Reviews Defune

A Spark of Taste. Prior to me learning 'Endowment Theory' - I always know that hoarding stuff was beneficial to me and the rest of the human race. I used to collect an array of random items and some not so random. I had (ok, still have) a shoe fetish. Not trainers - shoes - which in turn means *shoeboxes*, which could be filled with all those itty bitty things that no-one else in their right mind would keep. Saturday was a day of purge. Drawers, cupboards and *shoeboxes* in the home/office were all opened and organised.

One such box contained matches, lots of matches. Small traditional boxes of matches, matchbooks and a those little 1 layer matchboxes you get at a bar that are long and thin. It reminded me that this was the overflow box to the matchbox collection that I have (still in storage). It is safe to say that from the age of 10 or so I kept a box from every restaurant that I was taken to and every restaurant that my parents went to. As I grew older and I started to smoke the matchboxes became emptier but they still accumulated in a big glass vase in my bedroom.

It dawned on me that I have not taken a box of matches from a Restaurant for sometime, now it is a business card or their URL. Long gone are the days where you got asked if you would like a table in the smoking section. The smoking ban kinda passed me by, I had stopped smoking some time before and so it did not affect me. I still watch the occasional friend brave the weather for a post-prandial puff.

Of course the lack of smoking means that not only have I put on weight but more importantly I can taste more than before. I never had a problem tasting - flavours were present in all relevant areas of the tongue but everything became a little clearer and more pronounced. The first thing that I remember being cleaner was sushi. This was some years ago now and there were not the plethora of decent Japanese restaurants in London. It all happened at the place that I still think has the best sushi chefs and the freshest fish in London - Defune.

It has literally been around for years. 2 years after I was born in fact.

It is unassuming and barely advertises itself. It sits on the corner and has some Japanese script on its signage. You walk in, always to be greeted - "ashira - shy - ma - zay" - there are a few tables and a sushi bar. A semi obscured staircase in the back right corner takes you down to a teppenyaki area, more tables and even a private room (always packed with Japanese executives). There is a cupboard down there as well, booze bottles with names on them, for regular customers!

I am not going to delve into every dish I have eaten there as that would take far too much time, instead I am going to make a plea:

Go to Defune. It is not the cheapest restaurant in the world. It has (I think) the best sushi in London.

That's all folks. Thanks for coming.

Garlic Confit Review - Every night of the Week

Excellent sushi and sashimi. Defune is certainly one of the best sushi bars in London, but it's certainly not perfect. I use to go there for many years when they were in their former premises in Blandford St when I lived nearby, and frequently took a box of their best sushi assortment home for the delectation of my wife, who is Japanese.

The 'new' premises is light and spacious restaurant (at least upstairs) is ideal for lunch and is capable of serving with the freshest ingredients, expertly put together. Today I had tai (sea bream), akagi (a shellfish) and ika (squid) that was delicious - but I had them sashimi - ie without rice. Imagine my surprise when I ordered the uni (sea urchin) as sushi and found the rice soggy. it hadn't been sufficiently well blown dry during mixing. A terrible mistake for a top sushi restaurant!

And I also ordered a mixed 'maki' box to take home to my wife an she was bitterly disappointed. Not only was the rice soggy, but the maki weren't seaweed wrapped and they mostly contained avocado! Avocado is a heresy that is only just tolerable here and is almost never served in Japan. This made the rice even soggier and the taste bland and uninteresting. There was no cucumber or daikon pickle at all! A travesty of a maki box and completely unworthy of Defune.

A popular complaint from those living in London (especially expats), is that the British capital lacks decent sushi. Sure, there's at least one of the major sushi chains (Itsu, Yo!, Feng etc.) on every high street but those hardly constitute as good sushi

The best Japanese food I've ever tasted... from London to Auckland. Bite sized, expertly prepared maki... best quality seafood treated and cut beautifully. This is proper sushi, proper sashimi... proper tempura! The shrimp tempura maki arrived warm and utterly delectable. The chefs here are incredible. It is pricey... but you pay twice the price for 10 times the quality. The downside was the wait staff... one or two of them are nice, but the lady in charge was cold, dismissive, and rude. We were treated like second class citizens. I'm unsure why... perhaps because we didn't book? It's still very much worth a visit. It is truly the best sushi I have ever tasted... pure elegant perfection.

We were visiting from America, nice little place good service. Food portion was a little small very nice presentation, it felt more like a local hangout than a touristy shop.

I had the Katsu Jyu and it was incredible! Lovely staff & great ambience. Highly recommended

One of the best authentic Japanese restaurants in Central London, reccomend sitting at the counter on the ground floor. I've become a regular after first visit. Iykyk type restaurant.

Perfect for a healthy lunch as service is prompt and efficient which is important for a busy but small restaurant serving probably the best Japanese food I have found in London or anywhere else for that matter. I've never been in the evening but I can recommend the mixed sushi hors d' oeuvre, avocado crab and black cod. It is expensive out of necessity, the sushi chef is exceptionally demanding of his raw materials to ensure perfection in presentation and taste. 3 course lunch with soft drinks including service around £85.

We got our seat but I think they double booked our table. They had to sort out the other group with something I'm not sure, but we enjoyed our evening Good food little on the expensive side But worth it if you like Japanese food

Some of the best food I've ever tasted. Fresh sushi and crisp gyoza. I could have drank the dipping sauce, it was absolutely delicious. Wonderful staff and nice ambience. Well worth the visit!