OKA Restaurant – Pan Asian and Sushi

Hello,

As a proud sushi lover I thought I would tell you about this great place I recently had lunch in with my best friend.

In terms of the name, I am unsure 100% what it means as there are many root meanings in Japanese for example it could simply mean “hill” or possibly “cherry blossom”. Cherry blossoms trees are of great significance in Japanese culture as they represent the fragility and beauty of life which can be tragically short. (I am more inclined to think it means Cherry Blossom)

There are currently three OKA restaurants across London which are; Primrose Hill, Kingly Court & Chelsea. I visited my nearest one in Chelsea which is on the Kings Road not far from my other favourite restaurant, Blue Bird. Pan-Asian cuisine simply means that is from across Asia (unifying force). So for example not only does OKA serve Sushi (Japanese) but Bulgogie beef (Korean) and Mongolian rack of lamb.

If you are familiar with Kings road then you know it is a busy main road however the restaurant has managed to make the settings dim and intimate enough to make you not realise.

Usually I can never have enough sushi so both my friend and I order a dish each to share. When the dishes arrived they were beautifully displayed and since we grabbed the window seat, we had the best seats to take some awesome photos.

The portions looked fair and to be honest I initially thought I may even be hungry afterwards however I can not express how badly mistaken I was.

We chose from the Speciality menu which had eight pieces per dish, one was tuna and the other crab. If you aren’t a tuna fan like my best friend then I will just mention that she did still enjoy this dish. Honestly it is the best sushi that I can recall having, everything is hand made and the tuna dish was wrapped in what tasted like tempura. By the end of it we were both really struggling as they were really filling. I personally think that would be enough for a dinner for two let alone lunch!

I intend to return as whilst there I smelt the most amazing smells from the hot dishes and in particular the Chicken teriyaki dish. When I asked the really helpful waitress she did also mention that it is their most popular dish in the restaurant.

In terms of the service, it was really swift and friendly without feeling like I was being rushed which I feel is a balance that can be hard to achieve.