Jidori

4 Reviews on “Jidori”

• Johnny Pan

  Jidori is a very decent place to experience Japanese yakitori. The atmosphere was pretty relaxed and casual and the staff were easy-going. The must try items on the menu has to be the katsu curry scotch egg (a simple yet effective taste of fusion which ranked in Timeouts top 100 food to try in London) and the pork in the larger items. The aubergine was delicious as well. The other items were decent but a bit light in taste

  July 7, 2020, 3:01 pm

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• Alice Gee

  I’ve been looking forward to a visit to Jidori for a while The first time we attempted was during the soft launch and there is queue out the door in the rain. The second time was on a Sunday night, when they are closed.Decor is pretty with pastel blue laminate tables, pale grey crafty looking tableware and soft lighting. Acoustics are terrible though. Unbelievably noisy when the restaurant is full.Food was quite uneven. Our vegetable starters of marinated cucumber and spinach ohitashi were both very good. Hunks of cucumber were lightly pickled, and both sweet and spicy with plenty of garlic. Surprisingly hearty and satisfying for a cucumber dish. Spinach was dressed with dashi and very slightly sweetened sesame paste. The tsukune, minced chicken with egg yolk, was the best of our yakitori’s. Nicely charred with a a delicious sauce of raw egg yolk beaten with soy. Very flavorful. Chicken hearts and bacon were okay, but hadn’t been on a very hot part of the grill, so were missing that char grilled flavor. Wings were pleasant with a squeeze of citrus, but I found a portion of two flatlets for 4 rather steep. Again, not particularly charred tasting.Yaki onigiri was truly unpleasant, in terms of texture, scent and flavor. Hard, dry and with a weird whiff of something unappetizing and perfume-like. The aubergine with miso butter yakitori was bad as well. Tough, under cooked, and totally devoid of flavor.We shared the only dessert on the menu, and it was a wondrous thing. Ice cream garnished with crunchy bits of candied ginger, served with a miso caramel sauce, paper thin shards of sweet potato crisps and black sesame praline. Just beautiful with an intriguing balance of flavors and textures. I would come back for the dessert alone. One of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time.We only had one beer between us, and a light dinner for two came to just under 20 a head, including service. Do not miss the dessert here.

  July 9, 2016, 2:00 am

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• Vito

  It is easy to summarise the Jidori experience, three words is all it is needed. These are NOT WORTH REPEATING. And that is generous, in its implication that one could at least visit once. I’d better then say that two words is all that is needed. These are STAY AWAY. This is a coolness coated (cool location, cool minimalist decor, bite sized dishes) hangout that has nothing to with food and all to do with money spinning. If you really need to know, what it does is delivering Japanese street food (mostly chicken), of insipid taste and in micro sizes. Enough said.

  June 25, 2016, 5:58 pm

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• Vi Vian Woo

  Jidori, Dalston Jidori was fresh – to the restaurant scene in Dalston, as they had just opened in December 2015 – and bright. The good lighting condition meant that we could read the menu properly but the bonus came in photographing food. In any case, Jidori needed that lighting. Because without an obvious front sign, it was quite tricky to find. You would want to look out for an eatery with a mixture of white to cream coloured interior of stools and bar seat. And of course, the obvious bar area.Jidori prides themselves on their poultry (Jidori is a special breed of free-range chicken) hence the menu has a spectrum of chicken dishes from eggs, breast, thighs to parson’s nose! Yup, you read it right; even parson’s nose! Dishes were priced in the range of 3.00 – 6.00, so expect tapas like portions. The distinction of starters to the yakitoris (skewer food) was mainly because Jidori specialises in skewer food. It adopts the casual and free style of serving food as and when it was ready. Jidori is perfectly good as a casual midweek dinner. Larger groups are also welcomed but an odd number of people would make it difficult to split the dishes evenly.We didn’t book a table, taking for granted that as it was midweek there would be no problem, and we were early. The evening turned out to be busy but not packed so it had a good buzz. It is not everyday that I let someone else take full authority in ordering but with Tamsin, being a food devotee and enthusiast I knew I would be in good hands. I did silently pray she was going to save some room for dessert. And, she did, good girl! The easy part of the dessert was that there was only one choice. So, I’m starting with my favourite two.chilled udon, onsen egg and togarashi 5.00 the udon I felt was so slightly overdone because of the mushiness but the onsen egg was fabulous and was undoubtedly the best egg among the dishes we had.hearts and bacon 4.00 plump, juicy and oh yes, hearty!crab and sweetcorn croquettes, chilli mayonnaise 5.00 they didn’t have the strips of crab meat filling that I had hoped for but the croquettes did haul a good crustacean flavour and were delicious with the chilli mayonnaise. mizuna salad with tofu 4.00aubergine and miso butter 3.50 perfect meaty aubergine with a salty, buttery spread. katsu curry scotch egg 5.00 the curry sauce sounded strange at first but was imperative. On it’s own, I found the meat quite densed, dry and a little plain. tsukune (minced chicken and egg yolk) 4.50 runny egg yolk thrills me every time, even if this was our third egg dish on the night. Again, I found the meat on the dryish side but the sweet wobbly egg sauce really did the job. ginger ice-cream, miso caramel, sweet potato crisps and black sesame praline 5.00 the ingredients, flavour combination and texture were a winner for me. The presentation is an artful mess that I would want to look at. The ice-cream was gingery but the cream was somewhat stronger and overtook the taste of it and the miso caramel gently curbs the taste to a savoury finish delicious nevertheless and could be a winning dessert. It just needed that little gingery piquancy. I do feel a little dreadful writing about the slight imperfections of Jidori because I really really wanted to like it; Japanese in East London was almost too perfect for me. Jidori is just a stone’s throw from the Dalston and Kingsland overground. I’d guessed that the portions were tiny but even with the spread I found myself having a Frikadellen, or two when I got home, and the hubby giving me a questioning glance. Seeing that we were scooping the traces of egg yolk like gold, only stopping short of licking the plate because we were in the public eye, I liked Jidori, but not as much as I had wanted to. vi-vian.com

  June 5, 2016, 9:34 pm

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