Okonomiyaki in central London
I was introduced to Okonomiyaki by an ex-work colleague, who adored it and insisted that we all go to Abeno for her work leaving do. I'd never heard of it before and was intrigued, some googling told me that it was a Japanese style omelette, native of Osaka. Hmmmm. I was wondering what could this Japanese style omelette be like? So, off we trotted, I keen as mustard with the idea of a new culinary discovery awaiting me. Abeno Too, is situated just off Leicester Square, and has a large centre counter with teppan grills and a few tables to the side with teppan grills in the centre. So, it's warm. Very warm. They offer a variety of dishes from the aforementioned okonomiyaki, to soba dishes and a wide range of starters and desserts. We opted for the okonomiyaki and the prawn yaki-soba and within minutes they were making them in front of use and shortly after, we were eating it.So what is it? Well, omelette isn't a fair term, the base is cabbage and some okonomiayi flour with a little egg and then other ingredients depending on your choice, mine was prawn, squid and salmon. As can be expected of most Japanese restaurants, the produce was extremely fresh and flavoursome. I really liked the okonomiyaki, although it tended on the heavy side, and having been to Japan since where they're a little more moist, I wonder if they've been adapted to our Western tastes e.g. bacon and cheese doesn't seem all that traditionally Japanese. My other gripe is that, while it's not expensive, it is a little expensive for what you get. What's going for it? It's fun, sociable, different, central and fresh. That's enough reason to go, and I've gone there again since. I do prefer their sister branch, Abeno, near the British Museum. It's more intimate and cosy, consisting mainly of tables and away from the madding crowd in Leicester Square.
A User - 10/11/2008 | report this review
Japanese pancakes
When i heard UK's first or Europe for that matter, okonomiyaki restaurant in London i was excited. The food is very amazing, and it is cooked in front of you, so a bit like a mini version of teppanyaki. I got to admit the space is not particular comfy or spacy. i do advise to sit near the window where there is more leg room. Also i feel bad for saying this.. but the cost of these okonomiyaki is well over priced compared to Japan, but then again its about supply and demand. This place is definite a place to come eat if you have not tried Okonomiyaki.
A User - 06/06/2008 | report this review
Authentic Japanese!
I love this place. Just like in Japan.
Barbara Obersby - 02/05/2008 | report this review
High Recommended
t's a bit pricey but deff worth going. I luv the fact that you can put your coats and bags below the wooden seats so you won't need to worry if your coats will smell after.The salad is deff a must try and i luv their yakitori.
A User - 04/11/2007 | report this review
japanese but no sushi!
Abeno is a little restaurant near Leicester square station that I had never spotted before but is known by the right people. The seating was wooden and bench like but a bit squashed. (the benches were good in that you could open the top up and put your bags in there! - they should do that at wagamamas). There were hot plates on top of each table to enable the one lady to make certain dishes (more of that soon…). As it was a nice sunny day outside, it became unbearably hot inside the restaurant. But the food made up for the space!We started with sunomon which is a seaweed and cucumber pickle to whet our appetite. For starters, tofu and avocado gyoza (dumplings) which sounds weird but were divine. At the same time the the lady described above started making okonomi yaki which is a pancake like dish made on the hot dish. It contains batter, eggs, spring onions and various other things and you can then add a “topping†which actually goes in between the batter mixture. We chose chicken, asparagus and cheese which tasted lovely. Before the dish is served the lady put Japanese mayo, some brown sauce, seaweed and fish flakes on top of the pancake and then we helped ourselves. It was very unusual and nothing I had seen before but well worth the heatwave! Ps: if you like chilli eat the chilli with this (not too hot but gives it that extra oomph). It might sound gross but it is a really tasty omlette like dish!We also had as our second main om soba which is a rolled egg and noodle pancake. Our one contained prawns. The pancake was covered in Japanese mayonnaise, tomato sauce and another sauce. You'd think that between the three of us that this would be enough but we decided to share dessert as well so had the summer specials of strawberry layer dessert and lime and jelly (I cant remember the Japanese name of the jelly). Both were refreshingly light and delicious. The restaurant space is not good but the food more than compensates for it. If you want Japanese but not a fan of sushi this is highly recommended.
A User - 12/08/2007 | report this review
Great food
I really enjoyed the food & the atmosphere was great. Would recommend a visit.
Ian Trayler - 12/12/2006 | report this review
Taste of Japan
This is like no other japanese restaurant I've ever been to, they cook the food on a little hot plate in front of you, and cook some kind of japanese omlette thing, its fantastic. Really tasty lots of great new things non the menu, try the avacardo gyoza. They also have a big box which you sit on that you can store your coats and things in!
Phil Geraghty - 12/12/2006 | report this review
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