Bincho Yakitori

Yakitori, those charcoal-cooked skewers of chicken that are the Japanese equivalent of a barbecue, are the speciality at this restaurant on the second floor of the Oxo Tower with views looking out from the South Bank over the Thames. The place even gets its name, Bincho, from the word for a special highly carbonised charcoal used for grilling. Fish and vegetables - called kushiyaji - as well as meat are grilled over the open flame and, in the Japanese way, finished with either salt or authentic yakitori sauce. Even if you don't get a ring-side seat over-looking the river, the tables at the other side of the room have a theatre of their own - watching Tokyo master chef Hidenori Ohata hopping between the six grills and delivering perfectly cooked morsels of Japanese street food.