Kensington is the third restaurant for Japanese bunslingers Flesh and Buns, and this west London site is their biggest yet, in a prime spot on Phillimore Gardens just off the well-beaten path of High Street Kensington.
If you've visited either of the Covent Garden or Fitzrovia spots, you'll know what to expect here - Flesh and Buns takes inspiration, broadly, from Japanese izakaya culture, providing a wide-ranging menu of big hitters from sushi and maki rolls, rice and noodle bowls and of course, those pillowy hirata buns with a variety of fillings.
Flesh and buns is very much about sharing and shared enjoyment of food and drink. The menu is divided up into sections - small plates, raw and sushi dishes, then big meat dishes and buns, rice and noodle bowls and some creative desserts rounding up the list. The small plates are eclectic, so much so that there's likely to be something for everyone, whether it's Korean fried chicken, corn tempura or the simple delight of beef fat chips. Large plates include mains like grain-fed ribeye steak, barbecue sauce, red onion and shiitake pickle, as well as hirata buns with fillings like crispy piglet belly, mustard miso and apple pickle, miso grilled aubergine with sesame, carrot and cucumber pickle, and crispy duck leg with plum sauce and beetroot pickle.
As well as the a la carte, Flesh and Buns Kensington also lays on omakase style set menus for larger tables, and does a solid express lunch deal every day of the week too.
This being an izakaya, drinking is an equally important part of the equation. There are lots of cocktails on offer - including the Lucky Cat vodka, peach, cranberry and prosecco Lucky Cat, and a Harajuku Fizz of gin, raspberry and prosecco - as well as Asahi on draught, lots of bottled beers, fizz, wine, sake, whisky and more.