Tucked away in a corner of Marylebone and secluded from the chaos of the Edgeware Road is Junsei, a yakitori bar with a twist. I first notice this when I sit at my table and notice that, under the reception desk is a shelf or two of vinyl – yes, real old records that form the sound backdrop with everything from Japanese City Pop to soul. It’s all part of the tradition of the Tokyo “listening bar” where customers enjoy curated music (there are DJs involved in the project) alongside skewers and sake.
I was there quite early on a Friday evening but this is a popular place – people who hadn’t booked were turned away – and quite a small one, so reservations are recommended. Junsei means “pure” in Japanese which may refer to its zero-waste policy and that means they use every part of their major ingredient, chicken. Now this may come as a bit of a culture shock to Brits when they see items like heart and gizzard listed – all beautifully skewered and presented in true yakitori fashion.
I didn’t go quite that far but did get Reba (liver) alongside Shiso Maki (breast) and Tsukune, a chicken meatball that came with a dip that included a raw egg yolk. This was all delicious, in fact, and accompanied by kushikyaki grilled vegetable skewers – I chose shitake mushrooms and courgette. The skewers are small with around five or six pieces on each and grilled over white-hot charcoal.
The Major and I enjoyed all these with a 90ml glass of “seasonal sake”. This turned out to have a pleasingly rich, smoky flavour, maybe mists and mellow fruitfulness suggested the season? It also had an almost chocolatey after taste – no doubt another reason I found it so delicious.
Before all this, though, we’d had cocktails and tiny bite-size starters which were, I think, my favourite part of the meal. There is a long list of these, described both as “plates” and also “izakaya”. The Crab Korokke just melted in the mouth, a tiny croquette topped with caviar. While the Grilled Hotate was a diver scallop with eryingi mushroom and shoyu butter so delicious that I truly regretted having nothing to mop it up with. Served in the biggest scallop shell I’ve seen, the scallop itself was again in tiny bite-size pieces.
We had these with Japanese-style cocktails. Mine was Sake Martini, giving the classic a bit of a twist. The Major had a Shai Prince (ha-ha), vodka based with honeycomb and apple juice: the sweetness cut through with the sharpness of the vodka. The bar which sits at the back of the restaurant (you can sit up there too and chat with the barman if you prefer) has a range of sake, shochu, spirits and wine.
There are bigger plates, Donabe, of short rib wagyu, trout or confit duck if you don’t fancy sharing. Alternatively, you can leave it up to the chef to create something for you – Omakase – with the chef’s seasonal selection that can also be accompanied by a drinks pairing. As the temperatures drop what could be better than Japanese comfort food?
Junsei, 132 Seymour Place, London W1H 1NS. For more information, and for bookings, please visit www.junsei.co.uk.
Photos by Justin DeSouza
