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Local: Pubs, bars, shops, restaurants: Dotori review

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorben
    • CommentTimeJul 10th 2008
     
    I've just had a quick meal at the new Korean-Japanese restaurant, opposite the Twelve Pins, and I want to recommend it. Nice atmosphere, even though the location isn't all that promising, and the sushi that I had was really excellent. It wasn't full, but a few new people came in while I was there. Keep it alive!
    • CommentAuthorIan
    • CommentTimeJul 10th 2008
     
    I'll definitely be giving it a go. I nearly went myself this evening but had sushi for lunch
    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeJul 11th 2008
     

    i'll be going, too

  4.  
    I have never got into sushi partly because my partner cannot abide the idea of eating raw fish. I will eat anything. Can someone please explain its appeal and tell me what to eat - is one obliged to eat whalemeat?
    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeJul 11th 2008 edited
     

    Not all sushi contains fish. Get her to try some veggie sushi

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi

    • CommentAuthorben
    • CommentTimeJul 11th 2008
     
    They also have a large range of cooked Korean dishes.
  7.  
    when it's done right, sushi and sashimi is fantastic. i haven't eaten meat or poultry in 15 years, but i have no problem eating raw fish. you just have to try it once. i doesn't taste how you think it would.

    but it must be done right. the fish must be fresh. if you've never had it before, start off at a place like hana, who've gotten it right every time we've had their food. i had their salmon and tuna box on wednesday. it was delicious, and not bad value for money, when you consider the quality of the food.
    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeJul 11th 2008
     

    bento box in camden does brilliant food, too

    and tokyo diner in china town

  9.  
    ooh, i love tokyo diner!

    the japan centre is great for cheap sushi and lots of other japanese delights. the quality is not the same as at a 'proper' restaurant, but at that price, i can eat sushi every day.

    there's another excellent japanese restaurant in soho. i think it's on brewer street. a japanese friend took me there last year, and everything we ordered was divine. the english descriptions on the menu were a bit vague, though, so she had to order for me.
    • CommentAuthorLiz
    • CommentTimeJul 11th 2008
     

    @ MFL - a bit like RC, I don't eat meat but have been eating fish for about the last 6 years and loving my sushi! The taste is different from other stuff, but if you like smoked salmon or raw tuna steak then you'll like sushi. RC is also totally right about veggie sushi, which is lovely, or at proper Japanese places you can get veggie tempura, noodle dishes, tofu and so on.

    If you don't fancy wading through the v detailed wiki entry, here's a v basic guide (sorry if it's too basic but I had no bloody clue what I was doing the first couple of times I went to a sushi place so I assume that others might be in the same boat!).

    Sushi: this is the stuff with raw fish, rice and sometimes seaweed. Comes in two main types: rolls (fish in the middle, then rice, then often wrapped in sheets of seaweed, rolled up and cut into four or five pieces), and nigiri (blocks of rice with fish on the top, comes singly so you can test different kinds out without having to commit yourself to a whole plateful of the same thing).

    Sashimi: this is just slices of raw fish and it's usually more expensive per piece than sushi because you get a lot more fish. Sushi is probably an easier place to start if you're not quite sure how you feel about it.

    Then there are usually three things to go with your sushi/sashimi:

    Soy sauce: no explanation required! Wasabi: Japanese horseradish sauce, very hot - you mix a bit of it with the soy sauce in the little bowls they give you then dip your sushi in it. Picked ginger: I think this is meant to cleanse your palate in between pieces.

    I'm sure I've got lots of stuff wrong and others will add!

    • CommentAuthorkatiejane
    • CommentTimeJul 11th 2008
     
    A very very easy place to start would be an omelette nigiri. Eggs and rice - what's not to like?

    The key to it, according to my Japanese friend who makes wonderful sushi, is that it must be freshly made and eaten and not refrigerated, as this dries the rice out.

    I don't really get sashimi. I'm a wee bit squeamish about it anyway, but it really doesn't taste of anything at all.
    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeJul 12th 2008
     

    I agree the brewer street one is pretty good. i used to go there for my lunch

    japan centre is not cheap to sit down, not tried the sushi bar.

  13.  
    @ matt - you're right. i didn't mean the sit down restaurant at the japan centre. i meant the sushi takeaway downstairs (and now in the shop next door). it's lovely to get a couple packs and eat them in the park on a sunny day.
  14.  
    Hmmm. Thanks guys - I don't see a romantic sushi dinner coming up any time soon. My partner will not touch rice either. This does rather limit one's dining experience.

