I've been lingoed!
I'm sitting comfortably in a lovely Japanese restaurant called Lingo in Lower John Street, just off Regent Street. I've been greeted warmly, served efficiently and with a big smile (this can be a rare thing with Japanese establishments).
I'm sitting comfortably in a lovely Japanese restaurant called Lingo in Lower John Street, just off Regent Street. I've been greeted warmly, served efficiently and with a big smile (this can be a rare thing with Japanese establishments).
I have just finished their Lingo bento box and have been munching on crunchy vegetable and prawn tempura, garlicky vegetable Gyoza, a selection of Japanese pickles, a bowl of fluffy steamed rice topped with black sesame seeds, fresh plump tuna and salmon sashimi, numerous pieces of sushi, a nice miso soup and now some fresh orange to finish. In front of me is the bill and it says £16! Have I been transported back to the seventies where a loaf of bread was 30p and everyone smoked Five Park Drive. Did I stumble through a worm hole and end up in Poland (food's very cheap there!). I am not complaining and neither are the other customers seated around me.
This really is a great find and a gem. You can even order take away and this option is being welcomed by a steady flow of office workers coming through the doors. It's small upstairs, twelve covers with a couple of chairs out front but I see there is downstairs seating. I am sure that will soon fill up.
Feeling happy and contented I sit back and enjoy my Jasmine tea. My guess is this is a family run organisation and I want to be part of this family!
Well, you probably were very lucky, because I just had a totally different experience today. I went to Lingo with my wife and we seated thinking that the service would be fast as there were only 3 tables occupied and 2 were already been served. We ordered a king prawn bento box and a sashimi bento box. Almost immediately we were greeted with two dishes of salads and then we had to wait almost 30 minutes before our boxes were served to us. With our great surprise the two boxes differed only because in one there were 2 tempura king prawns and in the other 3 of them. The rice was sticky and flavourless, the miso soup was watery and tasteless as well the sauce that went with the tempura. The maki rolls were badly made and the nori was dry. The sashimi consisted of 3 pices of salmon and 4 or 5 thin slices of an unidentifiable with fish very badly cut. Yes the bill was 29.50 including service and a bottle of asahi beer, but everything was so dull and bland that we regretted not having gone to yo-sushi (much as we dislike going there). So my advice is to stay away from it!
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