The best sushi spots are often local, the kind of spot you keep returning to, for comfort and resetting. Located in leafy NW3, Jin Kichi must be the local gem for Hampstead folk. Just a stone’s throw from Hampstead Tube station, this cosy Japanese restaurant is known for its high-quality yakitori skewers and sushi. Set up by Atsushi Matsumoto and business partner Kazumasa Seki in 1992, the pair do not seem to be concerned about publicity. Instead, the pair’s focus is on serving locals and sourcing fresh ingredients daily from the markets. The food is fresh, the service seamless and the vibe busy but understated.
There are many layers to Jin Kichi. Open by day and night, the daytime atmosphere is peaceful and practical—you’ll see the sushi bar as soon as you enter, which offers a lovely solo date spot or somewhere for a catch-up. During the day, you’re also likely to find a number of NW3 retirees here, more than familiar with the short wine list and happily placing unagi nigiri onto the tips of their tongues. Come evening, the wood-heavy, labyrinth-like layout hits all the marks. In 2022, the restaurant expanded into the premises next door. Alongside the cosy dining room, which revolves around a robata grill, a new sushi counter was added. The downstairs space was also reconfigured to create two small private rooms. But tables are still hard to come by. Staff dip and dive around you, some diners are huddled low to the floor around the charcoal grill, some high around the sushi counter, while others are leaning into steaming bowls of miso soup at their table.
Given that it’s open both day and night and serves everything from nigiri and tonkatsu, to soba and udon, Jin Kichi has something to offer everyone. From a menu of about 100 items (including noodles, rice, simmered and pan-fried dishes), I picked Hijiki (£5.80), cooked black seaweed with vegetables and sesame. This light dish has a refined brilliance: moist tangles of seaweed, with mushrooms dotted here and there, taste like strings of silky goodness.
Nasu Den (£9.60) – a.k.a. miso aubergine – followed. A popular dish, the glistenining black aubergine comes topped with sesame seeds and a squiggle of dark-brown miso like mustard down a hot dog. It’s beany and savoury but sweet – like a dessert in all but name.
Next time, I’ll be sure to order Agedashi tofu (deep-fried in tenpura sauce), which sounds like squares of deep-fried bean curd in a light but slurp-worthy umami broth. I’d also be sure to book a couple of weeks – at least – in advance to secure a spot at the counter surrounging the charcoal grill to watch the chefs in action. The tables downstairs felt rather cold thanks to the kitchen breeze.
Jin Kichi has been referred to as one of London’s best-kept secrets. If I were Hampstead-based, I’d probably want to keep it that way. There’s a refined brilliance to the food here. The kind you want to keep to yourself, or a carefully selected companion with whom to explore the menu and share the dishes here with.
Jin Kichi, 73 Heath Street, Hampstead, NW3 6UG
Website: https://jinkichi.com/
Rating: ***
Yumtini 