Have you ever had a good feeling about something right as it begins? Not just a hunch or a gut feeling, but the absolute, infallible knowledge that you’re in for a great time. Like in the first ten minutes of a film, you might catch the particular flair of a director or cinematographer, relax into your seat and realise that the next couple of hours are going to blow you away.
I got that feeling from my first dish at Luna Omakase, a small private dining room tucked upstairs behind sliding wooden doors in Los Mochis, Liverpool Street.
Unlike the somewhat buzzy main restaurant, the setting for Luna is far more intimate. There are just twelve seats, arranged counter-style around the kitchen area. It makes for a deeply personal experience where the distance between diner and chef can be measured in feet.
Omakase is Japanese for “I’ll leave it up to you,” and the restaurant fulfils this premise by by passing the menu and making all the hard choices for you. As someone who frequently gets choice paralysis, I love this concept.
There’s no fretting or food envy here, no Sophie’s choice over dessert. Instead, it is a simple get-what-you’re-given process where the chefs—the actual experts—prepare, arrange, and serve what they think you should have, based on whichever ingredients are at their freshest and in peak season. And what ingredients they are!
The Food
Thin slices of fish served with mouthwatering soy sauce, charcoal-seared rolls, wagyu beef cooked in front of your eyes, and caviar with fresh rice crackers served in bowls of mist. There are twelve dishes in total, and while a few really stood out for me (the Wagyu Sandosm, the caviar and wasabi dip, a blood orange and chamomile granita, ground from a solid block of ice into a snowy, crystal texture that dissolves on your tongue), there are no duds to speak of here. There is no filler to keep you busy while they work on the next plate; each course is prepared with the passion of a painter and the precision of a neurosurgeon.
There is something to be said about loving the moment that you’re in. I’ve found that recognising a special instance while it happens—instead of just looking back on it —fleshes out the experience and makes for something even greater. A moment that crystallises in the memory to be savoured for years to come. And as I alluded to at the start, I realised almost immediately that I was in for a great time at Luna Omakase. It pairs incredible food and superb service with a small room where you can learn how your meal was created, delivering a range of flavours and textures that briefly make your taste buds feel as though they have brushed past the face of God. It reminded me of settling in to watch that great film, of hearing my favourite album for the first time in 2014 as spring kicked in and of falling in love last summer.
In a Nutshell…
All these things may eventually get diluted – or even end. But for the moment, sitting around a small counter, for a couple of hours and eating some of the finest food you could ever wish to have, I expect that you – like I was – will be truly happy.
The Details
Luna Omakase, Los Mochis, London City 9th Floor, 100 Liverpool Street London EC2M2AT
+44 (0)207 225 2502
info@luna-omakase.com
