This Stratford restaurant is doing some incredible things with charcoal and tuna
After seven years tucked away inside the County Hall building with kaiseki restaurant Hannah, chef proprietor Daisuke Shimoyama has moved to Stratford, taking over the space left by Allegra inside The Stratford Hotel. Not much has changed looks-wise, so there’s still neutral, minimalist interiors and two terraces, though there’s now sushi being prepared behind the bar.
Instead of just dropping Hannah into the new space, Shimoyama has opened new concept Kokin (which means ‘past and present’ in Japanese), where he combines traditional Japanese techniques and modern methods with a big focus on wood-fired cookery.
Eat This
One thing that has been brought over from Hannah is the beautiful presentation, both the way the food is plated and the various ceramics it’s plated on. The starter selection, a large tray filled with an array of small plates including grilled tuna skewers with a rich egg curry sauce, silky chawanmushi with wood-fired eel, and tofu cream topped with a sweet langoustine tartare, is so artfully decorated with flowers and foliage that you feel bad disturbing the arrangement.
Kokin serves Portuguese wild bluefin tuna sourced from Hajime Tanaka, and is one of only three London restaurants (the others being Sushi Kanesaka and Endo at the Rotunda) that are supplied by him, so you’re really getting the good stuff here. It’s worth trying it raw as well as cooked – we had the akami sashimi (the cuttlefish sashimi is super creamy and worth a go too) and akami, chutoro and otoro as part of the temae sushi serving.
Temae, aka ‘sushi made by me’, is one of two kinds of signature sushi at Kokin (the other is prepared by the chefs). You get a platter of nori, wood-fired sushi rice topped with the various types of tuna and salmon ikura, soy sauce and wasabi, for you to DIY your own handrolls. Kokin isn’t a stuffy or overly serious kind of restaurant but it’s still an unexpected bit of fun.
If you only get one thing from the grill section, it has to be the wood-fired grilled tuna collar. The fatty cut is slow-cooked over flames for three hours and served in 8-year aged ponzu, resulting in an incredible depth of flavour unlike any tuna we’ve had before – it’s so meaty, with a texture reminiscent of braised beef, and it just flakes away from the bone.
Even ice cream gets the wood-fired treatment at Kokin. This gives the dessert a subtle depth and richness, like clotted cream, rather than an overt smokiness. With almost-fizzy fermented raspberries, it’s just the right amount of sweetness to end the meal.
Drink This
Provisions Wine have curated the wine list, so there’s a decent selection of bottles to choose from alongside a range of premium sakes. Don’t skip the Japanese cocktails, like the Shiso Mojito and the Wasabi Gin Tonic, made with Okinawa Gin and wasabi lime juice.
Why Go
A hotel restaurant can be a tricky proposition at the best of times but even more so when it’s such a big step up in terms of scale for the incoming team. Regardless of location, Shimoyama is doing something special here at Kokin, so if you love Japanese food (and you love tuna), it’s worth seeking out.
Key Information
Address | The Stratford, 20 International Wy, London E20 1FD
For more information | kokin.co.uk
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