Ray Jayner's review of Mugen

No amount of fluffy eulogising here is going to square things with those to whom I have pooh-poohed Mugen in the past, on the strength that I had happened to see a rather distasteful display of dishcloths on a drying rack in the doorway on the way to work early one morning. Well it wasn’t just that, it’s just that I am such a champion of K10 and Soseki, but the former had stopped taking cards (hopefully just temporarily) and the latter has allegedly dropped their value £25 lunch, unverified at the time of writing. So perhaps it was fate or default that led me to taking lunch there last week. Not a dishcloth in sight as we breezed in the door and swung right to the more formal dining area. A sharp left will take you to the counter and the conveyor. Mugen certainly gives you the full range of Japanese cuisine and whilst I had intended to go sushi, sushi and yet more sushi, one of my hosts being a more experienced Mugen visitor suggested sushi, followed by a main course. Despite having had an amuse bouche of humble pie over the venue and a further slice as an appetizer over the menu selection I still had room to comply with the requested format. The sashimi of yellowtail and tuna was exquisite, cut perhaps a little firmer and thicker than some establishments in the capital and better for it. Some nigiri of Salmon tataki (a personal fave of the Jayner taste buds) was delicate and delightful as was the same of the sweet prawn. Moving through to the main courses, we had all opted for a Katsu and curry dish, and for my own account chose prawn. A spicy and sweetish affair, superbly rich but with excellent crispy prawns. Having done Mugen no justice in the past I certainly intend to make up for it in the future. The quality of the food is excellent and perhaps if I had bothered take off my dishcloth tinted glasses and walked past of a lunchtime and seen the dining crowd of which a good proportion were Japanese, then I might not have delayed my first visit for so long.