Japan Centre

...London!*

Japan Centre is a series of businesses based in London Piccadilly, with the stated aim of having Japan 'delivered to your door'. It's an absolutely wonderful idea for a diverse range of people: from someone looking to take their first tentative steps towards trying sushi, or for crazed Japanophiles who can't cope without a weekly supply of edamame, sake and good quality sushi rice.

All under one roof you can find ...
.../> The 'supermarket' aspect of Japan Centre is a fascinating emporium of Japanese goods and products, full to the brim with a cornucopia of traditional and modern items from the other side of the world. They offer an unprecedented selection of dried and preserved goods - from rice and noodles to green tea, sauces and Japanese vegetables, to flavourings, panko breadcrumbs and the like.

As well as this there is a good range of fresh and ... more

*Japan is now apparently in the centre of London!*

Japan Centre is a series of businesses based in London Piccadilly, with the stated aim of having Japan 'delivered to your door'. It's an absolutely wonderful idea for a diverse range of people: from someone looking to take their first tentative steps towards trying sushi, or for crazed Japanophiles who can't cope without a weekly supply of edamame, sake and good quality sushi rice.

All under one roof you can find a retail store, a popular website for ordering Japanese goods, a restaurant, sushi classes, Japanese recipes (in English), a user forum and a bilingual recruitment agency.

Much as I love Japanese cuisine I can't speak more than ten words of Japanese, so this review will focus on the retail and online stores and some of the added extras offered on their site (www.japancentre.com).

*Japan Centre store*

The 'supermarket' aspect of Japan Centre is a fascinating emporium of Japanese goods and products, full to the brim with a cornucopia of traditional and modern items from the other side of the world. They offer an unprecedented selection of dried and preserved goods - from rice and noodles to green tea, sauces and Japanese vegetables, to flavourings, panko breadcrumbs and the like.

As well as this there is a good range of fresh and frozen goods, including tofu, miso, frozen edamame beans, vegetables and meat prepared for traditional Japanese meals (for example, wafer thin pork loin for sukiyaki).

Their homewares selection also goes far beyond that of similar stores and it's the ideal place to go if you're looking for some new bowls for miso soup, a square frying pan for quick fried eggs, or a rice steamer for your latest attempt at making a authentic Japanese meal.

Fans of Japanese drinks will also be appeased with the generous selection of Japanese beers (some brewed in the UK), sake and shochu, green teas and popular Japanese soft drinks. It's possible to pick up plenty of snacks to go with these and some of the uniquely savoury Japanese snacks have always struck me as the ideal accompaniment to a cold beer.

The store is clean, bright and well lit and is busy throughout the day (lunchtimes particularly). While the staff are invariably helpful and polite it can be a little tricky for a Caucasian to navigate his way around a store where the shelf labels are bilingual and somewhat cramped. Maybe I should bring my magnifying glass? There are usually a range of customers, but I sometimes feel a bit like the odd man out as I wander around the store. I think better signage would make all the difference between this being a good store for Japanese speaks and a wonderful store for everyone.

***Please note, the food store is moving to a new premises round the corner on Regent Street from Saturday the 3rd of October.***

*Toku restaurant*

A great little restaurant located on the ground centre of Japan Centre, Toku prides itself on selling authentic Japanese cuisine prepared quickly at affordable prices. Their website states that they hope to go all organic in future and there's an obvious level of dedication to nutrition and quality which strikes me as typically Japanese.

Meals on offer include:

'Sushi, Sashimi, Japanese Curry, Don rice bowls and noodle-based dishes such as Ramen, Udon and Soba'

As well as this, you'll find miso soups (with free refills), Japanese drinks and snacks and a selection of bento boxes. The restaurant is open from roughly 1200-2200 most days of the week, although it closes earlier on Sundays.

You can find some additional information at:

http://www.toku-restaurant.co.uk/restaurant.html

*Sushi training - like Brain Training but with more raw fish?*

Japan Centre offer 'sushi training' with the chefs in the Toku restaurant and these are held on various dates on a first come, first served basis. While these look very interesting for the wannabe Japanese chef, they aren't cheap, with a day's training coming in at around the £150 mark.

There are a couple of other choices for those looking for some instruction in sushi preparation in London, including classes at Yo! Sushi, which are about half the price for the same length of tuition. I can't comment on the quality of tuition for either venue, but I suppose people would opt for the Japan Centre for the presumed authenticity of the training? Ah well, at least I now have birthday and Christmas present ideas sorted!

*Are Bob and Angie Japanese names?! - recipes online*

As well as selling ingredients, cooked food and the lessons to create Japanese meals, Japan Centre prove themselves as a Jack of all trades by providing a series of recipes for Japanese dishes in English. There are currently 100+ meals/techniques included and these range from simple hot snacks to more complicated options and 'best practice' suggestions for the kitchen. Oddly enough, these are provided under the names of 'Bob and Angie - I'm sure there's a story there.

The recipes can be accessed from the home page - I won't place a direct link here as I want you to take a look around the site for yourself!

*www.japancentre.com*

The online portal for the Japan Centre is bright, cheerful and highly enjoyable to navigate around (perhaps more so than the store!) It's a colourful site, with plenty of explanatory icons and good descriptions for the products.

Products are divided into eight categories on the homepage (Food, Drink and Sake, Instant, Cookware, Magazines, Books and Origami) and customers can access these by clicking on the icons in the centre of the page or the buttons on the module/menu at the left hand side. Some products are also available in wholesale quantities/prices and I really had to think about whether or not I needed 8kg of wasabi peas!

Personally, I like to browse using the menus at the left hand side of the page, as clicking on them opens further sublevels which makes it very easy to browse products effectively.

The site has very good search functionality and Google users the world over will get the instant results that they've come to expect.

The product range is nearly as good as the high street store, although there are a few exceptions. Fresh and frozen goods are excluded for health and safety reasons, which means that you can't buy sushi, fresh vegetables or meat etc. This might be a bit of a nuisance for people who can't get into London, but I've always found that I can get good results preparing Japanese meals with a mix of authentic dried/rehydrated Japanese vegetables, sauces etc. and fresh goods from my local butcher or fishmonger.

Bestsellers and featured icons are prominent during both browsing and in search results and several products are also branded with a small icon highlighting the fact that they are 'staff choices' and come highly recommended. Some of these are 'no-brainers' for fans of Japanese cooking, but these tips are useful for helping customers expand their knowledge of Japanese food.

The shopping cart is easy to use and the checkout process is self explanatory and secure.

Delivery is very good (the website says that orders are normally shipped within about three days, but this has always been considerably quicker for me). They can ship most of their products to various countries around the world (see the site) and there is a huge choice of delivery options for those in the UK. Their standard courier delivery allows you to order up to 30kg of goods for £4.95, with the goods being delivered the day after dispatch. Alternatively, it's possible to select a range of expedited options, with next day and Saturday deliveries possible at cost.
*Running the gamut*

In conclusion, the Japan Centre houses a wide range of businesses that cover all my needs as a consumer and fan of Japanese food. I can buy ingredients, pick up my lunch when I'm there, be shown how to prepare the goods and order bulk quantities/heavy items online.

Truly a one stop shop!

Originally published by me under the same user name at www.dooyoo.co.uk. 

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