Kiku

KIKU RESTAURANT ===== Mayfair, London ====

http://www.kikurestaurant.co.uk

Hisashi Taoka of Kiku – Fish aficionado - interview - Mostly Food ...

Kiku is a Japanese restaurant conveniently located near Green Park station in Mayfair, and at the top of Half Moon Street.

She manages to maintain the sense of a traditional Japanese restaurant but in such a charming fashion that the Japanese food virgin need not feel intimidated by what might be an unfamiliar menu.

“I had a fish shop in Billingsgate market for 3 years and I also imported Japanese food and sake.

Hisashi definitely has well-practised Japanese cuisine taste buds, and I asked him how he chose the menu for his own restaurant, Kiku.

It’s evident that fish is still the core of the Kiku business, and they have the advantage over many other Japanese restaurants, or fish restaurants of other culinary persuasions: they have Hisashi to safeguard the quality of ingredients.

Kiku – sushi in Mayfair | The Swindian

Read my review of our other meal at Matsuri here.

This was the place I discovered what is now my favourite type of nigiri sushi: tuna belly.

It is juicy and flavourful and makes me shun any other form of tuna.

It isn’t available in a lot of places, which is probably a good thing, as I would empty my bank account eating it!

In fact, I may have ordered one more piece after we’d finished eating, just to satisfy my palate… Here are some pictures of the other things we ate… it was all phenomenal and I highly recommend Kiku for a nice meal out!

Kiku Restaurant, 17 Half Moon Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 7BE ...

November 2010 restaurant review Kiku London | Japanese Cuisine ...

From the a la carte, a tuna sushi plate cost £22 while eel tempura was £18, but cheaper ingredients are reflected in the pricing e.g. chicken and white radish casserole at £8.40.

Fish is mostly supplied by Atari-ya, which is the sashimi supplier of choice to top Japanese restaurants in London, supplemented by some local fish (examples are scallops, salmon and ark shell clams),selected by the chef.

I had mackerel, sea bass, salmon, razor clam and tuna sushi as well as tuna rolls.

The fish was excellent, the sea bass had good texture, the (blue fin) tuna silky, the mackerel lovely, while the salmon and razor clam (without even a hint of chewiness) were also good.

My additional choice of eel was also lovely, cooked just right and having good flavour (15/20 for the sushi).

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The menu features excellent tempura and robatayaki, but the real show is in the sushi and sashimi, prepared by chefs on the open sushi bar which also seats eight.

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Kiku - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

Kiku | London Evening Standard

ES Food Newsletter This review published 20/4/01 It sound implausible: a Japanese restaurant (translates as pricey) in Mayfair (translates as very pricey) that offers top-class sushi, a classical ambience, and without charging the earth.

You can eat your way through a succession of delicious sushi and rejoice that the average price for each two-piece portion is under £3.

The bar is long and brightly lit, the chefs are dexterous, and the sushi is fresh - three kinds of tuna, turbot, sea bass, sweet prawn, three kinds of eel, and flying-fish roe.

From the rolled sushi, try umeshiso maki made with pickled plums and delicate green shiso leaves - truly delicious.

This is the kind of place where you may feel yourself brave enough to try the ark shell or sea urchin roe, and you must try the scallops.