Shackfuyu

Cuisine - Japanese

Location - 14a Old Compton ST, London W1D 4TJ

Cost - Affordable range of shared platters between £3.80 - £12.50

Star Appetizer - Hand Dived Roasted Scallop

Star Main Course - Korean Fried Wings

My Rating - 3.5/5

Hello again my dearest foodies, and apologies for the long delay! I have recently had to uplift the roots of my computer and pack my bags, for I have at long last moved into a new casa! It took me a while to get settled in (and even longer to get internet), but I am finally back with a cup of tea in one hand and a whole bunch of foodtastic puns in the other.

So what's on today’s menu? Shackfuyu! – and no, that is not a rude phrase in Japanese. It is actually one of the more intriguing pop-up restaurants I have been to this year (all three months of it). So, in the spirit of getting straight back to business, why don't I just get straight to the review.

I think you will all agree that we Londoners have seen our fair share of Japanese sushi restaurants, and although sushi might have been the buzz of the town a few years ago, it has now become a "standard" cuisine. This is why we are now seeing a massive influx of new, fast and exciting Japanese trends such as ramen and yakitori bars. Londoners now want to dig deeper into the possibilities of Japanese culture, and they want it to be more of a surprising experience than simply sticking a piece of salmon ontop of some rice - enter Shackfuyu, a yearlong experimental pop-up restaurant designed to avoid the "standards" of Japanese cuisine.

Shackfuyu is the brainchild of "Bones Daddies", a popular ramen house which has really taken off in recent years. Shackfuyu takes everything that is great about Japanese food, throws away the rule book, and then mixes the best of Japan with a mix of global twangs. If you are looking for a flavourful, and all be it confusing experience then this is certainly the place to go. It is certainly the only place where I have seen mac and cheese on the same menu as hand dived roasted scallop (mind boggling controversy).

The service at Shackfuyu was really quite pleasent. The servers were more than accommodating and they gave me and my girlfriend some excellent advice on what to try. It is really quite refreshing when waiters care about your preferences and don't just roll out a standard list of jargon. That just makes me want to leave the restaurant before I have had the chance to order (call me overly dramatic)...

My Order -

Food

USDA beef picanha – kimchee tare butter

hot stone rice – goma tare – chilli – beef

hand dived roasted scallop – chilli miso butter

mentaiko mac and cheese – bacon – cock scratchings

korean fried wings

kinako french toast – soft serve ice cream

Drinks

NANBU-BIJIN – Junmai clean & fruity cold sake

MASUMI – Junmai warm sake

Green tea

The food at Shackfuyu is extremely bold and brave, and it says a lot that a modest pop up restaurant can compete on the same level as some of the big dog Japanese joints that you find on Old Compton Street. The downside to an experimental restaurant is that the food can be a bit of a hit and miss. Be warned, not everything on the menu will be for you and if you are a vegetarian you will not be a happy chappy. Having said that, I thought that all the food was prepared to an excellent standard and the menu itself was very digestible. I almost thought it was a shame that they had not included more items on the list.

I would recommend this place to couples who are looking for an entertaining date over some shared platters and an exciting atmosphere, or to business professionals who are looking to meet up with their colleagues over some quick unique snacks and a few drinks in a bustling bar.

The scallops were by far the best thing about the evening. Just imagine a seafood explosion of deliciousness, then times that by awesomeness and add some greatness to it. The scallops were juicy, soft and fell apart with ease. They were so full of flavour that I simply had to sit there and smile to myself with joy (the table next to me probably just thought I was a mentalist).

The mac and cheese was a really satisfying example of how "different" Shackfuyu really is. Some would say that this dish would lower the standard for any restaurant, but believe me when I tell you that this was probably the finest mac and cheese I have ever eaten! If you are gonna cook something simple, it better be the best damn simple dish you could ever produce.

The dessert combined green tea matcha ice cream with some rather thick french toast, and it was...actually really good... Yet another example of an unexpected unique combo that really works to shackfuyu's favour in an already crowded foodie market. It was also a symbol of how everything at shackfuyu has been designed to be shared (I certainly could not have eaten this monster by myself).

All in all I had a great experience at Shackfuyu, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is up for some foodie experimentation and a whole load of sharing platters.

Next time I will definitely be helping myself to the whole roasted sea-bass and some prawn toast!

Parking - Never park in central London

Kid-friendly - Most certainly

Pets allowed - Not that I am aware of

Smoking area - Nope!

Doggy bag - Always

Garden terrace - Sadly not

Credit cards - Yes indeed

#new #restaurantreview