This pan-Asian fusion restaurant is excellent--and offers authentic, reasonably priced Japanese food. They serve fresh sushi, ramen, noodles, and affordable Japanese/Asian dishes, popular with local Asian students. I've lived in Japan so I know real Japanese food and it can be hard to find--but the Katsu chicken curry here was exactly like what I ate in Japan--absolutely delicious. My friend ordered the Beef Chili & Black Bean Lo Mein which was savory and the full order is quite filling. You can also order small portions (perfect for one person) for less. One note--many of the dishes, including the Katsu Chicken curry, say they're spicy. I asked for mine mild and the friendly waitress said it wasn't spicy--and it wasn't. So ask if spiciness is an issue because it may not be. The small restaurant is easy to miss at the Brunswick center--it's next to the Curzon cinema--well worth taking a minute to find! I will be a repeat customer! read more

Amazing food + great service I love that the take out bags were reusable and insulated read more

Always a decent place to get dinner - the prices are great (student discount gets 10% off!), the service is fast, and the portions are big. Their seafood/sushi is fresh as well, and they cook quite authentically. Almost anything on the menu is reliably good, so you don't have to worry about trying something new! read more

Food is not bad with multiple choices , reasonable price, fast service, good location, cozy place

Nice little spot in the Brunswick, one of the better options for food there. It was crowded but we got seated pretty quickly. The wait staff was slow although patient with us - we waited on a friend and it took a long time for us to figure out what we wanted to order. We got tempura veggies (yum!) and I got the Tantanmen ramen while my friend got Char Kuey Tiew - a wide rice noodle dish reminiscent of Pad See Ew. Both were tasty - the tantanmen really hit the spot, spicy, hot, and with a rich flavor. The Char Kuey Tiew didn't pack as much of a punch but it was starchy and satisfying. It wasn't too expensive for a sit down place, which was a nice plus as well. I'm not going to be seeking it out in the future but it was a nice experiance and I might go back if I'm in the neighborhood. read more

Hare & Tortoise - Tantanmen Ramen - delicious! - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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Food was delicious, the curry laksa has just enough spice on it, the server just need to be more attentive, with Spicy soup would will use more than just 1 napkin, you will sweat and will have runny nose, you should not be asking for extra napkins. read more

When my daughter was at school nearby this was her comfort food. The curry is quite good. The tempura is good as well. It's casual, fast, and friendly. They prepare take away very quickly. read more

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Delicious Chinese fare. Had other Asian dishes as well but didn't try those. Friendly. Fairly fast.

Delicious chicken gyoza and pad Thai. Tasty duck and rice. Quick service and lots of sushi options.

Large portions and friendly servers! The ramen definitely fills you up and is enough to share between 2 people!

First off, the service here kinda sucks. They don't really pay any attention to you, so you end up waiting a lot along the way, despite enough staff to cover all the tables. They also don't orchestrate the deliveries from the kitchen such that all parties on table are served at the same time. Big no-no for me. Sorry, that's just the way I roll.... Food-wise: the sashimi salad... good sashimi, but way, way, overdressed salad with way, way too much wasabi. And I'm a big fan of the green gook, but this was way too much. I felt like a west hollywood adult movie star on a coke binge the stuff was so strong. So have them take the white stuff out of the salad before they serve you (consider yourself warned). The spicy tuna maki was meh... have had so much better... so maybe I'm spoiled. I dunno'. It wasn't spicy enough (I know, the irony.... it's killing me). Go figure. The south african white they have by the glass (4.50 for a large one), is pretty decent btw. Atmosphere is meh... the food is meh... the staff are inattentive. Not really my favorite place. Especially in Brunswick square. If you want sushi go else where. read more

Hare & Tortoise - Lunch time - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Nom nom nom. I fancied some katsu curry for lunch today, so popped in here for take-away...the takeaway service was surprisingly decent. The good: - It took less than 5 minutes for me to leave with my order - The portion is MASSIVE (I've saved half for lunch tomorrow) - For £7.10, it isn't too pricey - The curry is really good, and I was given loooads of katsu. The less good bits: - It gets incredibly busy, and the service can be pretty poor - This is Chinese-y Japanese food, so don't come here expecting authenticity - The ramen here always disappoints me Normally I'd give this place 2-3 stars, but the takeaway service was so speedy, and today my curry made me soooo happy...I can bump them up to 4 stars. :) read more

