Latest favourites and wishlist by CeliaBrookBrown

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by lenalouise

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:23:56 +0000

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by lenalouise

Rating: 4.3

Location: 20-21 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LN, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7379 3369

Tags: japanese, hidden, family & home feel, sushi

Initially, we were just gonna pop in and order some takeaway but the restaurant looked so inviting we decided to sit down after all. The staff are attentive and it was interesting watching the sushi chef expertly cut perfect slices of sashimi :D

We had some miso soup, gyoza and a selection of nigiri with some green tea. I especially enjoyed the scallop, eel and the sea bream. The scallop was just melt-in-your-mouth delicious...smooth and creamy with a natural sweetness. Unfortunately, they didn't have any toro that day but most places I've been to don't seem to have it that often.

The bill wasn't that cheap. I think it was about Â£60 for 2 but we could have eaten more. I'd definately come back again though.

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by mif

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:24:56 +0000

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by mif

Rating: 4.3

Location: 20-21 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LN, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7379 3369

Tags: japanese, good value

It wasn't easy to find this place the first time as it is upstairs in a Japanese grocery store. It's a gem of a place. Only a few steps from Tottenham Crt Rd station, the restaurant is small, cosy and authentic with consistently delicious sushi that tastes fresh (you can see the sushi chef slicing and rolling quietly on one side of the room). The times I've been here for dinner, patrons have conversed in quiet tones so it is easy to enjoy the ambience too. By luck I've been seated in a booth each time I've dined here - they are probably the best seating you can get if you enjoy people-watching the street below but it doesn't detract from the place and delicious sushi if you don't get a booth seating.

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by osaru

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:59:24 +0000

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by osaru

Rating: 4.3

Location: 20-21 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LN, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7379 3369

Tags: japanese, perfect ambience, seafood, good value, vegetarian

A real hidden gem in Tottenham court road.

Quality of the sushi (especially the toro) is the best I have tried in London, even later in the day. A real head and shoulders above some places that serve mayonaise in next to everything.

Love the relaxed atmosphere, just feels right, like a small slice of Tokyo transported to London, not pretentious or too shabby.

Also great value for money considering the prices that get banded about for sushi in London.

Highly recommended.

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by LisaRodwell

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:26:32 +0000

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by LisaRodwell

Rating: 4.3

Location: 20-21 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LN, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7379 3369

I agree with some of the other reviewers. Good sushi. One correction is that the grocery store not surprisingly is Japanese not Korean.

I go here often for sushi at lunch and you can get a sushi special with soup. Yum Yum. Try to sit in the booths, they cozier and quieter.

Nice decor and only the people (a lot of Japanese) who know where to find it actually find it.

Bingol Restaurant - review by CeliaBrookBrown

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:25:13 +0000

Bingol Restaurant - review by CeliaBrookBrown

Rating: 4.0

Location: 551 Green Lanes, N8 0RL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8340 9691

Tags: turkish, family & home feel, cheap eat

In a forest of Turkish Ocakbasi (barbecue restaurants) which Green Lanes is famous for, this one stands out. Whole fish displayed in the window looks so fresh it's about to swim away, lamb kebabs are carefully tended by the chef in his chair-on-wheels by the grill, salads are freshly cut to order and meze are bright and individual. And it's open 24 hours.

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by CeliaBrookBrown

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:36:13 +0000

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by CeliaBrookBrown

Rating: 4.3

Location: 20-21 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LN, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7379 3369

Tags: romantic, authentic fresh Japanese food, family & home feel, good value

It's so easy to miss, but the cache of this little gem, located above a small Korean grocery behind Centrepoint, is romantic, and a usually full house of Japanese diners reflects its authenticity. Beg the eager young waiting staff for a booth by the window and you'll enjoy a smashing urban view while you feast. Daily specials such as steamed seabass (£12) are on the board next to the open-plan kitchen, where highly skilled chefs work their magic with immaculately fresh sushi and home-style dishes alike. Anyone who hasn't discovered the merits of tofu should try the Agedashi tofu (£6)--a cloud of creamy curd in the lightest batter, blanketed in a faintly sweet miso sauce. Even customary edamame and miso soup are elevated to a new level, demonstrating superlative freshness of ingredients. Tea, beer and perfect blood-temperature sake complete a genuine, unpretentious picture. A well-kept secret, worth keeping. And pick up a few goodies from the downstairs grocery on your way out!

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by nyamnyam

Sun, 27 May 2007 22:32:34 +0000

Centre Point Sushi Cafe - review by nyamnyam

Rating: 4.3

Location: 20-21 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LN, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7379 3369

Tags: quiet, peaceful, proper food, sake, good value, sushi, japanese

Finding sushi in London is easy. Finding good sushi is harder. Finding good sushi in a central location at a resonable price is seriously hard -- but you *could* try Center Point Sushi Cafe.

Actually, it's real name is the Hana Japanese Restaurant but nobody seems to call it that.

Now, the CPSC is Korean-owned like everything else in the area, but unlike the average London sushi pit it has an ACTUAL SUSHI CHEF from Japan -- not a guy who just *said* he was a sushi chef, not a Benihana-type sushi chef, a *real* sushi chef.

The quality of the raw material is, well, it's good *for London*. It varies. They have a reasonable variety -- it's worth asking for things you don't see but there's going to be a slight element of luck involved. Non-sushi food is pretty darn decent.

But what really makes this place a treasure is the atmosphere. It's so quiet, so tranquil, and it's right exactly where you need a spot of tranquility in the middle of the West End. And it's a teeny bit quirky -- not quirky enough that it's all up in your face with its quirkiness, but a *little* quirky. For example the entrance is via the inside of the Korean grocery store downstairs. And the signs are almost invisible from the street, and nobody knows it's really called 'hana', and for some reason there's a life size replica of the Golden Crown of Baekje or something near the door, just in case you forget whether it's owned by Koreans or not.

There was a time when the CPSC was so deathly quiet I feared daily for its survival. No longer -- in the last few years, it's gradually been discovered by a fairly large crowd of babbling English student types, so it's not really all that peaceful from 7 or so onward.

But for an afternoon or lunch break, you can't beat it. What are you going to do? Sit in Starbuck's? Go to Yo! or something?? Don't be absurd! I give you the CPSC -- it's got an unwieldy name, you can't see it from the street, and it's great!