J is for Japanese @ Tosa

I cannot even remember what year it was when my one and only visit to Tosa was. Maybe it was in 2006 or 2007? Who knows? But ever since then I have constantly said “I have to return”. But alas I never ever did.

But ever since we began this A – Z of London restaurants J was always going to be Japanese and Tosa was always going to get a mention.

I was thinking that it would have been pretty predictable to go for your normal sushi bar. I am really wanting to try Atari, but kinda nervous as Sushi Hiro could be a hard act to follow. But this time I wanted something different.

I kind of stacked Tosa in my favour as I wrote a gleaming email about it, whilst the other options didn’t quite get a glowing report.

Tosa specialises in grilled meats on sticks over charcoal. This we had many a time in bars in Japan, especially Tokyo, which after dark were full of salary men relaxing after a hard days work with a few beers with some co workers and a few grilled sticks of meat. Hey that I think should be everyone’s after work chill out.

Tosa’s menu is pretty vast, and where the grilled skewers take centre stage, there are some of the favourites that will satisfy all tastes if the skewers do not float your boat.

I wanted one thing and one thing only. Yes, what they are famous for.

I think between the four of us we ordered a vast amount of food that just kept coming and coming. Yes this was dangerous territory as if I have had another beer or two we would have at least doubled the bill. But it would have been worth it.

As Tosa does not really do main meals as such, it’s best to order a bit of everything, which I think we did.

There are too many dishes that we ordered to go over, so my favourites were the Chicken Liver, Ox Tongue, Uzura (Quails eggs), Tebasaki (Grilled Chicken Tips). Sadly the Torikawa (Grilled Chicken Skin) was unavailable.

There is something I love about grilled offal. Ever since my first trip to Argentina and eating grilled innards, I have become addicted.

The Grill Master cooked everything I tasted to perfection, and the liver was perfectly juicy. Delish, really delish.

I was really tempted to have the Zaru Soba (Cold Soba Noodles with a Bonito based Special Sauce), but I think I had ordered enough for this time and the noodles may have pushed me over the edge.

I noticed on the website afterwards that if you send them your email address, there are promotions to be had, like 15% off the food bill this month for Sunday to Thursday evenings. Nice. That means you can order extra skewers.

Next time I’m going all out on the grilled fish. Let’s just hope it isn’t another 5 or 6 years till my next visit.

Tosa is definitely worth a special visit to this part of West London.