Finding places that do gyudon is getting harder and harder to do now but there are still a few around. Google Maps seems to have recently started pushing me restaurant information through the android app which is actually quite useful. I think it has worked out which places would be of interest to me and put this restaurant in my feed a while back. Kurumaya is a mini-chain of two restaurants around the city area and we chose to go to the Barbican branch as it was said to be more intimate.
Upon entering, the restaurant was surprisingly empty and felt like the kind of place that was going to shut for the day in half an hour. In fact, it felt odd enough for me to check that it was indeed open. That is usually a terrible sign for an eatery but I am a little more aware of the economics of dining in the area - it may be more of a lunch spot and so could still be very good and popular[1] yet still empty. I think we were the only people in the seating area of about 20 - at least the service would be good. As mentioned in the Tokyo Diner comments (link), non-Japanese staff (or at least those that look non-japanese) can put people off and the staff here were not apparently Japanese - two things now that would put off the wary. Again, I don't subscribe to that view but worth mentioning.
Obviously, we ordered a gyudon each but the sides were open to change and we went for a salmon and avocado "california roll" and a spinach salad as the supplementary parts. The sides came first so we had them before the mains partly because they were so good, we did not want to wait. The rolls were quite well balanced and delicate while the spinach was simple but with the magic of sesame dressing - what more could you want? More dressing, I guess. The gyudon itself, that was quite a dark colour and not what I would expect from a gyudon. A lot of the taste can be seen from the photograph in all honesty. It is glossy and thicker than I would like with a bit too much sweetness. The beef was thick and "good" and accompanied with a salad that seemed quite out of place. As now seems to be more common at this part of the project, the bowl of food was acceptable but it was not like the gyudon I expected. The rice was also flavoured by the meat but also the salad and other bits that went with it. This wasn't something that I particularly cared for but it tasted quite nice - although not quite the kind of thing I would return for.
I have to say, I am not sure that I would recommend the restaurant from what I saw. The gyudon was not great and although the sides were nice, probably not enough to come back for when there are other, similar places that are easier to get to. I think it would be good for lunch based on a hunch more than anything else. I might try that hunch out.
Cost of gyudon: £12.50
Kurumaya
74-75 Long Ln,EC1A 9ET
Upon entering, the restaurant was surprisingly empty and felt like the kind of place that was going to shut for the day in half an hour. In fact, it felt odd enough for me to check that it was indeed open. That is usually a terrible sign for an eatery but I am a little more aware of the economics of dining in the area - it may be more of a lunch spot and so could still be very good and popular[1] yet still empty. I think we were the only people in the seating area of about 20 - at least the service would be good. As mentioned in the Tokyo Diner comments (link), non-Japanese staff (or at least those that look non-japanese) can put people off and the staff here were not apparently Japanese - two things now that would put off the wary. Again, I don't subscribe to that view but worth mentioning.
Obviously, we ordered a gyudon each but the sides were open to change and we went for a salmon and avocado "california roll" and a spinach salad as the supplementary parts. The sides came first so we had them before the mains partly because they were so good, we did not want to wait. The rolls were quite well balanced and delicate while the spinach was simple but with the magic of sesame dressing - what more could you want? More dressing, I guess. The gyudon itself, that was quite a dark colour and not what I would expect from a gyudon. A lot of the taste can be seen from the photograph in all honesty. It is glossy and thicker than I would like with a bit too much sweetness. The beef was thick and "good" and accompanied with a salad that seemed quite out of place. As now seems to be more common at this part of the project, the bowl of food was acceptable but it was not like the gyudon I expected. The rice was also flavoured by the meat but also the salad and other bits that went with it. This wasn't something that I particularly cared for but it tasted quite nice - although not quite the kind of thing I would return for.
I have to say, I am not sure that I would recommend the restaurant from what I saw. The gyudon was not great and although the sides were nice, probably not enough to come back for when there are other, similar places that are easier to get to. I think it would be good for lunch based on a hunch more than anything else. I might try that hunch out.
Cost of gyudon: £12.50
Kurumaya
74-75 Long Ln,EC1A 9ET
1. This is a more common thing in the city, or "business districts" in general. I've often wondered what it must be like to come to London on the weekend and go to the city without knowing too much about it. London would be quire dead and you'd wonder what the fuss was about.↩
