Review: Osaka Japanese - Worcester Park

Named after the Japanese city Osaka in the Kansai region of Japan, Osaka is a new Japanese restaurant that started service earlier this year. Bored of Italian and Indian restaurants, Worcester Park residents deserved something exciting and exotic and Osaka certainly ticks these boxes. If you’re not that familiar with Japanese food, the menu is a bit of a minefield as it is so vast but the staff are more than happy to help you order and offer their expertise.

I began my meal with the starter ‘Takoyaki’ which is deep-fried octopus with mayonnaise. Five little piping hot balls were put in front of me covered in fish flakes, which were slowly swaying. The movement put off my friends, but not me! The balls were light, hot and filled with a gooey cheesy like substance with a couple of bits of octopus in each ball. After I took a bite, my friends tried it and agreed that octopus really isn’t as bad as it sounds.

My next course was a Nigiri (sushi dish) of ‘Unagi’ which is an eel sushi- I had to order Unagi because of this. I loved the texture of the eel, it was silky and flavoursome. A definite thumbs up, which I would certainly order next time I go. We also ordered a prawn tempura ‘roll’, which is a large sushi roll cut up in seven generous pieces accompanied with wasabi and some lovely pickled ginger. I usually can’t eat pickled ginger by itself but this was tangy and sweet, and a real treat. We also ordered a more traditional sushi, salmon sushi which was also extremely appetizing and pleasing to the eye. The presentation of the sushi dishes are stunning and really impressive for a local restaurant

The disappointment of the evening for me was my main course, which was udon noodles with king prawns. The prawns were sparse and didn’t seem big enough to be king prawns. The udon noodles were dry, and the whole dish looked like it was sprinkled with food colouring but I think this was actually due to the sauce containing a lot of chillies. The chicken and beef teriyaki seemed to be a better choice.

The meal was finished off with some green tea ice cream, which I thought would be light and airy but it sadly lacked any pizazz and was slightly dull.

The restaurant is small and cosy, with lovely little Japanese art and dramatic wallpaper on one wall. The staff are welcoming and eager to please. Service was a bit slow at times, with everyone’s main course coming at different times. Cooking Japanese food involves many intricate processes, so I can forgive these teething problems as I’m sure the staff at Osaka will perfect this with experience.

Overall I had a wonderful time and am looking forward to visiting again, just so I can try some other dishes like scallop steak, sashimi or a bento box.

Halal status: Meat not halal/alcohol served/pork served
Address:358 Malden Road, Worcester Park, KT4 7NW
Cost:££

Update: I couldn’t resist another visit, so two weeks later I went back. This time I ordered a beautiful salmon teriyaki which was fragrant, tangy and cooked perfectly. Also ordered some crunchy crab claws which I think I can confidently state, is the yummiest thing on the menu.