Umu

UMU - Kyoto Inspired Michelin Star Restaurant in Mayfair London UK

UMU London - Kyoto Inspired Michelin Star Restaurant

http://www.umurestaurant.com

Review of Umu Restaurant, Mayfair, London - Billionaire

With two Michelin stars already under his belt for Umu, owner and head chef Yoshinori Ishii is now a master in the art of kaiseki cuisine.

This is because the central tenet of kaiseki is to convey respect, which means Ishii aims to not only produce a tasting menu of the highest-possible quality, but to make guests feel cherished and relaxed.

For Ishii, the quality of the glasses, plates, bowls, chopsticks and spoons used in his restaurant are central to this quest.

In a nine-course meal held during London Craft Week, he wanted to celebrate the exquisite craftsmanship of his countrymen, and allow his guests to focus on the sensual experience that occurs when eating his Michelin-starred food on plates that look like art and drinking saké out of ornate glasses that could be jewellery.

But as we finished our ninth and final course of strawberries with sakura mousse on a plate decorated with wild flowers and washed down with sparkling saké in delicate 100-year-old glasses, the table was struck into silence by the dedication we had witnessed.

UMU Restaurant Review: Perfect Japanese Lunch - Food ...

Shokado bento: this option included sashimi, a cooked protein, cured seafood and a wagyu dish.

This box is priced at £35 if you chose the grilled fish or poultry option, and £45 with wagyu beef.

Dessert: option of several ice cream flavours (green tea, caramel, chocolate yuzu) or sorbets, including rhubarb.

I am usually a chocolate girl and I liked the combo a lot, but the financier blew me away despite being made with a mystery green plant that we could not really identify by its name.

I would be happy to eat mugwork financiers any season In sum: very good value and an amazing lunch option in Mayfair.

Umu - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

Memories of Kyoto at UMU Restaurant for Mr Silver's Birthday ...

For Mr S’s birthday I decided to bring our trip to Japan back to life with a special Kyoto-style dinner at two-Michelin starred UMU restaurant in Mayfair.

With the name UMU meaning ‘born of nature’ the key to this place is allowing the perfect simplicity of the ingredients to be enjoyed unadulterated by too much flavour.

Actually head chef Yoshinori Ishii spent eight years training at Kitcho, the other three Michelin star restaurant in Kyoto, where he honed his skills in preparing the perfect Kaiseki banquet.

Actually a significant amount of fish on the menu is sourced from Cornwall and I love the way that the chefs use Japanese techniques and flavours with local ingredients.

It’s safe to say Mr Silver and I absolutely loved UMU Restaurant and spending his birthday there was the perfect way to relive our happy memories of Kyoto.

Review of London Japanese restaurant Umu by Andy Hayler in ...

Since head chef Yoshinori Ishii trained at Kitcho in Kyoto, the grand dame restaurant of kaiseki, it seemed overdue for me to see what he could do with this most elaborate of Japanese menu forms.

The first of two sashimi courses was a prettily presented dish of plaice cut so thin that it was translucent, served with a particular piece of the fish on one side.

Next was a mixed plate of sashimi, the fish all from Cornwall, and indeed all caught by the same fishing boat: a selection of John Dory, streaked gurnard, sea bream and red mullet.

The red mullet was particularly nice, and the gurnard was very good too; apparently it has a superior flavour to regular gurnard (16/20).

As usual at the end of the savoury section of a kaiseki meal there was a bowl of rice, in this case topped with bottarga (grey mullet roe).

Umu, London W1 | The Independent

Kaiseki is one of the world's most expensive ways to eat; a finely choreographed, highly developed sequence of beautifully crafted, harmonious, highly seasonal small dishes designed to showcase the skills and aesthetics of the chef.

Kaiseki is one of the world's most expensive ways to eat; a finely choreographed, highly developed sequence of beautifully crafted, harmonious, highly seasonal small dishes designed to showcase the skills and aesthetics of the chef.

Executive chef, Ichiro Kubota, has put together what is in effect an à la carte kaiseki menu with dishes grouped under the various courses that make up a banquet - appetisers (tsukidashi), soups (suimono), raw fish (tsukuri), fried dishes (agemono), simmered dishes (takiawase), rice (gohan) and desserts (kashi).

The two stand-out dishes appear in the kaiseki menu, with a sashimi plate of chu toro (middle tuna belly), langoustine and sea bream that makes me wonder why anyone would ever cook fish, served with grated fresh wasabi that is going to make me shed tears when I'm back on the powdered stuff.

Around £200 for dinner for two including wine and service Scores 1-9 stay home and cook 10-11 needs help 12 ok 13 pleasant enough 14 good 15 very good 16 capable of greatness 17 special, can't wait to go back 18 highly honourable 19 unique and memorable 20 as good as it gets The Rosemary Restaurant Stanton House Hotel, The Avenue, Stanton Fitzwarren, Wiltshire, tel: 01793 861 777 This glorious Cotswold-stone manor house couldn't look more British if it tried, yet it is home to an extremely authentic Japanese restaurant, owned by the nearby Honda Kaihutsu company.

Are you ready to order? This week: Umu - Telegraph

It's interesting, in Japanese restaurants, that the array of raw goods they fashion and carve into amazing sushi and sashimi always look so unappetising - cheerless rectangles of fish flesh and shards of eel laid out as if in a piscine mortuary.

I ended up ordering two types of sake, plus some water that would make me live forever, or something, as S threw raw fish down his gullet like a basking sea lion.

Despite the hype about flying cooking water in from Japan and sourcing wild fish from all the world's oceans and beyond, the thumpingly expensive 13-course kaiseki menu was disappointing: lots of intricate Zen-like fuss involving wire cages containing raw tuna and herbs, truly beautiful, handmade crockery leaved with transparent fish, piles of pickles, tiny cups of irreproachable green tea.

The highs included tai ushio (amazing crystal-clear soup with ginger and sea bream), ichiziku (a roasted fig marinated in brown miso and sprinkled with toasted walnuts) and eel hamomeshi, the smoked eel served in a bowl with rice and providing a real kick of flavour that the preceding parade of tuna and raw brill and pumpkin cream sometimes lacked.

The starter is a quarter of raw scallop plus an inch of farmed salmon, two strips of wild sea bass with dipping sauce and the usual aromatics; the main course a perfect exercise in tempura cooking, with a wispy batter frilled around a pair of prawns, some veg and a slice of lotus root (like eating an ear) plus exceptional, aromatic miso soup.

Umu | Restaurants in Mayfair, London

The bill too is likely to leave a lasting impression, so it’s best to save this swanky venue for a special occasion unless you have an expense account.

On such a celebratory occasion, opt for the multi-course tasting menu and you’ll get to explore an elaborate range of Kyoto-style kaiseki cuisine, presented on attractive dishes.

The modern sushi doesn’t always make the grade, though, so stick to the classic version.

Luxury ingredients abound on the à la carte: wild Scottish lobster tempura, wagyu beef tataki (grade 9) and Irish abalone steamed in saké.

For a less bank-breaking taster of the menu, come at lunch for a set meal (such as a bento with grilled fish, meat or tempura, or somen noodles) – all served with soup, salad and a dessert.