As you know(or for those of you that don’t), i love dining out. I’m practically in a restaurant seven days a week and rarely fill my fridge with a weekly shop. I just love eating. If there was one thing London was lacking though, it’s good quality, unique eats to fill that lunchtime spot. Yes we have street food markets, but they are still not regular enough during the week. My lunchtime, if not spent in a restaurant is normally having to settle for a predictable sandwich at EAT or home-made one at the local cafe which uses a ham – that most probably contains mainly horse meat.
Hai Street Kitchen is the newest addition to open up in the gorgeous Leadenhall Market – which is worth visiting alone. The market is completely covered and dates back to the 14th century, housing some of the city’s best butchers, cheesemongers and now a fantastic sushi burrito take out. Yep, you heard that right – it’s not a joke. Hai Street Kitchen is the first of its kind, and plans to have a whole lot more of them around. This is an expansion, which I’m willing to let take hold of the capital.
Inside this take out (with upstairs seating) queueing can be a little tricky, especially when it’s busy – the place is tiny downstairs. Once suitably in and squashed against the wall, an array of options are before your eyes to fill up this unusual burrito. Given the choice of a ‘roll’ or ‘bowl’ (and i do hope you choose a roll) a sushi seaweed wrap is immediately in front of you, with a choice of either white or brown sushi rice to then fill at your whim. Once i saw the fillings on offer i was a little sceptical about these odd combinations. Chicken katsu being the most familiar, pastrami salmon, flank steak and the one i couldn’t resist, grilled Mexican pork belly. Carry on through the filling station and you can add up to four salads, homemade sauce (i had chimichurri) and if you fancy it, an added crunch – fried garlic was my choice.
Being so sceptical about Hai Street Kitchen i really did expect not to like it, but my experience couldn’t have been any more different. Marks down because of the complete and utter mess it all becomes when actually trying to eat this thing from its paper wrapping. I had no choice but to head back to the office, put it on a plate and divulge with a knife and fork. Perhaps eating in the restaurant would have been the right move. But at the moment, knife and fork aside Hai Street Kitchen is a strong contender to being one of best cheap eats in the city.
7/10