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This was a great meal. It was my first meal of the day and the ambience was great, the food was delicious and reasonably priced, and the staff was friendly. The restaurant itself was a clean modern theme with some Asian influence. I ended up ordering the beef chili and black bean lo mein with the chicken karage side dish. The karage arrived first, and it was absolutely great. The chicken had a thin crunchy crust that gave way to a juicy and incredibly soft inside. It was incredibly well cooked and the mayo dip provided only added to it. The only qualm I have is that there was an absurd amount of green to chicken ratio. There were maybe 6-7 pieces of chicken and a mountain of salad (I ate it anyways). The beef chili lo mein arrived shortly after and it was amazing. The beef was very well cooked, the ratio between vegetables, noodles, and protein was good, and the onions and peppers were crunchy which added a nice texture to the dish. Solid experience. read more

This place is great for a quick bite at either lunchtime or dinner. However if you go along at peak hours, be prepared to queue. It is better to nip in either a little early or very late. The food is great, really filling. My personal favorite is Curry Laksa, a huge bowl of thick spicy soup and various meat and vegetables. Though, apart from the Ramen, which having lived in Japan for three years and slurped my way through the real deal on a regular basis, I found a bit tasteless, everything I have tried there has been fantastic. The one weakness is the indifferent service, and saying indifferent is being complimentary. The problem with popularity is that the staff are trying to churn through as many customers as possible. The good thing about this is that they are fast and efficient, the bad thing is that you feel obliged to run out the door as soon as you have finished. read more

Hare & Tortoise - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

During my year in London, I frequented this restaurant a few times. Not the greatest of pan-Asian cuisine but tolerable. What's intolerable is the service and the horrendous wait that I've had to endure on every visit (no matter how early). I've ordered most items on the menu, from pad thai to variations of sushi and hand rolls, to soups with south-east Asian origins but catered toward western taste-buds (i.e. dishes that are supposed to be SPICY and SOUR but end up SWEET-SOUR and definitely NOT SPICY). Waitstaff needs significant amount of training in customer service -- they especially need to learn to wait until their customers finish eating before taking the plate / bowl away. I understand it's a small restaurant and it's crowded and they just want to clear the tables to get new customers in, but they also need to remember that their tips are dependent on their level of service. I typically give 15% tips at most sit-down restaurants in London, but at this place, I usually give less than 10% if at all. *** TIP: They charge for tea, so just order hot water. It's ridiculous that they even charge for tea. There are better places out there, but if you're stuck in Bloomsbury and need a fix to your pan-Asian cuisine cravings, the Hare & Tortoise at this location will do. read more

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My first time at Hare & Tortoise, and its not bad! The queue was out of the door when I arrived, but I got to jump in as only me and I took the drafty table near the door that no one else wanted. The place was packed, but the queue and in and was refreshed very quickly. Service was also extremely quick. I had green tea, (Tuna) Tekka Maki rolls and Beef with black bean Lo Mein (noodles). All were good - about same standard as a Wagas for the noodles. Total bill was only £11.75. I will come back for more. read more

Hare & Tortoise - Sake Maki, green tea & seafood Ramen :9 - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

I grew up in Hawaii and one of my favorites to eat was Japanese Ramen soup. I researched London restaurants looking for a variety of foods to eat. I was quite happy to have found Hare & Tortoise (H&T), which was located just a 5-minute walk from my hotel (George Hotel B&B). The restaurant serves a nice variety of salads and sides, tempuras, sushi, sashimi, a variety of sushi "lunch boxes", noodle dishes, rice dishes, and Ramen soups. Six of us had dinner (29 Oct 2011) after a long day of sightseeing in London. We didn't have reservations and we waited 15 minutes. That gave us time to go through their menu, which was filled with lots of photos that whet our appetites. We were all hungry. The restaurant was full and with good reason. The food was excellent! Tony and I started with the Unagi and avocado maki (eight pieces for £7.70) - grilled eel with avocado, omelet and rolled inside out. For my entrée, I had the seafood Ramen soup, which consisted of shrimp, grilled salmon, fish cakes, mussel, and scallops, along with bamboo shoots, seaweed, and scallions. Tony had the Miso Ramen soup (char-sui pork, boiled egg, bean sprouts, seaweed and scallions. Mark ordered the Curry Laksa, which was a spicy curry coconut flavor with chicken, prawns, squid, and rice noodles. It was topped with tofu, bean sprouts, and cucumber. The others ordered some of the same soups. Being a cold evening, the soups warmed us up and were filling. The soups ranged from £5.50 to £7, which is very reasonable. I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner and only wish there was a place like this where I live. I'll just have to return to London and to the T&H. read more

