The Araki

THE ARAKI's web site

THE ARAKI

http://www.the-araki.com

THE ARAKI

Photo report from The Araki,the world's most expensive sushi-ya ...

Mitsuhiro Araki is a three Michelin star sushi master from Tokyo, who has recently relocated to London.

When you talk about the world’s best sushi chefs (Jiro Ono, Hachiro Mizutani, Takashi Saito to name a few), Araki would be one of them.

When time comes for nigiris with akami, chutoro or otoro, during the omakase meal, the sushi master unwraps a huge chunk of tuna and proudly poses for the photographs of the impressed diners.

That would be more than double what one usually pays at the most expensive sushi shops in Tokyo, such as Sukiyabashi Jiro or Harutaka.

What really shines here though, are not the expensive ingredients used, but Mitsuhiro Araki’s unrivaled skills and expertise of sushi making.

The Araki - Wikipedia

The Araki is a sushi restaurant run by Japanese chef Mitsuhiro Araki which opened in London in 2014.

[1] Chef Mitsuhiro Araki had previously run a restaurant in Tokyo called Araki for which he held three Michelin stars, but chose to close it in February 2013 in order to pursue a new challenge.

[3] The interior of the restaurant, designed by the Takenaka Corporation, features a counter made from 200-year-old cypress wood gifted to Araki by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto.

[6] The Araki was named the best Japanese restaurant in London by Tatler magazine in their 2015 restaurant guide.

It was one of two Japanese restaurants in London to be elevated to the two-star level that year, the other being Umu, which is located a short distance away from The Araki.

the Araki, London – Classy Sushi | gen.u.ine.ness

The sea bass skin was also another interesting element and it was prepared in such a way to give an additional chewy texture to the dish.

The next course was one of Araki-san’s new signatures – tuna tartare, made using both chutoro and otoro which had been marinated in a soy based sauce, served with a mayonnaise and a healthy grating of both spring and summer truffles.

Finally the sea bream had been gently grilled with a lovely smoky aroma with the skin ground to a crumb for additional texture.

To that end, Araki-san compensates with an abundance of premium tuna and generous servings of truffles and caviar.

There is however no doubt that if you are looking for world-class sushi in England, then the Araki is pretty much your only option.

Review of London Japanese restaurant the Araki by Andy Hayler in ...

Top quality sushi is expensive, as can be seen by the prices of some other high-end establishments such as Masa in New York and Sushi Shikon in Hong Kong, though in both these cases the fish is imported either mostly or entirely from Japan, which clearly adds to the costs.

Even at such an elevated price there appears to be a market for such food in London: all nine seats were taken at the 6 p.m. sitting on this weekday evening.

I think that Mr Arak has done a pretty good job of replicating the experience of a sushi bar in Tokyo, given the constraints of using fish from Europe rather than the stunning produce available in Japan.

The quality of the fish at its best was impressive, such as the snapper and the tuna.

However the prawn and the salmon showed the limitations of what is available in London, and in such cases I think he would have been better editing such things out and focusing just on the very best fish he can get, supplementing where necessary from Japan.

The Araki, London

The Araki | Mayfair, Belgravia | Restaurant Reviews | Hot Dinners

The Araki in numbers: Nine seats, three Michelin stars, £300 a head ...

Here’s The Araki — the hottest restaurant you haven’t heard of — by numbers.

This means that the UK now has five top-rated restaurants (Araki joins Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck and Alain Roux’s Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire, Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester in Park Lane and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, which has a new chef, Matt Abé).

Chef and founder Mitsuhiro Araki also has three stars for his Edomae (Tokyo-style) sushi restaurant in Tokyo which he closed in 2014 to seek a new challenge in London.

London restaurants with 2 and 3 Michelin stars London restaurants with 2 and 3 Michelin stars 1/12 The Araki, Mayfair ** 3 Michelin stars 2/12 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea *** 3 Michelin stars 3/12 Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Mayfair *** 3 Michelin stars 4/12 Claude Bosi at Bibendum, Chelsea ** 2 Michelin stars Patricia Niven 5/12 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Knightsbridge, London ** 2 Michelin stars 6/12 Le Gavroche, Mayfair ** 2 Michelin stars 7/12 Greenhouse, Mayfair ** 2 Michelin stars 8/12 Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Mayfair ** 2 Michelin stars 9/12 The Ledbury, Notting Hill ** 2 Michelin stars 10/12 Marcus, Belgravia ** 2 Michelin stars 11/12 Sketch (The Lecture Room Library), Mayfair ** 2 Michelin stars 12/12 Umu, Mayfair ** 2 Michelin stars 2   Dinner sittings are available from Tuesday to Sunday, the first is at 6pm and lasts for two-and-a-half hours, the second is at 8.30pm.

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New Openings: The Araki

Behind the scenes: Araki is joined by his wife Yoko and one assistant.

The design, by Takenaka, is subtle and serene with the focus on the irresistibly tactile cypress wood counter (a gift from musician Ryuchi Sakamoto) where a jovial, relaxed Araki presents his "omakase" chef’s menu over two sittings a night.

It sets the stage for an assured performance that draws on the rhythm of a Japanese tea ceremony, the drama quietly building from that first tantalising glimpse of the knives sparkling on the counter.

Araki’s adapted his traditional edomae sushi to incorporate European produce.

For the first time, he’s serving salmon sushi (it’s practically unheard of for a top tier sushi-ya in Japan to do so), and has introduced luxury ingredients, notably caviar and truffle, into his repertoire.