Exclusive, expensive but exquisite. Quite simply there cannot be many better places in London to enjoy Japanese cuisine.

The Venue
While Umu is not the kind of place you need to book months in advance to get into (though it does recommend at least one week to avoid disappointment) its location certainly makes it appear exclusive. Situated down a back street that doesn’t show up particularly well on internet map sites, it can be tricky to find, and then once you have found the street, the restaurant’s frontage is deliberately vague.

You only know it’s there when you’ve walked right up to it and even then it’s not clear exactly where the door is. But once you do find it, it has the coolest entry system seen outside of an episode of 24. A hand-sized touchpad is situated discreetly by what you hope is the door, which gently swishes open once the pad registers your touch. Inside is all dark wood, subtle lighting and soft-furnishings. It doesn’t scream traditional Japan, but it certainly says urban 21st century cool and comfort.

The Atmosphere
Lunch is certainly a quiet, if not quite sombre, affair, although evenings could well be livelier. Many of the restaurants in this part of London are populated by businessmen spending their bonuses on champagne and caviar, while Umu attracts the more sophisticated Mayfair woman-about-town who enjoys green tea rather than Chateau Lafitte.

Having said that, the atmosphere is not dull, just subdued. People seem to concentrate more on the superb food rather than what the next drink will be. The staff are excellent, helpfully explaining the menu (and those unidentifiable morsels on your plate) and maintaining just the right distance while being easily accessible when needed. A little guidance over how to combine some of the items on the plate once they have been identified would be useful though.

The Food
Umu’s menu is based on the traditional food of Japan’s former imperial capital Kyoto, and claims to be the only restaurant in the UK serving such food. Which is a relief as these days your options at a Japanese restaurant, if you’re not eating a sushi or sashimi set, tend to be limited to a bento box combination or soup-based noodles. Umu though offers something new – hangetsu.

Each hangetsu offers a green salad starter, then a specialty (sashimi/grilled fish/wagyu beef) with rice and miso soup, followed by fresh fruit. Three courses for lunch seems a lot, but everything is so delicately prepared and so deliciously light that even the deep fried prawns and vegetables barely registered on the scales. The sashimi in particular is spectacular, no surprise given the kudos attached to preparing fish by the Japanese, it melts in the mouth and at no point are you aware of the fact you’re eating raw fish. Wonderful.

The Drink
The wine list runs to 28 pages and leaves very little out. Everything you would expect is there – champagne, reds and whites by country, and desserts – but the highlight is the bewildering array of sakes on offer. The sake menu runs to five pages and contains at least 130 different varieties, from fresh sake to rich sake, from fragrant to half dry, from dessert to sparkling, it’s all there and the staff are more than happy to make sure you choose the right one.

The Last Word
The Umu experience is just wonderful. There are sushi bars and Japanese cafes all over London, most of which serve delicious food in a variety of surroundings, but surely few can match this place in terms of all-round experience. If your wallet or expense account can stand it, go. Soon.

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