I love food.
I love exploring new restaurants, and I love trying something a little different. However, I’m also a massive culprit of getting stuck in a rut and sticking to the places that are known and comfortable. It’s not necessarily a case of loving what I know, but rather a case of me forgetting every restaurant I’ve wanted to check out, the second someone asks me where we should eat. With lockdown banning restaurants altogether for a while, I vowed that I would try all the new places I’d wanted to try for ages the second that I could. So I made lists, I did my research, and I’m looking to cross of my entire restaurant bucket list in due time. First up: Kintan UK.
What is Kintan UK?
Kintan UK is a Japanese BBQ restaurant in London, with 2 locations; one in Oxford Circus and one in High Holborn. Yakinuku Japanese BBQ is an interactive dining style in which diners select various meats, fish and vegetables, and they are brought to the table raw so you can cook them yourself using the grill in the middle of your table.
You can choose between a variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables to grill, and there are also a variety of sides and appetisers that come to your table already cooked. The grills are sunken in the centre of your table with a protective grid, so it’s almost impossible for you to cause a fire hazzard.
What did I eat?
When I eat at a restaurant, I like to sample as much as I can. In fact, in my ideal world, every restaurant would serve everything as a small plate, so that I could have multiple different tiny meals instead of one big one. Therefore, when we got to Kintan, my friend and I agreed to order a variety of meats and sides between us so we could sample a bit of everything. We ended up getting:
Already cooked
Garlic noodles
Garlic fried rice
Takoyaki
To cook
Garlic Butter Kalbi Short Rib
Duck breast
Spicy pork
Squid
What did I think?
Honestly, it couldn’t have been a better evening. The food was brilliant, I had great company, and being made to cook your food in the middle of the table provides a really lovely, social environment. Everything came so promptly and the pricing was incredibly reasonable. I’m already planning my next trip, because it’s the perfect way to have something different, with added fun.
My personal favourites were the garlic noodles and the spicy pork. The noodles were beautifully done, packed with veg and were garlicky without being overpowering. And the spicy pork – though not spicy at all in my opinion – had a beautiful sweetness to it, and was cut so thin that the pieces were amazingly tender. If you’re wondering what meat to get, I would definitely recommend that.
Is Kintan worth it?
In short, yes.
I split 3 meats, one seafood option, garlic noodles, takoyaki, garlic fried rice and sake with a friend of mine, and it came to £32 (Well, actually £22 thanks to Eat Out to Help Out). For the amount of food I had (Which I definitely didn’t need – next time I’d order less) and the overall quality, atmosphere and experience, I’d say it was more than worth it! If, like me, you’re always looking for something a little different when you’re after a place to eat, I’ve got your something different right here. Head to Kintan on Oxford Circus, you won’t regret it.
Have you tried Kintan or similar? Do you want to? Let me know in the comments!
Lots of love,
Jas xx
Wanna visit Kintan eventually? Pin it on Pinterest…
I love this idea! And that restaurant sounds amazing, I will definitely add it to my list if I travel to London or Oxford at some point 🙂
Honestly I loved the idea too! Let me know if you ever get to try it x
This looks like such a great place to eat, my stomach is already grumbling. I’ll definitely have to check it out sometime!
Let me know if you get a chance to! x