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Our group made it in later in the evening, and we were in high spirits after the screening of our film at a film festival, but the staff were very friendly and accommodating. I ordered the spicy chicken wing sticks, which were fiery and with just the right amount spices, followed up with Beef Chilli & Black Bean Lo Mein, which also had an excellent flavor. My friends ordered Curry Laksa, more like noodle bowls, and the Mochi Ice Cream dessert was shared. The restaurant itself was bright, clean and well-lit, which didn't diminish the cosy atmosphere. The only small critique I had was that although our orders were placed together, each dish came out minutes apart. Some of us were just beginning main dishes when others were almost finished. I received my appetizer half-way through my main course. read more

I like to think of myself as a bit of a sushi aficionado - in the sense that I love sushi, and I know when sushi is good/fresh. For example, Yo! Sushi is not only gross, but grossly overpriced. Hare & Tortoise, however, does sushi better (and at vastly better prices) than lots of big sushi chains. The queue out the door is always miles long but the service is so fast you don't ever end up waiting that long. The other thing I love about this place is that although the service is quick, you never feel as though you're being rushed. The staff are super-friendly and attentive but not pushy. Aside from sushi, they do some very nice asian dishes (and the complaints in other reviews about the food not being spicy enough doesn't bother me, not being a big fan of 'spicy'). But honestly, if you're looking for a sit-down meal of good sushi at good prices, this is the place. They also do really great fresh juices! Yum. read more

So much msg I thought I was about to get cramps. Food was definitely tasty and flavorful, but all the flavor probably just comes from the msg. I had the Penang prawn noodles and I was so so so so parched after the experience. I don't recommend it, especially if you don't have a great tolerance to msg. Even if you do, it can't possible be good for you! They were also not the most friendly. I didn't want yellow wheat noodles and wanted to swap out to rice noodles and they charged an extra pound just to make the swap. Anyway, there are plenty other places with great Asian food. read more

Bland bland bland. I was in denial before, trying to convince myself that this place was more tasty in part due to its really convenient location for me, but I cannot lie to myself any longer. I ordered Satay Vegetable Lo Mein, which had three chillies next to it on the menu. Three! The server asked me if I wanted it on noodles or rice... um... noodles? Whilst eating this dish with the three-chilli warning, my nose didn't even start running. Unless the floodgate of my sinuses has been opened mid-plate, I don't consider something at all spicy. I laugh at that food's spiciness. Ha. And the service is always a bit shit, if I'm being honest here. Maybe there's always a huge line of customers waiting outside for tables because the servers would rather let you sit around after your dinner until the restaurant closed up for the night than give you your bill. Unrelated to the rating change, I went to the toilet and noticed that the music playing in the background was about Christmas. Curiously sung in English by what I can only describe as a Japanese lounge performer. I swear. It is June. read more

Just like the name of the restaurant I found hair in my sushi. Pics: http://tinypic.com/r/2eb48yo/6 - you will see that it was actually fried with the tempura and is moulded together, ha talk about commitment! I guess they really do keep to their word. I suppose now I will just have to look out for the tortoise. Oh did I mention paying £1 extra for potatoes and finding None at all when I opened up my meal back home? Oh and not to mention, I walked all the way back to the restaurant to complain and they basically called me a liar and refused to give me the £1 extra I had paid for. So if you like being ripped off and eating hair definitely go to hair and tortoise, a well deserved name. read more

If you like noodles, sushi, dumplings, maki, lo mein, chow mein and rice dishes - all served in nice big portions, then this is the place for you. The only problem with this place is that you will often have to wait to be seated as it is so popular.... read more

Some of the best sushi in town. Not as nice decor as some of the other restaurants but the food is still great. The sushi is always fresh, service is fast and prices moderate. If you are really hungry try the noodle dishes, I promise you won't leave hungry. read more

H&T is a perfect value-meal place for any hungry person. The quality of food is very consistent and pretty good too. So you you can go and dine blindly at any time lunch/dinner until 11 pm. For dinner, you might notice the long lining up outside H&T, but that does not mean you are gonna Wait that long. The only meaning is that there is a great food waiting for you inside. So don't get scared of the long lining up. All there food is great, I love prawns spring rolls, King Prawns fried rice (massive portion, comes with miso soup), Carry Laksa (cool), Been and black beans (awesome). They also serve nice fresh apple etc juices too, which is not very normal in busy restaurants. Sushi, did I say the word sushi, because I'm a Sushi-hater :S the whole concept is not for me. But believe it or not, This place made me re-think sushi again :D I'm starting to love it , esp the Dragon Rolls (Cool). The service there is not bad at all, bearing in mind the big crowd they got all day long. And to be honest H&T is not a place to relax in at all, it is rather a battle with good food full stop! So, if you have not tried this place yet, you should read more

