I went on holiday for two weeks and three new chain restaurants sprang up in Soho. WT actual F. I love Soho for its independent eateries and shunning of the high street so this causes me emotional anguish. I vehemently judge my colleague for buying sarnies from Pret, that Broadwick St eyesore (the McDonalds-owned eaterie, not my colleague). I only visited Starbucks this summer because their skinny Frappucinos with a sugar-free hazelnut shot were the closest thing I could get to an icecream on my hardcore diet (and each time I entered the air-conditioned glossy sanctum, I felt a stab of capitalist guilt).
But what about Itsu? Just because they sell raw fish doesn't make it ok. Leon kind of gets away with being a Soho-based chain, those cheeky little whippersnappers, with their brown rice and eco-friendly packaging, but Itsu has the shiny-shiny sheen of a lifeless franchise, and it freaks me out.
The thing is that they actually do half-way decent stuff - salads and sushi and whatnot, always fresh and nicely-seasoned - but since you'd be hard-pressed to get a stomach-filling meal for less than a fiver, it's simply too expensive for a generic takeaway lunch. You can get edamame beans for mere pennies at the Rice Wine Shop (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/rice-wine-shop-london#hrid:Ve7UxzZwis33InmMAOisYw) and more affordable, interesting salads virtually anywhere. Their miso soup is actively unpleasant. Nonetheless, my feelings clearly put me in a minority, because Itsu is taking over London, these premises are massive, and they're all teeming with customers.
They nudge me into offering a grudging three stars thanks to their late opening hours and vast sit-down area (the immovable high stools reek of fast-food, albeit only metaphorically). At the witching hour of 7pm they somehow transform from an overpriced takeaway lunch joint into an easy place to eat a quick, cheap, forgettable dinner. It's the same food, but I guess Itsu's secret is the same as the key to good comedy . . . salt-reduced soy sauce? Hahaha. Chopsticks, obvs. read more