Hare and Tortoise

MUST try the toru katsu curry, a very distinctive dish! Very good prices and menu, the place is always buzzing! Theres always a queue to be seated, hence why i suggest you try and book in advance!

Great food, good atmosphere, good portions and quick service. Don't be too surprised too see a queue to get in as this place is damn popular especially during University term time! Prices are OK - just remember VAT is added on top the menu prices at the end of dinner!

Every now and then I visit this restaurant as the food is absolutely wonderful. The service is quick and friendly

Hmm this place is almost so good I don’t want to share it!
It’s a chain of five restaurants dotted around London.
Almost always full, but table turnover for 2 people is pretty quick [no bookings/reservations]. Prices seem to rise ~25-50p each year but on average a large meal will cost ~£7 [great for feeding anyone with a big appetite!]. Good selection of Asian fusion dishes from sushi to your basic noodles!

My tips – you can’t go wrong with the Tori Katsu curry OR Curry Laksa! Yumm… And if you’re feeling indulgent try the Spider Maki!
Enjoy!
But remember! I never told you!

I used to work here, so I can agree with the fact that most of the staff there probably aren’t giving the greatest service from time to time. At the same time you have to understand that working 5 double shifts in a row in a restaurant that is sometimes chaotic, always busy, while thinking about that massively long essay you have to write about foreign trade after work, you’re not going to feel like sunshine and rainbows without overdosing on prozac. I’m not saying you shouldn’t expect more, but this isn’t fine dining… On another note, I can attest to the great taste of the food here as a patron, after I left my job here more than a year ago. The fish for the sushi is always very fresh, and I always loved drizzling chili oil over my king prawn fried rice, and the ebi katsu curry. If you get the prawn mee and add lots of lime and chili it’s divine. Avoid the roast duck (trust me I used to work here). I don’t love the yaki udon either. Oh, but if you go for sushi get the soft shell crab roll.

This place was not too far from my university. Generous sized portions and really reasonably priced. My favourite dish was the Tori Katsu Curry, and favourite drink, the raw juice. I have been numerous times, and plan to go again very soon.

three words: SPICY WING STICKS! Possibly the nicest side order i have ever had... Have been known to order two portions...

Lovely food, brusque service at times depending who you get, but thats to be expected in most asian restaurants... right??? (controversial!)

I always go for the Satay Chicken Lo mein- I dont know why... Its the mix of the tofu, the large slices of chicken, the extra chilli, the crunch veg.... Lovely! I must ocnfess i have only strayed from that offering once ro twice, always to return.

YES you can queue for ages outside
YES they can muck up some orders

but overall i think it is well worth a trip if you are around the west end and fancy a quick eat!

This mini-chain combines Chinese, Japanese, and Malaysian offerings in a café-style environment, which of course sounds a bit like Wagamama. This put me off coming here for a long time even though the Bloomsbury branch is close to my office.

Of their offerings, I prefer their soup noodles to their stir-fried noodles. In particular, I like the curry laksa (£6.25), which is generously topped with chicken, fried tofu, prawn, squid, and fish cake. Although this was a different variant to one I had at Kiasu, I thought the laksa here was superior.

In contrast, my take-away yaki udon (£6) was a bit lacklustre. Whilst it was good value and chock full of roast pork, squid, prawn, and crabstick, it lacked quality. The presence of crabstick was puzzling but I was more disappointed by the lack of garnish, such as pickled ginger and spicy fish powder that normally accompany Japanese fried noodles.

Whilst Hare & Tortoise may lack a bit of quality, it’s much better (and cheaper) than Wagamama. Overall a decent good value option for noodles, if you find yourself in the vicinity of one.

http://eatlovenoodles.blogspot.com/

Cheap but cheerful, with decent portion sizes and quick service. We had the unagi don (great), pumpkin cakes (ok bit oily), and tuna and salmon sushi (decent for the price).
Was busy when we went on Tuesday evening at about 8pm and a queue was forming outside while we were eating. Try to get there before 8 as it is popular with the local uni students.

Cheap, very cheerful, fast service (always with a smile) and excellent food. I couldn't recommend this place more, it's brilliant for dinners with friends or takeaway orders to sit at home with (they're very decently sized takeaway containers).

