For Dan’s birthday I treated him to a west end show and a lunch that I knew he’d love. Kintan is a Japense Barbecue and Izakaya restaurant based in London with two restaurants, one in Holborn and one in Oxford Circus. We love a experience when it comes to dining and Kintan definitely ticked the boxes. I was so glad I had booked because even though Holborn is relatively quiet on the weekends, this restaurant was FULL by the time we left.
Kintan is based on cooking at the table, if you’re not a fan of cooking your own food then this isn’t for you as the whole dining experience is based on an indoor barbecue. The restaurant itself is decorated in keeping with the theme of the food and the staff are attentive and busy.
The Menu
The menu is where we need to begin, it’s HUGE. I actually stumbled across this restaurant after I was working in London one day and I walked past their sandwich board and it sounded like a platter of meat which interests me regardless. Then when I looked into it more online, it was SO our bag. With the concept being ‘cook at the table on the grill’ you essentially choose what you want to eat and how much of it.
There’s every kind of steak you could imagine from around the world so if you have a particular favourite cut – you can cook it exactly how you like it too. The beauty with indoor barbecues like this is that you can enjoy meat in different ways, you can have a few rare pieces and some more well done. It truly is up to you and is a great way to try rare if you don’t normally want to spend on it for one cut.
The fish options always impress me and I was so glad to have squid on the barbecue – I love squid. There was also plenty of veggies available so most dietary requirements are covered.
Besides all of the grilled options, there is a huge ‘starters/sides’ section including gyoza (yesss!) noodles, seaweed and so many other fantastic options so all of your favourite Japanese dishes are available alongside your meats.
What we ordered!
It’s more a case of what didn’t we order. As it was Dan’s birthday I wanted to treat him to whatever he wanted to try. We started off with a cup of miso soup each because that’s a given isn’t it! As big steak fans in our house we went for a couple of the steaks (I sadly can’t remember the exact ones) but we went for our favourite cuts. Each steak is cut into easy pieces to then place onto the grill which is really useful.
We also had squid which was delicious, a vegetable selection which included onions, sweetcorn, mushroom and peppers. For sides we went for the gyoza which was delicious, the squid balls (did I mention I like squid), chicken garlic noodles and because we just fancied them, fries. We also added a side of crispy seaweed because it was like £1/2 or something crazy cheap like that!
Thoughts?
We really really enjoyed this lunch. This was not our first rodeo when it came to a indoor barbecue as one of our first dates included a lunch like this and we always seek them out where we can. This one was most interesting for the meats and options available as I haven’t seen a menu this extensive before. For London, I’m surprised more people don’t talk about this place as it’s brilliant and seems like a bit of a hidden secret.
I really enjoyed the fact they had the sides as well as it meant you had a real mix and could make a proper meal of it too. I am a big fan of lots of plates so this format works so well. Whilst the grills are pretty big, I’d recommend just going with a couple of you rather than a whole group or you’ll be fighting for space.
I also have to note that unlike some of these grills, it wasn’t overly smokey or super loud with extractor fans which I really liked.
Happy Hour
As we had actually pop down during the Happy Hour a lot of our dishes were discounted (heavily) I may add which helped us enjoy more of the options available as it was such great value. It’s a great price normal hours too but for our first visit, it was great to enjoy it. Happy Hour at High Holborn is all day Monday and 11:30am – 6pm and 9pm – Close on Tuesdays to Sunday.
For all of the above food and a couple of alcoholic drinks it came to £79 and they even brought out Dan a birthday dessert as I’d booked for his birthday. It was a pricey lunch but we were SO full after and we would definitely return again. There wasn’t one item I disliked and it was such fun flavours too.
Want to make a visit? Check out their menu and website here.