    Sounds like it will have to be a sushi boy's night out. :-)
  15.  
    London's premier sushi can be had after a preprandial mission on the piccadilly line. Sushi Hiro is exactly opposite Ealing Common station but you do have to book and its cash only. Some rather odd opening hours too.
    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2008 edited
     

    I got a nice booklet/directory of Japanese restaurants around the country from Tokyo Diner

    Mike, I'll come and have sushi with you! strictly business of course

    • CommentAuthortosscat
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2008
     

    Fuji Hiro in Leeds is one of my favourite restaurants (more like a cafe) in the world.

    • CommentAuthorColette
    • CommentTimeJul 16th 2008
     
    I used to work right by the Japan Centre. I pine for it almost every day.
    • CommentAuthorColette
    • CommentTimeJul 16th 2008
     
    @Matt - fancy trying the new Korean place sometime soon if you haven't already?
    • CommentAuthorIan
    • CommentTimeJul 16th 2008
     
    I went on Saturday. My review is:

    better place (i.e. cleaner) than seven sisters.

    Inauspicious start. We sat down and nobody came to seat us and give menus. After five minutes or so we got our own menus.

    Very cheap starter - dumpling soup - was really nice

    Sashimi - good, but we ordered the big plate and he came back with the small as he hadn't got any sea bass. He had also put on octopus and the like instead of sea bass without asking which was not great for my kosher friend. Perfectly nice but could have handled it better.

    Maki - good taste, enjoyed it but came after the sushimi which we had already gobbled up.
    Afterwards they gave us korean rice balls which were curiously pleasant.

    Overall very good value for money (cheap) but not as generous sashimi slices as Seven Sisters Rd place. Waitress accidentally gave us too much change, then tried to disagree when we tried to correct it which was charming.

    I'll definitely be frequenting. After all it is nearer and I love sushi.
  21.  
    I went last night with my g/f and I will be going back, but I hope that the service improves.

    As seems to be the norm, they took quite a while to bring us the menus and our drinks which when they arrived my g/f's white wine was about as cool as argyle socks. The food was very nice, but in a wagamama style they just brought things out as and when ready which is fair enough if they tell you and you know, but I'd ordered my sashimi as a starter and got it after my Korean hot pot.

    Both my starter and main were very good and well priced. My g/f is vegetarian and we said this at the start and ordered a tofu noodle soup - imagine her suprise when she found a prawn in it.... I was all ready to complain, but she would not let me as she felt sorry for them as they are new.

    To sum up, it's no Zuma, but for the price it's very good - they just need to get the absolute basics right like getting you the menu and drinks quickly and bringing dishes in the correct order - they mentioned they will do take-away soon...they seem to only just manage to cope now...let alone with orders coming in over the phone. I really hope the place survives as we need more variety than Chicken, Kebab and Pizza joints in out area. They are on to a winner here, but like Bruce Lee tells us...they must focus!
    • CommentAuthorPhil
    • CommentTimeJul 18th 2008
     

    Bruce Lee also said "YEEEEEEY AAAHH WOOOOH!"

    But that's not much use when you're in the restaurant business.

  23.  
    Well, what about Bruce Lee's shaolin style noodles - they've got a real kick!
    • CommentAuthorLiz
    • CommentTimeJul 18th 2008
     

    Needs to go on the Directory, I think - any volunteers who have been and can put the map pin in the right place?

    • CommentAuthordion
    • CommentTimeJul 30th 2008
     

    We went to Dotori last week.

    We were too late for sushi apparently which we didn't quite understand so were forced into choosing from the Korean half of the menu.

    I had raw beef with egg yolk, rice and vegetables. Sounds odd but was delicious, loads of different flavours and was really fresh and very tasty.

    Would definitely go again. If it were on SGR, I think it would do a roaring trade but its location won't be putting me off next time.

    • CommentAuthordion
    • CommentTimeJul 30th 2008
     

    Oh, and the service was very good - friendly and efficient.

    My only criticism is that my beer could have been colder, but I do like my beer really, really cold.

    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeJul 30th 2008
     

    When we went they had run out of tuna, which I think given that somebody else had that excuse means that they simply aren't doing fresh tuna just yet?

    Understandable due to costs if you only have a small customer base.

    • CommentAuthorEmma
    • CommentTimeJul 31st 2008
     
    Ooooh this all looks really promising. I will go as soon as I have the £££!
    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeAug 4th 2008
     

    Just drove past on my way home, hoping to grab something there tonight, only to find it's closed?