This is a very affordable 'Asian' dining option (and I do love a bit of white-painted-1960s-angled-concrete-social-housing-come-middle-class-regenerated-shopping-precinct as my context). So, the 'Asian' food offered spans from Japanese sashimi salads to Thai green curry via culinary travelling pit-stops in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore... Everything is priced around £6-7 which is fine by me. Often a line out the door of expectant diners- this is normally dealt with quite efficiently, no need to be perturbed. If I haven't hinted enough at the bourgeois-ness of the locale and patronising gastronomic range supplied, I will spell out that the 'spiciest' item on the menu (with a tripple-chilli symbol!) is the Malaysian curry, and it was tasty, but not three chillies worth of kick. Stick with the Salmon teriyaki I think... read more

I love sushi, I love making it, I love looking at it and I love eating it! So you can imagine that I was very pleased to find such a reasonably priced and surprisingly decent sushi chain restaurant. I was very impressed with the flavours and textures of our meal; The Salmon sashimi was cool and flavourful, the sushi rolls (we had maki) were beautiful and delicious, with lovely creamy fresh avocado next to the silky salmon and sticky rice. My only criticism would be that my salmon teriyaki was lacking in sauce, so I did have to use a lot of soy on my remaining rice once the salmon was gone, but as the portion was so huge I couldn't finish the rice anyway, that isn't much of a chastisement! I would definitely go again. read more

I feel a bit bad about giving this place only a 3-star rating because the food is quite top notch - perfect comfort food for those who miss South-East Asian spices, healthy portions and all of this at an affordable price. What thoroughly detracts from the experience, on a regular basis, is not only the queue outside the restaurant - this is seen by some to be proof of the goodness of the food served - but the sheer indifference of some staff members. As previously suggested in several reviews, if you can time your visit right, this place would rate more like a 4-star experience. I highly recommend the Curry Laksa and Prawn Mee - both made for those with a good tolerance for spices. The large portions mean that you get to savour the dishes all the way through to your satiety. Their Beef Chill & Black Bean Lo Mein is wicked and designed to please. There are several items on the menu I have tried and liked and I'm quite sure that I'll keep going back there, despite the service, for the food! read more

Oh Hare and Tortoise, when will I ever learn? I hate you so much, but I want to love you... I know it's normal to have dishes arrive at different points in the meal, but half of our guests were finished with their mains before I questioned the server for the remaining dishes. They came out 15 minutes later. We received someone else's bill. We picked up our own napkins and chopsticks. We brought our card to the staff...It would have been better had I cooked the food as well. And that was better than the time before when they didn't bring half of our food then charged us for it, and then refused to take it off of the bill. I felt naughty leaving only money for the dishes that actually arrived, but I know I didn't pull a runner. Cheap but not cheerful. read more

One day while in London, I had a mad craving for katsu curry. Luckily I'm staying nearby, but from what I can tell this is the only place that serves a variety of regional Asian cuisines in the Russell Square area. This is the ONLY place I could find that served Japanese curry within a 10 block radius, so I hastily made my way over there. The restaurant is small with a very airy, light, and modern interior. I came at off-time to avoid the crowd, but there still were a good number of tables filled despite it being late afternoon on a weekday. I went ahead and ordered the pork katsu curry, but noticed they have a good number of south east asian dishes in addition to all of the Japanese entrees. Quite a good variety! My curry came out within 10 minutes of ordering it. Every main dish comes served in a really beautifully decorated porcelain bowl- something I wouldn't expect for a place with such cheap prices! The serving of rice, curry sauce, and meat was quite substantial. The curry itself was incredibly tasty and rich, and it had lots of veggies mixed in. Definitely one of my favorite curry-rice dishes I've ever eaten at a restaurant. The servers were very sweet and attentive. Even though I've only tried one dish, I definitely think they're worth visiting if you're in the neighborhood. read more

