Update 2:
I visited again. August 19. This time I came with a 50% off discount. You can do the same via Open table using this link http://www.opentable.co.uk/chi-kitchen-oxford-circus?covers=2#
I just had a look at my old pictures and have noticed a new menu, looks like they have taken off the Wagyu items and have added some new ones.
I have updated a view scores, the food and the service. On this visit the service was excellent from start to finish. But what I have to write about are these amazing Char Siu lamb ribs I had! They where the BEST damn ribs I have ever had, they sweet sauce they where BBQ’d in where great, they had 2 layers of meat, the first being melt in your mouth fat layer then a soft tender layer of lamb. Totally amazing!. Full price is £12.50. 10/10
I also had a bite of my friends Chicken skewers, on the menu as CHICKEN YAKITORI 鸡肉串 – Succulent pieces of chicken skewered and marinated in sweet soy sauce. I had one bite, these where nice, but I was so in love with my Lamb, I didn’t want to have any more.. it felt like i was cheating on the yummy ribs! These are £6.50 full price. 7.5/10
My main course was disappointing, I did not enjoy it. On the menu it reads CRISPY SHREDDED BEEF – Tender pieces of sirloin beef shredded and stir fried in sweet chilli sauce served with steamed jasmine rice. So I pictured pure beef, but it was coated in batter and the flavour and texture of the sauce was not to my taste. 4/10
My friend went for the SEA BASS WITH CHILLI AND LIME, Sea bass with lemongrass and garlic
served with lime and seafood sauce. It was cooked in a Korean BBQ it was very good. No bones, soft, light and a great taste of chilli and the zing of the citrus from the lemons. I had a little bit of it and really wished I ordered the same! 8/10
My 2nd visit was a far better food experience, the service was better and of course having 50% made it taste even better!
So my scores for this visit, would be
Food – 8
(the shredded beef was a let down)
Value – 8
(with 50% discount)
Service – 9
I very friendly and personable service, the Supervisor/Manager was very welcoming.
Atmosphere – 8
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We are spoilt for choice when It comes to Halal food in London and lucky to have so many places to eat that serve halal food, however most of these said places are very similar, burgers, indian, grills, chicken, turkish and others. Nevertheless, the aren’t too many places that offer the style of cuisine and food like Chi Kitchen.
This pan asian/Chinese/thai/Japanese eatery is located rather strangely inside the ground floor of Debenhams on Oxford St, head to the rear of the store and it’s there, or you can enter via the rear entrance.
The restaurant is spacious, well light with a view of the bar and some of the kitchen. The menu has a range of different type of food and dishes, including sushi, dim sum, burgers, noodles, rice dishes and steaks – so loads of options available.
After taking a age to decide on what to eat because of the choice on the menu, we finally ordered! I started with a Virgin Mojito. Tasted very good, sweet with a good balance of lime and mint and for £5.25, that’s not bad price for Central London.
Food
Rather than trying separate starters i ordered a platter, which included Popcorn shrimp (Deep fried tempura shrimp served with wasabi mayonnaise) smoked chicken, duck spring rolls and prawn spring rolls.
I find these starters very middle of the road, nothing really stood out as a stand out item. Granted, it’s a platter of deep fried food, so what was I hoping for right? But i was expecting something better that was more memorable.
Now before I sat down and looked at the menu, I knew 90% that i was going to order the Wagyu Steak and I didn’t disappoint.
When it arrived (very quickly i might add) i was rather surprised with the small portion size, at £20 it’s not cheap and you get what looks like 150g of meat, pre cut and served medium rare. So how was it, very underwhelming and let down with the taste. I really was expecting melt in the mouth meat with natural flavours of meat, but I didn’t get that. I also found the meat had cooled down in temperature, i only took no more than 2 mins taking pictures before i started and the steak had already gone cold. In all honestly it didn’t taste nor have the texture or consistency of wagyu meat. The day before I cooked a ribeye steak at home and that tasted better. So very disappointed with this.
Also ordered some sweet potato fries… as you can see from the picture, it’s not what you expect! It’s deep fried in batter it was an odd method of cooking such a standard item and it really didn’t work.
The dessert menu looked interesting and your friendly waitress recommended the chocolate sphere.. Which sounds exactly like what it is – a chocolate sphere with a sphere of ice cream inside served with caramel sauce on top. I was ordered a chocolate fondant. Despite their impressive appearance, both desserts were not up to the scratch. The ice cream that came with the fondant, was salted caramel, it tasted of nothing, like seriously, there was no taste. The fondant itself felt like it was cooked in a microwave, as it, throw a cake mix in a cup and whack it on.
The chocolate sphere was again lacked taste, did someone forget to add the sugar or something? I rarely allow a dessert go to waste, but even the ice cream sphere was pretty poor.
All in all there are loads of items to choose from on the menu and it’s not fair to judge a place based on a few dishes, but like with all reviews i can’t eat everything – but from what i did eat and experience i have mixed feelings. On one hand i liked the location, menu choice and the fact everything is halal in place with nice service and relaxed atmosphere.
But the food i ate was rather average and the prices and quality for some dishes, especially the wagyu steak was very poor. I would go back again and try some of the other things of the menu but not in any rush to.
Total amount came to £71.21 inc service.
All meat halal as confirmed by staff.
What I ordered:
Fried starter platter (for 2 persons) Popcorn shrimp (Deep fried tempura shrimp served with wasabi mayonnaise) smoked chicken, 2 duck spring rolls and 2 prawn spring rolls £19.95 Sweet potato fries Hand cut sweet potato fries with spicy truffle mayonnaise £4.95 Japanese wafu beef steak Japanese beef steak sliced and served with wafu sauce £19.95 Chocolate fondant with salted caramel ice cream £5.95 Chocolate sphere £7.25
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