If you’ve never tried Japanese food before then Flesh and Buns is definitely a trip to make. There’s plenty of familiar non-Japanese food items so you’re not overwhelmed but at the same time you have subtle Japanese inspiration and fusions to give you an idea of what Japanese food consists of.
Part of the Bone Daddies group, Flesh and Buns has two restaurants in London; one located in Oxford Circus and the other in Covent Garden. With Oxford Circus mostly closed, we ventured into Covent Garden for our first meal out in months! Keep on reading to find out if it was worth it!
Location
The Covent Garden branch is located 10mins walk from Covent Garden tube station and can be found on the bottom floor of Seven Dials Market.
Is Flesh and Buns Halal?
The chicken has been confirmed as Halal on the menu. Alcohol and pork is also served.
Food
For starters since we are at a Japanese restaurant we had to go for one of the sushi options of course. We opted for the Californian sushi rolls which contained crab meat, avocado and yuzu mayo. With it being so hot outside this was the perfect refreshing sushi selection (that was a tongue twister just writing it!).
There are plenty of other starter options such as calamari, crab or Korean fried wings alongside a range of sushi rolls. On each occasion we’ve been we’ve found 2-3 starters would suffice per person.
For the mains which are listed in the larger plates section we opted for the Japanese friend chicken. These are marinated in buttermilk and served with red chilli and BBQ mayonnaise. Extremely light and non greasy as well as being tender and moist.
Each large plate has a meat base accompanied with 2 fluffy steamed buns i.e. flesh and buns – if you didn’t get it by now! We recommend that you order more buns as two are not enough for most people.
We also had steak and duck. Please note it was confirmed with the waitress on if they were Halal. It seems like a lot of recipes by default use alcohol in their sauces and flavouring which are why they wouldn’t be advertised as Halal.
This might be a one off hence I didn’t list it in the section above. I suspect they were a little more accommodating due to the lack of customers right now.
I would always make sure that the meat is halal (both from a meat and alcohol perspective) – Flesh and Buns are always happy to substitute the sauces as they did for us.
The duck came on the bone but the waitress offered to pull apart the meat for us – not wanting to waste time in eating I said “please, go ahead!”. We did see staff doing this with several customers whenever there was a meat / rice main dish so be quick with any pictures!
There is a decent range of non-alcoholic drinks available from the menu.
Atmosphere
You have to normally book in advance to dine at the restaurant and this is still true right now. The place might not be at full capacity but for the time being bookings are mandatory.
The style and décor was very cosy. It was 2pm on a birght sunny day but inside felt like 7pm on a warm evening with the mood lighting. This is a Japanese izakaya restaurant which loosely translates to gastropub. Think plenty of cheerful noise with large tables to share food.
Value
The prices are what you would expect in Covent Garden. The majority of the people go for the set menu however if you’re familiar with what you like a la carte is a better option.
The starters on average will cost £25 (based on ordering 3) with the main courses costing £15-25.
Service
This was the first week after lockdown so understandably there weren’t many staff – I counted a total of 3 front of house staff. It wouldn’t be fair to comment on Flesh and Bun’s service right now due to the lack of staff being outside of their control.
Nevertheless the staff were very friendly even though I can imagine they were being overworked. We’ve been before and the staff has always been quick and attentive.
Overall
Flesh and Buns never claims to be 100% authentic Japanese. However what it does provide is Japanese inspired flavours, lively atmosphere and a great customer experience.
7.5/10
Website: https://www.fleshandbuns.com/
Address: 41 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LX
Note: If I have mentioned that a restaurant is Halal it is due to them displaying a Halal sign or asking the management on the status. However, please confirm yourself as well to avoid any doubts.
