The Sunday Times
Jay Rayner hailed “one of the most impressive openings in a long while” at this East/West hybrid from Romanian-born chef Alex Craciun, last seen in London 10 years ago as head chef at Jason Atherton’s Sosharu. Having worked at “the highest of high-end” restaurants in Kyoto and Tokyo as well as in serious European kitchens, he “has found a way to mix Asian and European aesthetics like they were meant to be together rather than in an arranged marriage”.
Asian-derived dishes included a crisp prawn dumpling “which would be a star turn on any dim sum menu” and a pocket of tempura-ed nori filled with rice, salmon and spicy mayo that is “finger food of the gods”. The most theatrical of the European dishes was a whole cabbage hollowed out with a pre-carved quail crown inside – a dish that was “absurd and silly. But it’s also in service of stupendous cookery.”
Don’t be put off by the menu writing (‘A French Man in Japan’, ‘Japanese Man in the Basque Country’, ‘English Man in Edo’ etc), which Jay admitted could be “profoundly give-it-a-rest annoying” were it not for the fact that the food was very good indeed. “The dishes are witty, texturally complex and, most of all, delicious”.
Jay Rayner - 2026-03-29
