Nizuni’s official web portal has the title track to the film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu), running in its background. In my opinion, it is Ryuchi Sakamoto’s best sheet of music, he has possibly ever laid down on paper. Beautiful, epic, elegant and heartbreaking. Ryuchi went on to write more cinemagic backing music to more epic films such as The Last Emperor; though I think his best work was for Brian De Palma’s (The undisputed King of the Erotic Thriller) Femme Fatale, starring Rebecca Romijn. Fucking great film, to the tune of a heartbreakingly beautiful soundscape. And Ms Romijn. A restaurant owner with such fine taste in music, is an indication that they know how to navigate the path to success in the complicated business of hospitality. And indeed she does, one Linda Lee is also proprietor of the legendary (Barney Stinson style) Korean chillspot, Koba, which is but a stone’s throw from Nizuni’s location in Charlotte Street. All signs point to a Japanese menu awash with inspirations from other worldly cuisines. Unsurprisingly, the Korean factor has made its mark on some dishes on this menu – many of which will likely please the constant grazing sharers amongst us. However, most pleasing of all is probably the paperwood cafe ambiance, taken in concert with the laid back, karaoke bar waitressing, made for a relaxing spot to catch
How many sushi bars do you know, play bossa nova in the background? Out of that lot, how many deliver to your doorstep? And just how many sushi bars boasts an all-female run operation? Assuredly, sushi bars that satisfy all the above are rare,
I write this shuffling in my seat, on a flight bound for Norwegian airspace, and it isn’t often that I dream about London and its murky skies, but here I am, fantasizing about the startlingly magnificent lunch I experienced last weekend at Yashin, the latest addition
I’ve always thought about upgrading (or downgrading depending on where you stand) the photography on this blog to film-based rather than digital, but after visiting 300 or so restaurants with the Nikon D700, it’s hard to it put. Digital is just so,
I swear, this is the last time I’m posting photos from a meal at Shiori…. so good…. So I believe I’ve tried everything on the Shiori menu now (not the tonkatsu or kaarage) , this set of photos are from my 3rd visit, and I’ve been four times. The canape sushi at £23 deserves your attention, however if you are spoilt by choice, then the omakase is a good place to start with Shiori. I’ve had their omakase (the chef’s choice menu) at £30, £40 and £50, and have found the £40 to be happy median. Having said that, the £50 omakase was pure decadence. I’m mentioning prices, because that’s what you need to decide when you call to book, and you’ll need to because the sushi bar can only accomodate nine people at any one time. I wrote two exhaustive reviews which cover more details, if you want to know more : First review ; Second review. This blog post is just photos of the seven courses you get from a £50 omakase. Needless to say, I love Sushi of Shiori. Course 1: Abalone, enoki and spinach You can tell that the £50 menu is serious, when they serve luxury seafood as an appetizer. Ponzu zestiness, soya sauce, refreshing stuff. Course 2: Okra soup This was REALLY interesting. Chopped up okra, served cold, with all the slimy, gooey goodness
Sushi bingeing. The final frontier. The unquestionably orgasmic delight of popping dollop after dollop of a food of an unrelentingly elegant design; low in fat, high in umami, arguably, an invention born of perfection. Some say the combination of raw fish
A firm, yet genteel voice answered the phone. The line was horribly muffled as I struggled to pick out the vowels through the low, low bass. Fum.Fum.Sa.Sa. I think she said, in a deceptively Japanese accent. An awkward silence befell
Twenty quid doesn’t go too far in London, maybe two courses. Three if it’s a michelin-on-a-budget. On the otherhand, the Taiwanese have perfected the art of amazingly affordable fine dining on half a shoe string. Back in February, I was over in Taipei for
All hail the gods of charcoal, keeper of the exalted flames, oh revered and magnanimous Ganko Ojisan, for I require six allotments of your juiciest chicken oysters. I imagine this place would be a hit on weekends what with its convenient location in Soho and
You might remember my first visit to this excellent sushi bar run by a husband and wife team in Warren street which I wrote about exactly two weeks ago. I loved it, praising the artistry, attention to detail and the sheer brilliance of the cold food. I said I would return for a birthday meal, and I did just that last week. Suffice to say it was yet another enthralling experience, this time there was more of a
