KOJI, PARSONS GREEN

It's no secret that I love Japanese food. And even less of a secret is my fondness for a good cocktail. So put the two together and I'm a very happy girl. Koji - which ticks both these boxes - in Parsons Green, seems to be a bit of a secret.... I'd never heard of it until researching sake cocktails for a piece I wrote for Time Out, but when they read my piece they invited me down to sample the cocktails and food in person. I went along with Lucy the night before heading to Tresco to do a weekend of pop ups, and we had the most delicious feast of delicate yet punchy Japanese food with punchy yet delicate cocktails!

Koji have an ex-Nobu chef in their kitchen and you can really tell there's someone who knows what they're doing there. Every dish was exquisite, and the whole experience heightened by being in such a gorgeous setting - if you want to impress a date then head straight to Koji. We started with cocktails in the elegant bar area, which is lit by huge feather covered lights. When you go to Koji (which you really should if you're anything like me about good cocktails and Japanese food) order the lemongrass and chilli martini. The perfect balance of zesty and spicy it left our lips tingling in all the right ways. We didn't get round to trying it but the watermelon martini also sounds divine.

The food at Koji is Japanese,with a modern twist. The menu's divided into snacks, hot and cold tapas, robata grill and various forms of sushi and sashimi. Being the good (greedy) reviewers that we are, we tried to sample something from each section. Starting with the most wonderful soft shell crab and asparagus summer roll. Light, fresh and expertly rolled it was a great start to what turned out to be a top notch meal.  

Next was Hamachi sashimi with green salsa, made I think with yuzu and jalapenos, adding a lovely flavour to the delicate fish without overpowering it. Though soy was provided on the table, every dish we tried was perfectly sauced so we didn't need to use the extra soy once.

As I mentioned, the menu is Japanese with a modern twist and the langoustine tigers milk ceviche was reminiscent of the wave of Nikkei restaurants that have opened in London recently, but this was better than any I've tried elsewhere. Again, the balance of flavours and textures was absolutely spot on.



Scallop tacos from the snacks menu were really good. The crunch of the super thin taco with the plentiful soft scallop filling worked really well, even if we did struggle to split the third taco between the two of us.

Lucy is the perfect dining companion for reviews as a) she's happy to let me order, and b) she wants to try all the same things I do anyway, which at Koji included the rabbit yakitori from the specials menu. The meat was juicy and tender (which is quite hard to achieve with rabbit) and doused in sansho pepper that numbed our tongues!

I adore asparagus season and we went to Koji right in the middle of it so couldn't resist the asparagus with green sauces that had been cooked on the grill to "just done" retaining their bite and all their goodness.

Finally, we had the moro miso lamb cutlets. Proving that their meat cooking skills matched up to their fish prep and saucing skills the lamb was perfectly pink and strong in umami flavours, and a wonderful finish to our meal.

We shared a carafe of white with our food (I can't remember which one but it was recommended to go with the food, which it did perfectly), and completed our meal with an espresso martini to get me on my way to the sleeper train to Penzance.

Koji is truly excellent. It's at the higher price point, but as I always say, if you're paying for what you get quality, cooking and atmosphere wise then I 100% think it's worth it. Our choices ranged from £15-26 a dish, but there's lots to choose from, and you don't have to eat as much as we did!! A cocktail and some snacks would only set you back £30 a head or so. Koji is now my go to for some of the best Japanese food in London, so don't tell too many people or the secret will be out!!