Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames
Obon

Obon

42 Richmond Rd, Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom, Kingston upon Thames

Soup • Fish • Sushi • Japanese


"Obon: a petit Japanese udon restaurant that supplies a sense of Japan that cannot be found anywhere else in the whole of the Uk. (5 stars) Location: Obon is located close to the heart of Kingston but the road it’s on is considerably quieter. You must make sure to have a basic knowledge of Kingston in order to find an area to park and to also make sure you leave yourself enough time, taking the unpredictability of the traffic into acount. Even on a week day there can be traffic jams which can put a halt to your plans and due to the small amount of customers Obon can take its important that you not only book but make sure that you arrive at the agreed booking time. With this being said the staff are all lovely so if you are running late, a quick call is all that is required to just give Obon a chance to understand your position. The food: The array of exquisitely prepared sashimi will be sure to create the sensation that you are in a top Japanese restaurant in japan and the flavour of the fish does not fail to match expectations, which will be very high after just one glance at your meal. The fish is delicately seasoned and practically melts on your tongue, this causes a lovely sensation and is genuinely the finest sushi I have tasted in the uk and even matches a lot of the top restaurants in japan. On top of just the traditional types of sushi, which to many is maki rolls Obon also offers many other delicious options such as soft shell crab and even Unagi don, which I must highly recommend due to it consistently being the highlight of my meal. For those of you that were interested in the quality of the basic Japanese dishes such as miso soup or edamame they do not fail to leave you in grand anticipation for what is to come for they are, simply speaking, incredibly good. The miso, in my opinion, is truly remarkable and creates a lasting feeling of warmth throughout your entire body, on top of that it is far superior to other miso’s that I have tasted in all other areas of the world. Overall the quality of the food is something you would expect from a world famous Michelin star restaurant and if you want Japanese food it’s the only place I can recommend. The Restaurant: The restaurant itself is small but authentic in nature and because it only has a enough tables to host around 20 people at the most, the service is exceptionally good and your food is always out quickly so you will not be left hungry for very long. The staff are kind and friendly. And it’s always an enjoyable experience being waves goodbye as you leave the restaurant. You’re also able to watch as they prepare the food, which for some could be entertaining. There are Japanese photos scattered around the room and this further creates an authentic feel. The atmosphere is not lively but it is a restaurant and not a bar so is an ideal location if you are wanting high quality food. With this being said it is still a great place to go with friends and I consistently am able to have a great time no matter the occasion. Price: Obviously, the price of the food is always an important topic to come to and despite the cost of the sushi being slightly higher than you may expect from a small restaurant in Kingston, I would have to say that for the quality of the food it is ultimately a bargain. For three people, you would be spending around £100 so it isn’t cheap but you can go for cheaper types of food such as udon, which is still amazing quality and won’t set you back as much money. Overall: Obon is still my favourite restaurant in the whole of the Uk and is perfect for a special occasion but it isn’t the sort of place you’d go for a casual night out. The food is beyond incredible and thus they can cater for both children and adults by meeting every bodies needs. For anybody that enjoys sushi, I would urge you to give it a go, you won’t regret it"

The Albert

The Albert

57 Kingston Hill, KT2 7PX, Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom

Pub • Fish • Steak • British


"Booked for 17 people months in advance for a family christmas meal, we asked weather or not we needed to pre order our food as you would expect for that many people and time of year, however we was told no need, arrived on the day to find out the car park has been turned into outdoor seating and that you would have to find a space on one of the back roads that was not permits only, we had the balcony area inside the pub, nice little area just enough space for the 17 of us including 3 very young children who required high chairs high chair request had been made months in advance to however this pub only has 2 high chairs in the entire building. The member of staff come and took orders for the drinks and brought them over quickly which also became apparent that there is only 2 members of staff doing the waiting for the entire pub on a Sunday. Ordered the food to be told they only had 2 camemberts obviously this wouldn’t have been an issue if they had let us pre order, also had no tomato pasta for the children either. 8 of us ordered the roast beef, however it was hands down the worst roast any of us had ever witnessed been put together, half a carrot , no swede, a handful of soggy shredded cabbage , 2 1/2 undercooked potatoes 3 slivers of beef still mooing and a Yorkshire pudding that had been through the trenches, the only plus side to it was the gravy was actually ok. As for the sides I would not waste your time ordering these as they are also awful , roast veg consisted of another handful of soggy cabbage and 2 not even roasted potatoes and that was it, the mash was edible, and the cauliflower cheese is abysmal. don’t waste the money The fish and chips looked ok for the adult and also the child’s portion was decent. Didn’t even get to the pudding section as due to no staff working the plates that we piled up and scraped ourselves to make it easier for the staff that were working was not collected for a good while even though our table was booked at 12 and another table of 14 were booked for 3:30pm at 3:15 we was still waiting for plates to be cleared to then be told oh the next party has arrived and that we would have to vacate and pay the bill. The bill came to £502 which included the 12.5% service charge which we was considering to asked to be taken of it but thought that was unfair on the actual staff members that done the best they could so left it, also we paid a £70 deposit to be taken of the bill which apparently they couldn’t sort out at the time so will need to be refunded at a later date. All in all the food is terrible, very slow service due to staff shortages and will not be returning here again unless we hear better reviews coming from the place."