One of the more prime spots on Wardour street right by the corner of Gerrard Street has been taken up by a modern izakaya called Yatay for a while now. Having heard very good things about it from a friend of mine, we decided to head on down on the first time they opened on a Monday.
This first dish was the midori togarashi. These were massive padron peppers in a garlicky soy sauce that was deliciously moreish. It was a really nice twist on the usual padron peppers starter.
These were called “dirty fries” on the menu but were actually fried gyoze skins with a jalapeno mayo. I think I’d still have preferred potato fries but these were a tasty little starter. The mayo was nice without being spicy and the skins weren’t pretty light and crispy.
We tried a few of the different skewers on the menu. This was the Eringi mushrooms. They came with a drizzle of miso butter on them but were really meaty tasting and grilled to perfection.
Skewers of chicken thigh with scallions and chilli powder. The chicken was tender and juicy with a nice smokiness to it; really good!
These may have been my favourite skewers of the whole meal. Baby octopus with a smoked apricot salsa. I wasn’t expecting apricot salsa to go so well with octopus but the sweet and smoky sauce really complemented the octopus.
Now for some carbs: a charred sweet potato with cream cheese on top. I really enjoyed this dish as well. The sweet potato was lovely and soft and the cream cheese amazingly smooth. The crispy garlic on top provided a great little bit of crunch; a great dish!
This last dish is the kinoko gohan. It’s mushroom rice topped with crispy shallots and a poached egg. The rice was a tiny bit overcooked and a little mushy but the shallots provided some much needed crunch.
All in all, this was a really nice meal. I was very pleasantly surprised by the skewers and for a restaurant deep in tourist territory, the food was good!
Yatay, 22 Wardour St, London W1D 6QQ
