Itadaki Zen (King's Cross)

• We went with friends and were looking forward to a nice relaxing evening of eating some nice authentic vegetarian food
• Just a glass filled with warm water
• They served us with some peanuts and sprouts
• The menu posted on this website is not the same as what we had when we visited
• The seating was uncomfortable
• Itadaki Zen was no different
• Kakiage Udon was udon soup with some topping
• Everything was flavourful
• Everyone but one was quite satisfied with their food
• So if you go with a bigger group
• I'm vegan and I went with my omnivore partner
• The restaurant is quiet with few staff
• For me is fine service was efficient with little small talk if any
• So service was fine by my standards
• The first course was 3 vegetable dishes
• Cold fried tofu with a pak choi leaf in a savoury dressing
• A type of soya bean meal with vegetables
• All of these were meant to be cold
• Our favourite was probably the salad
• The bean meal was perfectly nice
• The bean meal is what is left over from soya milk production think of it as the fibre which is insoluble
• The stand outs for me were a mushroom hosomaki and asparagus nigiri
• Both had much more flavour than first thought and the rice used in the sushi was just lovely
• After this came a hot course with fried foods
• Itadaki Zen generally accompany their fried foods with supplementary sides
• The choice for fried options were a vegetable tempura style fritter or spring rolls my partner ordered the former and I the latter so we could try both
• This was light and tasty with a good crunch
• The udon noodles were a nice textural contrast here too
• Both of these were lovely though the cheesecake possibly had too much lemon zest
• The jelly was lovely and cold with a delicate flavour and frozen berries and fruit throughout
• Overall for me Itadaki Zen was a great meal
• I would say the pricing is high but they do also only use organic produce by and large
• Our only complaint was that there was no real explanation of the food as it arrived which was a bit confusing when it came to eating the fried food with or without chopsticks
• We went for without as the spring rolls and kakiage are too big and unwieldy to manage with chopsticks
• Service was so quick they always had the next course ready when we finished one and the textures and flavours at play in the food were so interesting and varied that I would definitely go again
• My cousins took me here since it was a pure vegetarian place serving nice Japanese food
• They called up in advance and the chef was kind enough to accommodate our request to give Jain food
• We were a group of 8 and everyone was happy with the food &
• Either that or you get a bunch of average dishes with rubbery tofu on everything
• Everything was seasoned well and tasted fantastic
• The restaurant is very small so you must try to book in advance
• T get your usual Sushi so its best to not go with that expectation
• Spring Roll with Dipping Sauce
• Special mention goes out to the Tempura that was light and yummy
• They have a limited menu but the food is worth a shot

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