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11-13 The Brunswick, Brunswick Square, London WC1, UK

Japanese fusion is the style at this busy restaurant, popular with students. For starters you can try the mixed salad greens, which come with avocado, wakame and dressing. Another side dish is maki, a kind of sushi without wrapping in which the rice encloses avocado, asparagus and kanpyo…the waiter didn’t know what this last ingredient was, and it turns out to be seasoned gourd; pickled ginger, soy sauce and horesradish accompany the dish. More substantial is the satay vegetable lo mein, in which tofu, capsicum, sprouts, carrots, mushrooms and white onion are piled on a bed of noodles or rice; the onion, not common in East Asian cuisine, is only  lightly cooked, giving the dish extra crunchiness as well as a strong taste. Don’t be surprised if you find a queue outside the door, but this is not the kind of place where people linger, so you won’t be waiting long for a table. In every respect its style is that of a hare, and I’m not sure why a tortoise enjoys equal status in its name.