A feast from the East
Blending bold Asian flavours with creative culinary twists, stunning cocktails and a funky interior Hachiko has quickly become one of Tunbridge Wells’ go-to hospitality hotspots.
Eileen Leahy picks up her chopsticks and dives in to discover the delicious bites on offer…
It’s a Friday night in early May when my husband and I arrive at Hachiko. We’ve heard a lot of positive things about this restaurant, which opened last July, and clearly so have many others as the place is packed.
Boasting an eclectic Asian-with-a-twist food menu, aesthetically pleasing décor and an extensive cocktails list, Hachiko has quickly established itself as the go-to if you’re after an adventurous dining experience.
Located in the building that once housed the French bistro Coco Retro, on Vale Road, Hachiko still boasts the beautiful hammered metal circular bar at its entrance and the original monochrome chequered tiled flooring, but that’s pretty much where any other kind of comparison ends.
The interior has been given an impressive Japanese canteen inspired makeover. There are intimate booth seating areas, painted wooden pillars which cleverly zone the restaurant, brightly painted tables, statement lighting, artisan crockery and eye-catching artwork.
On our arrival we are warmly greeted by Hachiko’s proprietor Nektarios Lenas – or Nico as he likes to be known.
He seats us at a very cool lime green and fuchsia pink table towards the back of the restaurant and presents us with a couple of equally colourful menus etched with illustrations of traditional Japanese blossom.
The majority of dishes on offer have their culinary roots firmly stamped in Asia – think seared Kimchi Tuna Tataki (£12.80), Korean Glazed Tori Karaage chicken thighs (£10.80) and Nasu Dengaku (£15.80) a traditional glazed aubergine dish.
But there’s also a few playful European epicurean twists too including Katsu Chicken Crunch N Cheese (£17.80) – a riff on the Asian original but topped with rich cheese sauce – Calamari Kakiage Di Semola (£9.80); a true fusion dish as it combines both Japanese and Italian flavours. And then there’s the Coronation Chicken Katsu Maki (£16.80) a classic staple of the British summer salad scene reimagined as a traditional sushi roll. So far, so interesting…
After getting super excited about what we can treat our tastebuds to – there’s all manner of sushi, sashimi and signature rolls too – Nico reappears asking if we’d like to order a drink to kick things off.
We peruse the cocktail menu and it too reflects Hachiko’s love for fusion. Its signature creations include a Zen and Tonic (£12.85) – Japanese herbs infused gin mixed with cucumber, ginger and tonic – and a Hachiko Vault (£13.45) which is Bourbon mixed with miso honey and orange bitters. My husband opts for the latter while I choose the Tokyo-75 (£14) – a flute of Champagne laced with gin, sisho leaves, sage and elderflower. Both are utterly delicious.
We decide upon a bowl of chilli edamame beans (£5.80) to accompany our aperitifs – they are salty with an addictive fiery kicky and plentiful in portion.
Although my husband and I want to try pretty much everything on the menu we rein ourselves in and choose a selection of dishes we can share.
First up is the aforementioned Kimchi Tuna Tartare which is super fresh and comes with light-as-air prawn crackers to dip in the yuzu ponzo sauce. Next is the Korean Glazed Tori Karaage – a plateful of sticky yet succulent chicken bites anointed in sesame seeds. To say these were a taste triumph is an understatement – I am still thinking about how good they tasted…
But before I go on to tell you about the rest of our fabulous dining experience I have to give a little shout out to the amazing staff who were super friendly and efficient – and also for the attention to detail Nico has ensured is evident at Hachiko. Everything from the ambience to the way the food is so artistically presented is exceptional.
Anyway, back to our food. Next is a selection of citrus cured salmon and gin and yuzu tuna sashimi to savour alongside some beef katsu maki rolls. We order a couple of glasses of chilled Riesling wine as it’s the perfect accompaniment to the fish and all those fragrant spices.
The generous slices of salmon and tuna sashimi were presented on a bed of crushed ice and were so unbelievably fresh. You can of course enhance their flavour further with the slivers of ginger and soy that are served alongside but I am a purist and loved eating them au naturel. Simple but sensationally good.
Our last dish was the stunning beef katsu maki rolls – pretty as a picture and stuffed full of melt-in-the mouth steak, avocado and cream cheese. They were deliciously crusty on the outside and molten in the middle and the perfect bite to finish our culinary trip to Asia and beyond courtesy of the talented team at Hachiko. We can’t wait to return!
www.hachikouk.com
@hachiko_tunbridge_wells
