Ramusake
'It’s hard to find fault with what they are doing here'

Ramusake

Wed—Sat 6pm—late

The style:

Ramusake is a South Kensington members club styled around a New York East Village speakeasy having an affair with an izakaya (an informal Japanese bar/restaurant). The interior is moody and chic with dark walls, low lighting and black leather banquettes.

It is informal and stylish but also has impeccably laid tables; it straddles the cultures it brings together with aplomb. It is also run by chef Scott Hallsworth (Nobu and Kurobuta) and club guru Piers Adam (Mahiki and Bodo’s Schloss), so it’s got a good pedigree.

The crowd:

This is as much a restaurant as it is a party spot. Expect super-rich kids, in-the-know foodies, the Made in Chelsea cast and, when we were there, an upmarket whisky brand being launched. Eat in the front restaurant and then party out back until the small hours.

The food:

I’m sure that Scott wouldn’t wish it to be so simplified but, for the sake of brevity, the overarching concept here is Japanese tapas. The menu is split into sections such as Cold, Junk Food Japan, BBQ and Maki, and three to four dishes per person from across the menu is enough. The dishes come when cooked, so expect the odd bit of table traffic.

We kicked off with Sweet Potato and Soba-Ko fries, which were well seasoned, sweet and crunchy—the best sweet potato fries ever created. Anywhere. The very moreish Flamed Edamame came in a sake, lemon and butter sauce with a heart attack-inducing drift of salt.

Choosing three dishes from the Cold section, we went for Tuna Tataki with a mustard miso, Beef Fillet Tataki with onion ponzu and garlic crisps and a Yellow Tail Sashimi with a kizami wasabi salsa. Each plate was beautifully presented on long, white china. And the food? Oh the food! The tuna was a delicate row of meaty, delicious fish parcels. The beef was tender and rare and sat on a sweet onion sauce with delectable garlic crisps dotted about it. Meanwhile, the Yellow Tail Sashimi was arguably the star of the show and a stunning dish—rolls of pillowy, sweet Yellow Tail served in a salty and rich yuzu-soy with firepower from a wasabi salsa.

We then had the ‘junk food’ fried chicken sliders, which were cooked kara-age (a Japanese method of deep-frying) and were light, flavoursome and came with a delicious kimchee mayo. The BBQ gave us two jumbo shrimp barbequed with chilli, lemon and garlic; ‘jumbo’ is a very apposite, possibly understated, description of the sweet and fleshy but very garlicky shrimp.

Finishing all of this off was a King Crab California roll, which came as ten delicate rolls of rice and chopped king crab topped with bright orange roe and edible flowers. Each one was packed with flavour and the wasabi did that burn-your-nose-in-a-good-way thing. It is going to be difficult to eat high-street sushi again.

The drink:

A bottle of New Zealand Mount Holdsworth Sauvignon was crisp, fruity and handled the big flavours of the chicken slider as well as it complimented the subtle Yellow Tail. Ramusake are also big on cocktails, with a huge list of house originals such as the Kamakura, a delicious mix of Nikka whisky, green tea, fresh pomegranate and apple juice. The Rising Sun Dew was a blend of Pampero Blanco rum, Honjozo sake with lime juice, sugar and basil; a brilliant Japanese take on a Caiprinha.

Ramusake are showing that Japanese food isn’t just limited to sushi, or pale imitations of sushi, but there are a wide range of cooking styles and flavours. It is also handy that they have the talents of one of the most naturally gifted chefs working in London behind them. It’s hard to find fault with what they are doing here; from the food to the décor, they served up a near flawless meal.

Ramusake, 92B Old Brompton Rd, SW7 5LR; 0207 842 8518; www.ramusake.com

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