First and foremost, I have to again apologise for my social media hiatus I seem to have unintentionally been on! Truth be told, work got immensely busy in the lead up to Christmas- for some reason people all of a sudden wake up and start panicking around mid-December to get everything completed and signed off. Christmas is on the same day each year, you would have thought that people would have got it by now, surely! Of course, the lawyers have to then calm the panic (all the while panicking inside) and get the work across the line before the turkey gets to the table. So that explains most of it, I also took a little cheeky trip with my mother to Abu Dhabi for a few days which was great- I needed that winter sun! Abu Dhabi, if you haven’t been, is a much more laid back and overall quieter version of its glamorous neighbour, Dubai.

I realise I am fairly behind on my blogs, and so to catch up, my next few blogs will be relatively short compared to the essays I usually subject you to (I’m sure there are a few sighs from some readers!)

Mr.N and I visited Oka a few months back, but the menu hasn’t changed (yes, I’ve done my due diligence). If you are thinking of going, book ahead! Oka is a small restaurant tucked away upstairs in the myriad of restaurants that exist in the mayhem that is Kingly Court. We ordered the dragon roll with prawn tempura and asparagus wrapped in avocado and topped with spicy mayo. Hit.

The tuna tataki was very good with the right balance of citrus and spice coming from the ponzu dressing but to our surprise, the stand-out dish was the karaage chicken. Imagine a chicken thigh coated in crunchy cornflakes and deep fried served with a spicy ketchup- amazing!

The two guys next to us were eating something that looked immensely mouth-watering. I remember they sounded like Economics or Maths undergrads from somewhere like LSE, the type that probably read the FT each morning for fun and who easily land interviews with the likes of The Big Four- you know, those guys! If they had turned away even for a second, I would have been tempted to dive in, but I did the decent thing and interrupted their conversation about monetary policy to ask what they were eating. Bulgogi beef fillet, apparently. The beef had this BBQ-esque charred texture and smoky flavour yet was really tender. The miso black cod was every bit as divine as expected, but then again, this is black cod we are talking about.

I highly rate this place, it has enough options on the menu but not so much that you end up working yourself into a state of confusion. It’s small and intimate so probably not great for a big group but nice for a couple. Like most other Japanese restaurants in London, it isn’t cheap, of course, but the food is fantastic and it lacks that pretentious vibe you can easily stumble across in some Japanese places in London.

Food: 9/10       Atmosphere:  7/10      Value: 7/10