Little Tokyo is one of Leicester’s hidden gems. Outside of Wagamama and Yo Sushi! Leicester is severely lacking in restaurants catering for those looking for a great Japanese meal. Little Tokyo is Leicester’s only independently run Japanese restaurant. It’s a very small restaurant, but it always has a cosey feel, with staff always very welcoming to both Little Tokyo regulars and newcomers.

We decided to sample a selection of the starters to begin with, starting with Ebi Tempura (£4.95) – a lightly battered and fried king prawn dish. The batter was indeed very light but crunchy, delicious in fact and served with a sweet chilli sauce dip. I also opted for the Nasu Dengaku (£3.95), which is fried aubergine topped with a miso sauce sweetened with sugar and mirin (a sweetened Japanese rice wine). As a recently discoverer of how great aubergine can taste in Japanese and Chinese food, this was a real treat for me. The soft texture of the aubergine together with the sweet and savoury combination of the sauce was very pleasing on the mouth.

For my main dish I decided to go for the Korean Hot Pepper Squid (£7.95) with Boiled Rice (£1.95). Whilst I have had this dish before at Little Tokyo, I was really in the mood for a spicy dish with lots of flavour – I wasn’t disappointed. This flavoursome dish of fried squid also contains sliced fresh pepper and onion and is definitely a dish for those that like things a little more spicy.

It wouldn’t be a Japanese restaurant without a vast Sushi menu, so we decided to try a selection of Little Tokyo’s finest sushi to finish our meal. The first type of sushi we tried was the Nigiri, a formed rectangular mound of rice topped with a slice of fish, usually raw. The nigiri we tried was topped with tuna, salmon and prawn (Ebi) – a classic and tasty combination! I also tried the Nigiri Tobiko, which rice topped with flying fish roe. It’s something I had never tried before but was quite a delicacy and well worth a try if you’re feeling a little adventurous. Our favourite though, was the Ebi Tempura (fried prawn) Makimono. The crispy tempura battered prawns are wrapped in a blanket of sushi rice and nori (seaweed) creating a great fusion of sublime tastes and textures. Little Tokyo’s sushi selection was a real treat and some of the best sushi I have ever tried.

Overall we had a great experience at Little Tokyo. The combination of the small, quirky location, very helpful and friendly staff and the closest thing to authentic japanese food you can find in Leicester makes this little restaurant well worth a visit or two.