Restaurants

By Guy Dimond

Japanese cuisine is booming in London, with new restaurants opening nearly every week. Many of the new-wave are Korean-run, including Kappa. Chef Hai Dong Park is a sushi chef turned restaurateur, and Kappa is his own modest place near Earl's Court tube.

Kappa's low-budget makeover doesn't inspire confidence, and the service on our visit was a bit dopey - the front door was left wide open, allowing the freezing air to enter, seemingly because staff like gazing out into the street. But we couldn't find fault with the sushi, which was well-made with nice attention to detail.

It's the rule in lesser sushi bars that exotica on the menu - the surf clams and the sea urchin, say - are 'sold out'. We got lucky, as Kappa had both, in prime condition too; the uni (sea urchin roe) pungent but fresh, the surf clams still in season and with a challenging, chewy texture. Otoro - the most expensive part of the tuna - was also a prime cut, correctly 'fatty' and fresh.

Korean chefs seem less constrained by Japanese convention, and so on this menu we see oddities such as gyoza (dumplings) filled with kim chee, the Korean cabbage pickle, instead of the usual pork or prawn. Scallops with gochujang sauce (a spicy Korean condiment) was surprisingly successful. Other dishes showed inventive presentation with a fair amount of drizzling and garnishing, and the dishes we tried all looked very appetising.

Kappa feels so casual it could almost be an izakaya (a Japanese pub), yet it only sells one brand of lager - Asahi - and no shochu (Japanese 'vodka').

I suspect it will attract more backpackers than squiffy Japanese salarymen saying 'kampai!'

Time Out London Issue 1941: October 31-November 6 2007