With thoughts of our 2026 trip to Japan at the top of our minds this month, we decided to precede our Christmas lights walk with Japanese food. Wanting something more winter-warming than sushi, we headed to a restaurant we’ve been to before – Okan. They have a couple of branches/outposts, we went to the Southbank one.
It’s a very odd little place. It’s located in the rather imposing County Hall building just at the bottom of Westminster Bridge and a stone’s throw from the London Eye. So you’d think this was tourist central and the kind of place that would host a little Greggs or something, but instead you step through the door and you feel like you’re in a Japanese izakaya.
It’s only a small place and so booking is required – we went for a late lunch and wouldn’t have got seats had we just walked in. You can either choose to sit in front of the grill and watch them prepare the food (recommended) or at one of the tables. We had booked a grill seat but got there a little early and they seated us at a table.
We decided to go for a variety of smaller dishes and a larger dish each. We shared edamame, a salmon yaki onigiri (which we had grilled) and vegetable gyoza. In addition to hot plum wine for me and a beer for my husband, we decided to share the sake flight – Dassai, Urakasumi and Gokai. All served cold, our favourites were the first and third.
As ‘mains’ (things came out in the order they are ready), my husband opted for one of the specials from the board – oden.
Neither of us had tried oden before, but it was described as a “warm stew with daikon, fishcake, egg, and konnyaku in a light soy dash broth”. It was served with mustard on the side. I must admit that it isn’t something I’d order for myself (so, probably a good thing I didn’t order it for myself), but it’s good to know what it is and to have tried it before we visit Japan next year.
I went with probably the star of the menu at Okan, the okonomiyaki. This time I chose the beef and kimchi one.
Okonomiyaki is a savoury Japanese pancake made from a batter of flour, eggs, shredded cabbage, and water, mixed with various ingredients and cooked on a flat griddle. Once cooked, it’s topped with okonomiyaki sauce (a sweet-savory brown sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce), Japanese mayonnaise, and bonito that move from the heat as if they are alive (they aren’t).
It was warming, hearty and exactly what was needed in advance of our Christmas lights walk.
