Taro, the Japanese restaurant group, has opened two new sites in Castford adn Brentwood, taking its total number of branches to up eight.
Food is made to order adn includes a range of Japanese classics, including grilled chicken or prawn gyoza; takoyoki (deep-fried octopus balls with Japanese tonkatsu sauce) along with a selection of fresh sushi, sashimi and salads – perfect for the warmer weather.
Mains include ramen, udon noodles and donburi.
Bento boxes are served in traditional black and red trays, and filled with all the Japanese classics – sushi, tempura, katsu and edamame – along with hot miso soup and Japanese rice.
Hot and cold sake, Japanese beer and soft drinks are also available.
Taro Catford will also be serving award-winning bottled cocktails from local Catford business, Bottle, all produced in South London, in small batches and natural ingredients.
Taro Brentwood have exclusive dishes, including TanTan Ramen – a Japanese take on the famous Sichuan DanDan noodle dish with a nutty sesame broth, spicy ground minced pork cooked in miso, topped with menma bamboo, nitamago, pakchoi, spring onion, red ginger and nori.
There are also two special sushi rolls the Brentwood – with prawn tempura and avocado topped with tuna tartare with chives, bonito flakes dressed in house special sauce and the Essex – a delicious combination of salmon, prawn, tuna and yellowtail filled with asparagus, avocado and tobiko dressed with spicy mayo.
‘Taro’ is a ‘TaishuShokudo’ 大衆食堂 in Japanese meaning ‘an everyday dining room in Japan’. The group was founded by Mr. Taro who visited London for the first time in 1979 and dreamt of making Japanese food popular by bringing authentic Japanese cuisine and culture to the city of London.
In 1999, Mr Taro opened the very first Taro restaurant on Brewer Street with a mission to offer the very best authentic Japanese food and now has plans to expand throughout London and the UK.