Good sushi is as much about skill as it is about availability and accessibility to ingredients. We’ve read about the supremacy of the few top-end Japanese restaurants in London, inaccessibly pricy to most of us, but I think they have played a crucial part in establishing an import route for premium fish to come into the UK, to mostly service the premium clientele,
Food history is always an interesting read. Most of the evolution of modern day food has been esoterically documented, parts of it excitingly shrouded in folklore, but always, food is something inextricable linked to the life of the times. In the case of sushi, we know it’s been around since the 8th century,
Paul the octopus was right all along, Spain are now World Cup winners, and I should have put some money behind his choices. Sorry to have been away from the blog for so long, I’ve been out in the sun you see, chasing sushi dreams. Here’s the first report, a few more to follow in the weeks to come
Atari-Ya are primarily fishmongers who specialise in importing sashimi-grade fish and are said to supply some of the highest profile Japanese restaurants in London, including Umu and Nobu. They also own sushi-bars. Do they keep the best for themselves? Let’s find out
There is collective praise for this bare-bones Udon-ya, specialising in thick wheat flour noodles that hail from Shikoku Island in Japan. Slippery, stick-to-your-chopsticks elasticity is the result of a traditional kneading process, carried out on the premises, with wheat imported from the mother land. Affordable, quick, delicious and novel – the next over-subscribed sensation has arrived. Introducing Koya
Roka is part of an ever expanding chain of zenith-class restaurants owned by German restaurateur, Rainer Becker. He also happens to own the Zuma line of luxury restaurants. Since he opened Zuma in 2002, and then Roka two years later, his highly acclaimed brand of refined Japanese cuisine has gone strength to strength, now Zuma and Rokas have expanded to Hong Kong, and in 2009, a new Roka in Canary Wharf, right in the heart of fatcatland. I was a little sceptical at first, especially since I had only heard nice things being said about Becker’s restaurants, I do love Japanese food (Sushi Hiro is still the best this side of West London, yo), it’s just that I had to experience it for myself, before I started swooning with the rest of town. And so I did
Winter has well and truly arrived. As I write this on a bitterly cold Friday morning, there is but a shallow layer of snow building outside, not quite enough for me to stab my feet into it with heavy boots, but enough for me to feel Christmassy. I’m usually averse to boiling hot and soupy things (my tongue bruises very easily with heat), but my numbing senses needed some thawing, and what better way to do so, than to snuggle up next to my special half and dip our heads into a pot of boiling water. Blub, blub
Everybody knows that LondonEater endorses Sushi Hiro to no end and it is my most frequent spot to cure my equally frequent sushi shivers. With such a great place so near to the office (people still don’t believe that it’s only a 15 minute tube journey from Park Royal to Ealing Common) , one would think that my quest for the raw stuff has reached its zenith. The problem though, is that Sushi Hiro goes on seriously long breaks. We’re talking about month long breaks in summer. That’s one month of no tuna belly for me – imagine the withdrawal symptoms. As the holiday season steam rolls in, I fully expect another 10 day hiatus. The point of this obligatory rant : if you find yourself standing and cursing in front of a shut Hiro, then fret no more because there is another one just 10 steps down the road, yes folks, every Everest has K-2. Keep reading sushi lover, keep reading
If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I am only the biggest fan of this sushi bar located in Ealing Common, a convenient and frequent after work spot for me. It’s been about a year since I last wrote about it, and it’s time we revisit to find out if it’s still the best
Forty five minutes after exiting Temple tube station, I am still wandering around the area. I could have sworn I have walked past Buddha bar before – which faces the river – but for the life of me, all I can see is a Walkabout. Defying pride, I finally make the call to the restaurant for directions; they tell me I need to keep walking right, and then some. Ah, there it is, under a bridge
The man is almost too beautiful to be a chef. As we ended the meal, I told our waiter to give our...
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