Bincho, oh Bincho. You had so much potential. But then you, like others before you, became a prime example of a place that promises much, and delivers little.
It was fairly empty when we dined, but the place looked fine...trendy enough to be in Exmouth Market, not so trendy that my cardigan/thermal combination looked particularly out of place on a Saturday night.
I was with a group of people that were lovely, but I didn’t know them all that well (or...at all), so the price that I give you is based on what I had alone. I am not going to go foraging for the bill amongst strangers, it just looks creepy...or pedantic - probably an exotic mix of both.
We started with Edamame beans and a bottle of Riesling – hoorah! That was my first, and final, food related hoorah of the night.
As a vegetarian I sometimes find Japanese food challenging. The taste is good, but the choices are always limited; Bincho did not stick to these rules. The choices were adequate in that I had a choice, despite the angle they take being skewered food. The taste was...put your card back in your purse, walk to the tube and take it home via Tesco Express, worthy.
I ordered Shitake (Skewered shitake mushrooms), Yasai Yeki Meshi (spicy vegetable fried rice), pan fried tofu with Kimchi and Ginnan (skewered Ginko Nuts).
The Ginnan was my feeble attempt at being adventurous. A very pathetic attempt indeed, especially when compared to the chicken skin and chicken hearts being devoured around me. That is, until, Ginnan comes out. It looks like little balls of yellow marzipan, has the texture of peas longing to be mushed and tasted of nothing while simultaneously activating your gag reflex.
Everything else I ordered was standard. The rice had a ‘can you taste the spice, seriously can you, because we may have forgotten to use any’ effect and the texture felt a little overdone, but it was edible. The same can be said of the tofu. The natural juice from the grilled mushrooms had run off to greener pastures, leaving behind a dehydrated shell of fungi - nevertheless, still fit for human consumption.
It is the kind of experience that leaves you feeling alone on a table full of people. Happy, contented faces stare back at you, as they rub their bellies and flick their eyes towards heaven in thanks. You are too embarrassed to admit that your meal just was not worth the money. So, as your stomach screams expletives at your failed attempt to satiate its needs, you tighten your lips, raise your eyebrows and say ‘hmmm, yes, it was nice’.
The dessert of baked chocolate with hazelnut ice cream and soymilk donuts with green tea and vanilla ice cream left me feeling better. They were well made, but I was still so hungry and unsatisfied due to my mains that I ended the night with another order of Edamame beans...and then put my card back in my purse, got on the tube and went home via Tesco Express.
Price: Approximately £65.00 for one bottle of Reisling, Edamame x 2, Shitake, Yasai Yeki Meshi, Pan fried Tofu, Ginnan, dessert x 2, and service charge
Veggie Friendly: 3/5
Food: 2/5
Service: 4/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
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