Category:Le Brasserie (£££+)

Zuma is a restaurant for special occasions. It is part of a small world wide chain with subsidiaries in Hong kong,Istanbul,Miami and Dubai. You might be able to get away with a semi-affordable bill when ordering carefully,but in the end you will want to splash out. Zuma invites to decadence and gluttony,and at this night,for my birthday,I was part of it.

In London,Zuma is located in a very ugly building not far from Knightsbridge tube station and doesn’t look like much from the outside. When you enter it however,you feel like you have stepped into a night club or into one of these bars I never go to because I refuse to pay 15 pounds for a cocktail and I usually don’t confirm with the dress code.

Surrounded by the young,rich and stylish I was glad I had dressed up for this special occasion feeling like a real Chelsea girl,wearing something rather short together with very high heels in the form of my almost virgin golden Sergio Rossi stilettos. Sipping my Saffron and Poppy Seed Martini (10.50) I was waiting to be spoiled.

I really liked Zuma,in fact I liked it about 1 million times more than the only other posh Japanese restaurant I have been to in London,Nobu Berkley Square.

LIKE

1. Lovely staff: Even though we didn’t have a reservation the lovely people at the counter found us a place at the sushi bar within 10 minutes. Friendly and forthcoming they had nothing in common with the pretentious waiters at Nobu.
2. The menu:I liked the fact that in addition to some astronomically priced dishes they do have a good selection of dishes costing less than 10 pounds.
3. The wine:There are also quite some wines for under 20 pounds,which allows you to maybe order a couple of dishes more…
4. The food (see below) was sublime. I loved the fresh and exquisite ingredients,the exotic and well-balanced sauces and the inventive take on Japanese food without losing the traditional touch.

DISLIKE

1. I really wanted some cold sake to go with my Japanese delicacies,but they were out of the two cheapest sakes! (19£ and 29£ respectively for 300 ml). We did not go with the next expensive one (40£) but had wine instead. Wanted sake though!