It’s always reassuring to see Japanese people eating in a Japanese restaurant. At Tombo they seem to make up the majority of the clientele, even if they could very well all be clueless tourists. This is South Kensington, aka Museumland after all.
Tombo’s menu has all the staples: katsu curries, noodles, sushi and bento boxes; it also makes a big fuss over matcha, the finely ground green tea which is revered as an elixir of eternal living by some. Here it appears in desserts, hot and cold drinks and a shochu-based matcha cocktail that’s a snip at only £6.90. A section labelled ‘tapas’ is slightly misleading as they’re merely standard snacks like gyoza and edamame rather than anything out of the ordinary.
There are health conscious options like the ‘no carbs’ bento box which replaces rice with salads and can be customised for meat-eaters, pescaterians and veggies; for the vegan pal it had tofu and a lot of beans and seaweed. Sashimi of the day was tuna and salmon cut into appealing thick wedges, and chicken katsu curry was a comforting dish with heaps of rice and sauce.
It’ got too late for us to have dessert (they close at 21:30) but there’s an interesting array of fusion puds like pancakes filled with azuki beans and walnuts and matcha tiramisu. Tombo is a chic café and takeaway deli for SW7, but without the area’s usual mark-up.
