I have dined here 4 times over the course of the past few years and have seen a noticeable improvement in service and the quality of the food. Hotate sushi is sublime and haunts my dreams. Kaiseki is inventive but exorbitant. Sake list is extensive and the sommelier is very knowledgeable. Toyobijin was a good recommendation for flavour and price. Decor is okay but not outstanding. They employ a lot of darkness to hide imperfections. Overall, a strong contender for premium Japanese dining in London and kudos for offering something different in an already crowded marketplace. I would give it 5 stars if it wasn’t so inordinately expensive. Be mindful that you don’t go here to satisfy hunger (portions are lilliputian) but to amuse the taste buds.
Umu Japanese Restaurant
14-16 Bruton Place
London W1J 6LX
020 7499 8881
I went there last night and had mixed feelings. The quality of the food was generally high. Hotate tasted good but was mushier than I would have liked. Service was slow but the staff knowledgeable. However, they served me some squid that was as tough as leather. When I asked them to take it back, someone came over to me and tried to ‘educate’ me about squid, saying that it was meant to be tough. I lived in Hakodate, Hokkaido, for four months – and their meibutsu is squid. Fresh squid is not tough – it melts in your mouth like butter. So, I did not appreciate the ‘education’.
The sake list is one of the best in London but I am irked by their 4x mark-up on prices. These bottles are coming from Japan, not Mars.
I didn’t have a particularly large meal but I ordered a nice sake. In the end, the bill was £200 per person. This was disappointing. I would have had a comparable meal at Chisou in Beauchamp Place for significantly less. True, the cuisine there is less adventurous and the decor less impressive but I care less about those things that the food itself.