The team behind Notting Hill restaurant Dorian is opening a tiny sushi bar next week, in a former antiques shop directly across Talbot Road. Eel Sushi Bar will be a 10-seat spot only for walks, operating from midday to 10pm every day under the wonderfully named former Dinings chef Nicky Noodle. Access to Dorian’s cellar […]

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Upscale Japanese omakase restaurant Hannah, in the former County Hall building on the South Bank of the Thames, has relaunched as Donabe Hannah – London’s first Japanese claypot cooking specialist – with a new wood-fire concept to follow in Stratford, East London. Hannah won increasing recognition over a seven-year run for its Kyoto-style tasting menus under former […]

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A ‘beak-to-tail’ restaurant offering 17 different cuts of chicken cooked on skewers over a custom-made hibachi grill opened this week on the edge of the City in Holborn. Hotori, in New Fetter Lane, is a yakitori specialist – a popular style of eating in Japan – although unlike most in its country of origin it also serves […]

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Chef Steven Smith, who left the acclaimed Ribble Valley gastropub Freemasons in Wiswell in June, has announced his next move – to head up futuristic Japanese restaurant MUSU in Manchester. Steven transformed Freemasons over 15 years into one of the most commented-on venues in the annual Harden’s survey, which described it this year as ‘a fine-dining […]

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A Japanese restaurant that has made a big splash in Taiwan and mainland China will open its first UK site in Soho’s Wardour Street next month. Kanpai Classic specialises in yakinuku, with customers cooking meat and vegetables themselves on a table-top grill. The grilling options will be led by a choice of 10 cuts of […]

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