Tokyo Tina

Since moving North side, we've struggled to go South of the river in spite of the appetising lure of Hanoi Hannah, Saigon Sally and Tokyo Tina. We've been able to resist their charms thus far. But this Saturday we found ourselves in Windsor at a 40th birthday party and decided to pop in for a late feed. Well late for us old fogeys but it was more just after 10pm and Chapel Street was pretty pumping!

Tina was still bustling in spite of the off peak hour but we were warmly showed two places at the bar. Steve is doing Febfast and I didn't want to cause him too much grief so in spite of the impressive drinks list and the fact it was Saturday night and we were in a bar it was green tea for two. And we didn't feel too out of place!

We ordered pretty quickly and our food arrived even quicker! I love it when food comes out speedily. And the service is smiley with lots of checking in to make sure all is good.

Our first two dishes to arrive are:

• ​ORGANIC SOBA SALAD Salmon Sashimi, Pumpkin, Snow Pea, Ponzu Ginger Dressing
• WAGYU BEEF TATAKI Miso Mustard, Pickled Onion & Nectarine 

My initial reaction to the soba salad is that it looked dry but and lacklustre but actually it was really tasty Fresh flavours, pickly tones and zest. Yummy. The tataki was also tasty with a sweet richness from the miso mustard. I like my beef tataki cut a touch thicker but I'm being picky!

The next two dishes arrived pretty promptly too so it was good to be able to move on swiftly.

• TEMPURA EGGPLANT Miso Chawanmushi, Pickled Ginger & Spring Onion 
• KARAAGE CHIKEN RIBS Hot Gochujang Sauce & Lemon

The eggplant was on top of a layer of chawan mushi which in spite of the description on the menu I wasn't really expecting. This was my least favourite dish. I found the eggplant bland although the tempura was crispy and the chawan mushi wasn't as silken in texture as I like. Plus it tasted a bit cheesy so the whole thing was a bit weird. Although Steve had no problem with it!

The chicken was exactly what it should be. Crunchy outer, juicy meat and spicy sauce. Simple but truly good.

We had a slight breather before the final dish which was one out of the three poke dishes Tina offers. 

• SNAPPER Rice, Toasted Coconut, Cherry Tomato, Onion, Topico Roe

Traditionally Hawaiian and basically a form of ceviche, Tina's twist was to have it on top of warm rice. With fresh lime, coconut milk, shreds of chilli, sprigs of coriander and fresh sweet tomatoes this was delicious. The fresh snapper and fresh coconut shavings were really brought out of their potentially bland selves and joined the flavour party! And these are my kind of flavours.

We found Tina hospitable and the food delicious. Worth the journey and I'm a little bit jealous that there in spite of all the wonders of the North side, we don't have a Tina!