Tombo

A Matcha Made in Heaven!

Once the weather warms up a bit, take a trip to Tombo for their refreshing menu of poke bowls, dudhi, soft-serve matcha ice cream, and Japanese desserts.

Previously based in the bustling Tottenham and Soho areas, in recent years, Tombo has retreated into its current cozy location, just a 3-minute walk from South Kensington station.

Entering the calming Japanese-style interior, the first thing you see is a glass case displaying their desserts in all their glory, including match mochi donuts, strawberry dorayaki pancakes, hojicha rolls, sesame cheesecakes, and various ube-flavoured treats.

Fighting off the temptation to immediately indulge in a sweet treat, we started off with their poke bowls for a proper meal.

We had the Kyoto Kaisen, a salmon and tuna sashimi bowl with a healthy topping of avocado and crispy salad, and the Osaka Fire, a salmon bowl with spicy mayo and kimchi for an extra kick. In both bowls, we were given generous portions of juicy sashimi.

We customized our bowls with a half-and-half base of purple sushi rice and cabbage salad for a healthy twist. Our meals felt light but were actually filling, and we scarfed down everything, down to the last grain of rice.

We also had a side of Agedashi tofu and warm zen sencha green tea.

It was nice to have something warm on the side, especially as we were about to tuck in to an ice cream sundae!

We ordered a soft-serve matcha ice cream with a cone and a Tokio sundae, which featured ice cream, mochi, wafer, red beans, rice krispies, and a matcha brownie.

The matcha was definitely the star of the show, immediately melting in your mouth with its light and earthy flavor.

For such a small restaurant, they had a wide and varied menu, justifying a second (or third!) trip down to West London to taste everything they have to offer.

Location:

29 Thurloe Place, South Kensington

London

SW7 2HQ

Written by: Mika Sudjarwo