Knightsbridge, Japanese Restaurant Guide

“Absolutely spot-on sushi” tops the bill at this “upmarket, though friendly” pair in Mayfair and Knightsbridge, where “the food is absolutely at a level you would expect in Japan”. “Perfectly fresh raw fish, light and crunchy tempura, great wine with attentive and flexible service” make the Mayfair original “a reliable choice just off the fray of Oxford Street”.

“An always-exciting menu, incredible food combinations and superb ingredients” remain points in common for this “fantastically inventive” duo of modern Japanese restaurants in Marylebone and Chelsea (“we thought the original was exceptional until we tried this one too…”). Branded in common, the owners – who formerly worked together in W1 – increasingly operate independently, with Tomonari Chiba in Marylebone and Masaki Sugisaki steering SW3. Both premises retain an aesthetic that some find “too cool”. The Marylebone original is on two floors, of which the bar upstairs is sometimes preferred. Chelsea is in a quiet mews, and has a courtyard garden that comes into its own in summer.

“Even in these troubled times, it never fails to deliver” – Rainer Becker and Arjun Waney’s “fantastic fusion” scene, a short walk from Harrods, wins impressive support as ever, despite the absence for much of the year of the supercar-driving international crowd for which it’s known (and it “can still be an OTT scene at times”). It helps that the “beautifully presented”, Japanese-inspired cuisine is reliably “fantastic”.