DELICIOUS!!! My fellow girlfriends and I hit this place up at LEAST once a week. Even though it's in Brunswick Centre and tucked away from tourists, it was always busy. But don't let that fool you! The wait was never more than 10 -15 minutes. They serve their food in these big bowls, and the portions were more than enough for you to send a second helping home with you. But of course, I always finished. Fatty. It was just SO good, and the best Chinese food we had in the city. Try the lo or chow mein for sure, and the dumplings were delicious too. But the best thing was the chicken curry, ask for extra spicy! And with London's cold summers, the green tea was always the first thing we asked for. Extremely hot, extremely comforting. Service was always fast and great too! I'm salivating just remembering it. =( read more

When I told my friend that I was craving Sushi she recommended we go here for dinner. The name itself threw me off as it is one more associated with pubs so I was dubious that the closest thing they would have to sushi would be fish and chips. Actually the last time I was even in this area was the day of the London bombings so when my sat nav took me by the square where I was caught in the drama of that day a whole lot of memories came flooding back. So anyway met my friend and walked into this place not sure what to expect but on entering it just turned out to be a typical Asian cafe layout, with small seats and tables and aiming more towards filling the place than a decent ambiance. I went for my typical dragon rolls and California rolls, something I have eaten enough of to know the good from the bad. Verdict? This was just okay. Nothing special. My friend and I ordered some sort of salad and pork dumplings beforehand which were really nice, but overall it is not the kind of place I would go to again in a hurry. read more

It is not so good as recommendations. But it is relatively cheap compared with other Japanese restaurant. I recommend the curry noodle and plum wine. The environment is good. read more

Hare & Tortoise - Sushi - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

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Located in the corner of the Brunswick. For a Chinese/Japanese -chain- restaurant, it's good. If you want to switch to ramen noodles from udon, it's an extra pound. Yummy food! read more

The service at this establishment is horrible. Granted I went with a large party on both occasions we expected to wait for a table to be set up. Little did we know that the table would take over 1 hour! On a Tuesday night, for 5 people! Everytime I asked the host how long, he said "5" minutes, This was the longest 5 minutes I've ever wait for poorly done meal and underwhelming sushi. I will agree with the past reviewers that the meal is quite a value, but not considering what is available elsewhere in the city. The noodles here were poorly seasoned and the best part of my meals here were the appetizers. This is never a good sign. The sushi was over-dressed and lacked any fresh or zestful taste. There are better places for noodle bowls, but if you're craving just a vegetable tempura platter then head here. The wait will make you hungry enough that any food the present to you will seem delicious at the time. Unless you order the sushi that is ;) read more

If you are hungry, H&T is worth the wait. The portions are enormous and the prices are not only reasonable, but for that much food dirt cheap. Having said that, it is a double-edged sword. I finish my dish and feel very, very full. If I don't finish it, I feel bad for wasting it. My fave is the Japanese udon and I think H&T gives its best with the soup dishes, as they offer reliable avoidance of the fullness-or-waste dilemma. I recommend it, in particular, as a place for groups. The space is accommodating and the portions will encourage sharing, which means you'll get to taste more than just your humongous mountain of goodness. read more

I still dream about the curry and ramen bowls. For whatever strange reason, this is one my favorite noodle bars ever. It may have been because I was so freaking COLD all the time, so the warm soups tasted particularly good? but whatever. The ramen is great, and full of fresh ingredients. I also never understood how they got the curry stains off the tables, so there is also something to be said for cleanliness. It's cheap, and tasty and quick at the right times. I never went during peak hours, always for a late or early lunch. read more

They served me the worst fried rice I have tasted in a very long time. I ordered one starter and one main, my main course came less than 5 minutes after I had ordered it. Their ramen and noodle soups however did look quite good. Dear lord give me the strength to forgive this lovely restaurant for serving shitty rice! read more

Hare & Tortoise - The miso soup was the tastiest part of this meal - word! - Chinese Near Me - London, XGL

Studying in London for a few weeks and wanted to make sure I got a range of cuisine. This is a great choice for Asian style treats. There's an awesome range on the menu from small bites to big meals. I tried the duck and ate it so fast that I could get a picture. It's a really busy spot so be prepared to wait if you're dropping in on the weekend read more

The area surrounding Blackfriars station isn't known for having a huge selection of restaurants so when arriving for check in at a nearby hotel we were pleasantly surprised when the concierge mentioned this quaint place right around the corner. The sushi was passable but then I'm from California and really picky about my fave food. The restaurant also offers other Asian dishes that are quite tasty. I had the chicken chow me in and my hubby had the thai pad thai. The chow me in was good but the pad thai did seem a little bland compared to others we've had. All in all, Hare & Tortoise is a pleasant establishment with good food for the value. read more