A lavish Maltese-owned Japanese restaurant has opened in a Grade II-listed former bank in Marylebone. Converted at a reputed cost of £15million, it features a cocktail bar in what was the underground safety deposit vault. Aki – from ‘akitsu’, an old Japanese word for dragonfly – is a short walk from Oxford Circus in Cavendish Square. […]
Much-travelled Aussie chef Scott Hallsworth opens the second permanent venue of his pan-Asian project, Freak Scene, in Balham, south London, next week. Freak Scene Sushi & Grill launches on Thursday 18 January, and follows the first permanent Freak Scene in Parsons Green, which opened last spring in “fine form“, according to the 2024 Harden’s guide. […]
A new sushi restaurant opened in Mayfair this week charging what is thought to be the UK’s highest price for a meal. A meal Sushi Kanesaka, in Mayfair hotel 45 Park Avenue, costs £420 for 18 courses – with optional sake or wine pairings adding from £150 a head. Sushi master Shinji Kanesaka opened his restaurant […]
A Japanese restaurant with a monorail service system said to be the first of its kind in Europe pulls into Shoreditch in the next few weeks. Chuo, in Paul Street, will serve sushi and izakaya-style dishes made to order and delivered by a monorail from the kitchen – unlike the more familiar conveyor-belt counters, where dishes […]
Veteran New York-based sushi master Masayoshi Takayama is the latest superstar chef who has agreed to launch an outpost at big-spending Harrods in Knightsbridge. Born into a family that ran a fish shop, Masa did an eight-year apprenticeship in Tokyo’s smart Ginza shopping district before heading to Los Angeles, where his restaurant helped popularise sushi […]
Next week sees the arrival of crystal sushi in London, with the opening of a new City restaurant from Hong Kong’s Aqua group. Shiro, in Broadgate Circle near Liverpool Street, will be the group’s fifth restaurant in London, following Aqua Shard and Hutong in the Shard, and Nueva and Kyoto on Regent Street. Crystal sushi, […]
A new ultra-high-end sushi restaurant opened in Mayfair this week, with lunch starting at £180 a head for 17 courses and evening menus at £280 and £380 for 20 courses. Taku, in Albermarle Street, showcases the skills of sushi master Takuya Watanabe, formerly of Jin in Paris, which became the first sushi omakase restaurant to […]
Saborcito, the first spinoff from Nieves Barragan Mohacho’s smash hit restaurant Sabor, is among the big draws at the relaunched Arcade Food Hall below London’s landmark Centre Point tower. Saborcito will serve Hispanic tapas and fresh seafood in the style that earned Nieves accolades as the chef behind the Barrafina group. Initially launched as Arcade […]
A dramatic aerial pavilion will be built to house a Japanese restaurant above a square in Brighton. The city council has given planning permission for Moshimo sushi restaurant to install the 150-seater “Skylight” project at seventh-storey level, with views over the old town and the sea. Designed by architect Michael Spooner, the pavilion will be prefabricated in Littlehampton […]
