itsu Body Blitz

itsu Notting Hill Gate

100 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3QA

020 7229 4016/www.itsu.com

itsu Notting Hill

Considering the wealth to be found in the mansions of Notting Hill, this particular London quartier is surprisingly bereft of decent places to eat. There is The Ledbury for very fine dining, Geales which is a rather posh fish and chippie, and then a few Greek restaurants. But where do those pilates-bodied Notting Hill women go when they want to meet up with friends, have a cocktail and something to eat that isn’t going to pile on the calories?

Founded by Julian Metcalfe (Co Founder of Pret), itsu is a chain of takeaways dedicated to ‘butterfly light, low fat nutritious food’. There are forty branches and two proper restaurants situated in Chelsea and Notting Hill with the upstairs of the latter branch featuring The Butterfly Bar-a local destination for cocktails that features the full menu from the restaurant.

We were at itsu to try the Body Blitz menu and as I was fighting man-flu at the time this option seemed particularly sensible.

Pornstar Martini and Bell’itsu @ itsu

Fiona entered into this zen spirit of moderation by ordering a Pornstar Martini (£9.95)-Passion fruit purée with vanilla vodka and a shot of fizz on the side- It didn’t last long…

I went for the Bell’itsu-a blend of fresh lychee puree and creme de cassis topped with prosecco (£9.95). Whilst the drink looked quite pretty it needed either to be blended or served with a swizzle stick for self-blending. At this point it became clear that itsu was like your ideal girl/boyfriend; clean-living and trying hard to keep in shape but with a deliciously bad side as well…

Spicy Edamame Beans @ itsu

We munched on some extremely more-ish Hot Spicy Edamame Beans (£3.95) whilst we searched for the Body Blitz menu.

itsu

A waiter explained that it was the dishes speeding around the conveyor belt with the purple…or was it the blue…or maybe even the red ring around the outside. Oh well, it really wasn’t very clear so we decided to improvise.

itsu Zinger

Fiona ordered more prosecco but I attempted to stick to the brief and went for an itsu Zinger (£3.75). The blend of Apple juice with crushed ginger fresh lemon juice and mint felt suitably detoxifying and I was simultaneously glowing with virtue and my fever.

itsu miso

Miso soup is the chicken soup of the east so we ordered one portion each of the Salmon and plain miso (£2.95/£2.75) which comes with endless refills. My salmon had good texture and flavour and the soup tasted nourishing and authentic.

Soft Shell Crab Tempura @ itsu

From the Hot Food menu we ordered Soft Shell Crab Tempura (£11.45) -a crispy soft shell crab in a light tempura batter on a bed of rocket with a sweet chilli dipping sauce- and Tiger Prawn Tempura (£7.75)- 5 tiger prawns wrapped in oba leaf, brushed with Japanese ﬂour with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. These were both well executed dishes. The batter was light and non-greasy and the seafood flavours came through.

Tiger Prawn Tempura

Next we moved on to the conveyor belt plates.

itsu

Tuna and Salmon Tartar

Tuna and Salmon Tartar (£4.25) tasted freshly prepared and was accompanied by a tasty herby sauce.

Teriyaki Eel Sashimi(£4.95) was delicious. The sweetness of the teriyaki sauce partnering the eel perfectly with additional crunch coming from the sesame seeds.

Sweet Chilli Scallops (£4.95) was rather cold in the mouth with the scallops tasting as if they had recently been in the chiller-despite the addition of chilli they were lacking in flavour. The accompanying salad was clean and fresh.

Fiona described the Wasabi Beef Salad (£4.95) as being ‘nice’ and made from good quality beef.

Prawn Crystal

Prawn Crystal (£4.95) was prawn and salad wrapped in crystal noodles and was fresh and clean tasting.

After all this healthy eating it seemed appropriate to slip back into decadence and so I went for the Creme Brulee (£4.25). It had a dense rich egginess with the right level of burnt sugar on top.

itsu is very reasonably priced, is a more sophisticated offer than Yo Sushi! and avoids Wagamama’s carb heavy approach. The takeaway elements undercut and are of better quality than the equivalent from M&S and the restaurant offers an attractive environment for meeting friends or taking your family. The combination of nutritious light bites with cocktails and the occasional ‘bad’ dessert certainly hits the mark in this part of town and if the Body Blitz menu we were meant to review wasn’t particularly obviously presented-well it didn’t really matter.

Disclosure: The Hedonist was a guest of itsu.

3.5 / 5 stars

itsu Notting Hill Gate

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