Randomness Guide to London Menu

Kyoto-style Japanese restaurant down a tiny back alley near Berkeley Square. It's definitely not cheap, but worth it for a special occasion.

The website gives a pretty good impression of the decor; low lighting, lots of wood and mirrors. The tables for smaller groups are placed against a banquette with very comfortable cushions. There is music, but it's not obtrusive. By the end of our meal, we had couples sitting on either side of us, but we couldn't hear their conversations (and presume they couldn't hear ours either!)

We started with a cocktail apiece. The wasabi bloody mary was pretty fantastic, made with tomato juice that had clearly been part of a tomato very recently. It also contained real cherry tomatos. The nashi cocktail (pear with shiso leaf) was also good, and not noticeably sweet, with the flavour of the shiso coming through clearly. Almost worth the price of £9 each. (April 2007)

We then chose one of the six tasting menu options, special sushi kaiseki matched with sake (£125 per person for nine courses (£90 for the food. £35 for the sake. Matched wine is also £35). This ended up being too much food for Kake, and so Bob ended up eating one and a half portions of the penultimate course of chirashizushi. The sushi rice was more strongly seasoned than is perhaps usual in London sushi places, but it worked well in the nigiri courses (one "classic", one "modern"), especially as the neta (fish portion) was also relatively generous. We also liked the use of different herbs like shiso, mustard cress, real proper grated wasabi root (as opposed to horseradish dyed green) and various other things that I (Kake) didn't catch the name of, including a stem of small flowers intended for adding to soy sauce for dipping sashimi. The grilled eel course was good, including the most perfect mangetout I've ever tasted, and a slice of a very interesting type of pepper that again I failed to catch the name of. Being honest, I would have preferred to have some plain rice with this course, and skip the chirashi course, since the eel was very rich. Another highlight was the seasonal appetiser, featuring sesame "tofu" with sea urchin in a bonito broth.

The sake choices were a good match to the different courses, and all of clearly different character. The sommelier explained the background and characteristics of each sake as it arrived; this would have been very interesting had it not been for the fact that he was mumbling and addressing all his remarks to the male of the party. Each food course was also explained as it arrived, but rather more clearly and usefully.

Kake would definitely come back (especially if someone else is paying... although the set lunches are more affordable, starting at £20), though perhaps not nine courses next time. We did notice that they offer seven types of vegetarian sushi (£2.50-£4 per piece), all potentially vegan, which might be worth investigating.

See also CL Kao's photos of the food.