    What are it's opening hours/days?

    Have added it to the map.

    • CommentAuthortosscat
    • CommentTimeAug 5th 2008
     

    It closes on Saturday afternoon too.

    • CommentAuthorandy
    • CommentTimeAug 5th 2008
     

    It was open at lunch today, but I had already eaten. WIll def go for the set lunch next week.

  32.  
    Is this place incredibly cheap?

    I ask because it seems that people want to go there despite crap service, etc. I would not go back to a place that made me wait so long for a menu that I had to get it myself. Nor to a place that consistently didn't have the items listed on their menu. There's nothing wrong with a limited menu. Just get a blackboard and write down what it is that you do have.

    As a vegetarian of 15 years, I would not go to a place where the chef doesn't understand that vegetarian = no prawns. And as far as making substitutions without checking, that's just ridiculous.

    I've just ordered some food from Hana. After I hung up the phone, the girl called me back to check that it was okay to put egg into a dish that I had specifically ordered as vegetarian. Now that's good service.
    • CommentAuthorIan
    • CommentTimeAug 5th 2008
     
    They have completely sorted out the teething problems with service - much better. They are just opening so I wanted to give them a break, not least because I love sushi, and they have been worth the break. Good food.
    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeAug 5th 2008
     

    I am yet to try Hana. I really must

    • CommentAuthorandy
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2008
     

    i just love sushi

    • CommentAuthordion
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2008
     

    As I said earlier on this thread, I thought the service was good, the food was good.

    @ RC - can we leave the whole service/tipping rant out of this thread until you have actually been there?

    • CommentAuthorben
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2008
     
    @ RC: They are a small, family business, with a nice attitude, taking a risk with their location and serving up good value, tasty food in an area that needs a bit of variety. So, yes, I am prepared to give them a break when things aren't perfect.
    • CommentAuthortosscat
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2008
     

    We want to go because we all seem to have different service expectations and experiences - I wasn't going to post about this because it's negative, but we're seem to be overly lauding the place so...

    On Sunday I ordered delivery from Hana. After an hour I got a call from the driver saying he couldn't find the place (it is on SGR), when I tried to explain where is was he couldn't understand and I couldn't understand him. I phoned the restaurant back and the lady who answered the phone just laughed and said she was sorry but was there anything on the road that was a landmark like a McDonalds or something. She explained that the driver had GPS and couldn't find it. I asked what she proposed to do about it and she just said she was sorry but offered no solution or compensation. I had to call her back twice and the delivery man twice and it eventually turned up 90 minutes after it was ordered.

    Now that's shit service.

    • CommentAuthordion
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2008
     

    @ tosscat - so, Hana delivery service has issues.

    Have you been to Dotori?

    • CommentAuthortosscat
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2008
     

    Not yet, but they don't deliver, do they?

    I tried to go on Saturday.

  41.  
    I'm all for supporting local businesses that are worth supporting.

    And Geoff, this has absolutely nothing to do with tipping. A chef who doesn't know that a vegetarian dish should not contain prawns is miles away from what is acceptable. As are unannounced substitutions. That's not teething problems. That's a total lack of professionalism and respect for the customer. I have no plans to go to Dotori. Based on what I've read here, I have zero confidence in the chef.

    Hana delivered my food in 25 minutes last night, as they do pretty much every time. And it was delicious.
    • CommentAuthortosscat
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2008
     

    P'shaw.

  43.  
    @tosscat - Haha!
    • CommentAuthortosscat
    • CommentTimeAug 7th 2008 edited
     

    :P

    • CommentAuthorLiz
    • CommentTimeAug 7th 2008
     

    Went this evening for dinner - service was generally good, there was fresh tuna and it was delicious. I recommend the roll with all the different kind of fish - can't remember what it was called but you'll know which one it is when you get the menu.

    • CommentAuthorandy
    • CommentTimeAug 8th 2008
     
    Adding my review to the general sense of delight over Dotori.

    Service was good, sushi was really good and the spicy korean stew I had was ace.