I recommend the:
Salmon Teriyaki and rice
Yaki Udon
Roast Duck and rice
Curry Laksa

Excellent food, generous portions. Been eating there for a decade now. Try the spicy wing sticks, chicken in black bean and chilli lo mein and the raw juice.

My girlfriend is vegetarian and their veggie sushi is excellent as well.

You won't be dissappointed

This place serves great oriental cuisine, it is a bit of a mix of everything, or as it is sometimes called “Asian fusion”, so you will find some of your classic Japanese or Chinese dishes with some twists. The atmosphere is pleasant enough and the food is cheap, and portions are very big. Very popular with us student types, some you may find yourself having to queue in the evenings!

Hare and Tortoise, as an Asian food restaurant, stands out for me due to its value for money. Portions are big (maybe even huge), especially its noodles (though it might be the huge bowls giving me an illusion of extra size). And they go for about 5 to 7 pounds only.

My favourite dish here is definitely the curry mee, which is very rich (the soup) and they don’t skimp on the garnishings. It can get very full in the evenings after 6 or 6.30pm, so make sure you get there early or be ready to queue for a while. It’s generally a short wait if you’re a pair or at most 4 people. Any more than that will take forever if you attempt to try your luck.

Good value for money and really tasty! I like the Curry Laksa, but it is hot and don’t wear a white top as it usually splashes all over the place. You can also order three dishes between the four of you if you go as a group and they will give you individual bowls to share. The Sushi starter is really nice. If you do not finish your food you can pay £1 for a doggy bag and enjoy it later. Can get pretty busy and once I was shooed out before finishing my drink.

Great food, Healthy ingredients, vibrant atmosphere and wont hurt the pocket, go there at off peak times, gets very busy.

I would highly recommend this restaurant for good value sushi. Much better quality than places like Yo! and far better value for money. A great range of dishes, from sashimi to curries and noodles. The main meals are huge, and can easily satisfy two if you are sharing some sushi also. The only problems are that service can be slow, and also that as you cannot reserve a table you may have to queue for a while. Try to avoid going at very peak hours at the weekend and you should be fine.

Sorry but this place is absolute rubbish. I’ve been to the Kensington Hare and Tortoise before, and that was fine, nothing spectacular. But this particular branch was in a complete shambles last night. Not sure if they were having an “off” night or what, but it was bad news from the start. We had to wait in line for a good 30 minutes before we got a table. Waited another 10 minutes for the waitress to take our drink and food order. During our order, we asked if we could have all the food brought out at the same time, as we each wanted different stuff (fried rice, sushi, tempura, spring rolls, etc.) Waited ANOTHER 15 minutes for the drinks. Then they started to bring the food. The fried rice came first (??) followed by the spring rolls 15 minutes later. Finally the sushi arrived by the time my friend had finished her bowl of fried rice. And they had forgotten one of our sushi rolls. When we asked our waitress about it, she gave us a nice big helping of attitude. It was a big mess. I’d rather go somewhere authentic and reliable for sushi than this place.

This is a great place for food, and right by the Renoir cinema so you can pop there for a quick bite pre or post film. The food is japanese, with plenty of steaming bowls of ramen and plates of sushi to keep you happy and satisfied! It’s such great value for money as well…

Really enjoyed this place. It was buzzing with happy diners when I arrived, feasting on excellent value, huge bowls of ramen. Service was brisk but polite. The restaurant itself is bright and cheery, but retains some style. The food is tasty but some ingredients lacked punch - the seafood was unfeasibly huge but ultimately lacked distinctive taste. In spite of this, you can hardly fault them at these prices in a great environment. Worth a pop.

You can get a huge bowl of ramen for £4.50 here, lots of sushi (including a vegetarian selection with tofu, avocado and cucumber pieces), big noodle dishes, basically all the portions are huge and cheap and all the ones I’ve tried have been delicious. The food is oriental, but from different countries combining different influences. There is usually a queue outside in the evenings, but the restaurant is big so you don’t have to queue too long. Its huge portions and low prices and large range of choice make it ideal for a large group or a pre/post-pub meal. It is next to the Renoir cinema so you can pop there after a film too.