Rating
In A Word
Slick
Appeals To
People trying to get their Mum ‘into’ Japanese food and drink (but it doesn’t have to be your Mum). Also people who like to eat lots of small courses. Also those who want a version of Japanese dining that is Westernised enough to make you think you’re dining in some slick, Modern European place and then suddenly you’re eating sushi and you still haven’t even seen a Japanese person and you’re like damn son
People in Clapham looking for a place to that serves a respectable selection of wine AND sake. Yay, sake!
Those who like the semi communal cafeteria party vibe you get from spots like Wagamama, though with food at a slightly higher pricepoint. With two restaurants at this point, Tsunami is hardly a chain
Umami Tsunami
JOY OF JOYS – Tsunami isn’t hard to find , nor get to. It lives beside Clapham High Street station, which is both very convenient and lends itself to some mighty fun people watching.
We’re sat outside, which although not scenic, makes for a lovely day. From here you can see said people coming and going from nearby station. They’re also located not so far from what I think is a motorbike dealership, so you are quite regularly treated to the wonderful sounds of thundering Honda engines. It’s a strange and lively ambiance, but I’m OK with that.
Today I have decided, for the first time, to bring my Mum along to a review. She’s always been hesitant about Japanese food and so I hope to persuade her with a combination of delicious sake, sushi and Teppanyaki style beef. The verdict? Mixed success – though she seems to enjoy the dessert…
Since weather is not shit, so we also choose to sit at the furthest table out, which initially makes me think we might get abandoned. Despite the occasional interval of sad abandonment, this generally does not prove to be a problem and a fine young man with an Eastern European facilitates my attempt to get mother into Japanese cuisine.
Later on we’ll get some of that summer rain (and accompanying magnificent smell) and pretty much everyone who was dining near us will retreat inside. This seems kinda unnecessary, since the standard issue rain cover keeps everybody underneath it nice and dry… *shrugs*
This is a shame as it ends my opportunity to eavesdrop on some hilarious dialogues – including a group of girls behind me who spend a good 30 minutes dissecting which celebrities they’d ‘go lesbian’ for, and giving each other plenty of moral support based on the combinations of dresses and shoes they have picked for the evening.
The Food And Drink
Tsunami’s food, like a lot of Japanese places, lends itself to lots of smaller courses, ideal for sharing (and spending all your pennies on). So, we end up assembling a meal based out of a diverse, but entirely Japanese selection. They also do takeaway, which is kinda cool. Japanese takeaway…
There’s a great selection of drinks at the bar – along with a dedicated tea menu with some fun items on it, and a few ‘party menus’ which are basically like set menus for a bunch of people.
Standard caveat, like any place where you have to make a meal out of lots of smaller dishes, prices can add up. We didn’t get all that much but it clocked in around £130 with gratuity, a bottle of wine and a small bottle of sake – more than I expected but not the daylight robbery we’ve seen in some places!
Edamame
The pods are in some kind of chilli oil, so they were a little richer than the conventional.
That said if we all replaced the bread basket with an ‘edamame basket’ we could do some good things for the collective health of the nation (just sayin’).
Aaaaanyway..
Sushi
Oshinko
Wakame Seaweed & Samphire Salad
Truffle Rib-Eye
Wasabi Aberdeen Angus Fillet of Beef
Don’t know what this is
Soy Salted Caramel Banoffee Sundae
Ozeki Karatamba
The Verdict
Tsunami does not create a tidal wave of emotions (I WENT THERE), but certainly fulfils a need. As in, a need to eat ribeye beef with chopsticks, drink rare and delicious varieties of sake and enjoy desserts which also come with an ‘upgrade’ option.
I suppose I could say I found it to be pretty consistent and faultless, but not particularly innovative. The experience, barring the odd mistake by the wait staff, is pretty…slick, I guess – ticking all the boxes.
So, if you want good Japanese food, but don’t really want to eat in a Japanese restaurant, or don’t care for any more of the extreme options (shochu drinking games anyone? No? OK…) Tsunami might be for you.