    And it was all pretty well priced.
    • CommentAuthorbadkitteh
    • CommentTimeAug 11th 2008
     
    I don't know what kind of drugs those of you that said the service was crap are taking, but my experience was fabulous! I too am vegetarian and was offered a prawn dish after I asked the waitress which options were meat free, however, the staff seem to be fresh off of the boat from Korea and not all countries have the same idea of vegetarianism (I had a similar experience in Calais). Give them a chance, they'll learn. Otherwise, the food was delicious, the service was great, and the dinner ware, well, I wanted to take it home with me because it was just that cool! I think that their choice of location was a little daring considering "the park" isn't exactly upscale, but I hope that they last. My only complaint is that they don't deliver.
    • CommentAuthordion
    • CommentTimeAug 11th 2008
     

    And at some point it seems we need to chart their opening hours. Was the sushi bit open?

    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2008
     

    Well!

    Just been there for an absolutely awesome meal. Well and truly trumpted the lunch I had there a while back. However, they are still short stocking a few things - they had run out of bottled water and later soba noodles. There was only one free tables just before we left, and this is 9.30pm on a Sunday evening, so I think they're doing OK.

    Starter
    A plate of varied shallow fried, battered good: fish stick, courgette and kimchi - which I had heard lots of good things about and can now say is my new favourite thing. Brilliant.

    Main
    The super-friendly father(?) figure of the resuarant politely asked if I wouyld like some help with the menu. We confirmed the starter and I asked about the "stone hot pot" Korean dishes. Essentially some bolied rice topped with fresh veg and your choice of topping from veg/beef/seafood and one of three sauces (I chose beef topping with hot pepper sauce). All ingredients are raw, and the scalding hot stone pot cooks it all gradually as you eat. I've tried something similar in Tokyo, and this brought it all flooding back. Brilliant, again.

    My girlfriend went for sushi, which arrived and was very fresh (not refrigerated, or at least not much) and exquisitely arranged. Great miso soup, too.

    They are closed Mondays and open every other day.
    Busiest days Thursday-Friday, Sunday is becomign busier. Tuesday is their quiet day.
    The guy said he will sleep at least until 12-noon tomorrow!

    I will be back there regularly.

    • CommentAuthorColette
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2008
     
    Just come back from dinner at Dotori, and I'm a very happy bunny. I love this place.

    First, to address what seems to be the major gripe, namely, the service. Well I thought it was fautless (and I used to wait tables, so can be quite unforgiving of sloppy service). Menus came straight away, and as matt says, they offered us help with the menu (slowly, and several times over in the case of my slightly dopey maman) and answered all our questions politely, helpfully and intelligently. The food came promptly, in the right order, and with all correct components.

    Now, the food - we all went Korean - shared some starters of yakitori and dumplings, both good, then my mum and aunt had the sizzling hot pots, which I tasted and thought were excellent. Matt explains them above so I won't explain again. I had a Korean dish of raw fish on rice and salad, with a spicy sauce, which was also good, albeit less interesting that the sizzling pots. The fish tasted very fresh though. And it all came to £36. You can't really argue with those prices.

    Quite literally my only gripe would be that my asahi could have been colder - and I think that's been mentioned above. It really is the only complaint I have though, and it isn't much of one.

    The place itself looked cosy on a damp night, and was actually pretty much full, which is excellent news. I really hope they do well, they really deserve to.
    They do take away, but they don't deliver... (oh, and when I asked, they said they could do the sizzling hot pots take away, but that it obviously wouldn't be as good, so if you want to try them, eat in!)
    • CommentAuthordion
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2008 edited
     

    I went last week and had another good meal. We had a great pancakey starter with veg and prawns which was great, then some sushi and the raw, sizzling beef stone hot pot which was lovely. The sushi plate we had probably wasn't as good as Hana, so will stick to the Korean food next time (I am really fussy about sushi at the moment for some reason). I will go with the chef's recommendations I think on the hot menu - what more do you want for a cold, winter August evening.

    The wine list is either Red or White which was just the sort of choice I needed after a long day.

    The waitress recommended the red which was very reasonable. It had also been chilled which is normal in Korea. This isn't a gripe, it made choosing the wine a lot easier, and saved me valuable time.

    I am looking forward to going back for a third time!

    • CommentAuthorLiz
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2008
     

    I had chilled red wine too, and was a bit confused - happy to know it's intentional!

    • CommentAuthormatt
    • CommentTimeAug 22nd 2008 edited
     

    My mum is down, we're helping my brother move house this weekend. I wanted to take them tonight, but my brother is super stressed with the move so has just whisked her off towards SE London. Gah!

    Contemplating going it alone

    • CommentAuthordion
    • CommentTimeAug 22nd 2008
     

    I grew up in SE London - it wasn't really London. SG is loads better.

    Go it alone Matt. You know you want to.

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