The Hakkasan restaurant group just get everything right…the food, service and atmosphere are always spot on in any of their restaurants. I’ve eaten in Hakkasan in London, New York and Vegas…and they’ve all been consistently fantastic experiences.
Japanese restaurant, Sake No Hana in Mayfair, is also owned by the Hakkasan group, and when I was invited down to try their new set menu Umai Brunch I had no doubt in my mind how fab it was going to be! I mean, you know I love sushi and you know I love Hakkasan…
When you arrive at Sake No Hana, you’re swept up a long escalator into their stylish dining room….
I really love the interior of Sake No Hana, with the bamboo on the walls and wooden lattice work, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, intended the room to look like a kind of futuristic forest.
I had been looking forward to meeting up with lovely lifestyle blogger, Ashleigh from Quintessentially Me and we were bringing along our other halves for the occasion. It was a little nerve-wracking as it was the first time Mr Silver had ever met any of my blogger friends. Fortunately, Mr S had lots in common with Ashleigh’s boyfriend, Seth, and they could happily talk about football while we engaged in BlogSpeak.
The meal kicked off with a bottle of sparkling sake between two of us. As I don’t like very strong alcohol, I usually avoid sake. However, the sparkling sake was very light and a little sweet, it tasted a bit like prosecco….it was very drinkable.
The five-course Umai Saturday brunch at Sake No Hana follows the structure of a traditional Japanese meal and starts with light and subtle flavours. Kicking off with a healthy white miso soup with mushrooms to get our tastebuds going.
Next on the menu is the small eats section:
Both dishes were featherlight and tasted absolutely delicious. Which funnily enough is what the word ‘Umai’ actually means! I often overuse the word but apparently the word ‘Umai’ is actually used repeatedly during or after a meal. Well, maybe it’s not such a food bloggers cliche then!
Sushi rolls are often my favourite part of a Japanese feast and these were amazing. They were very small and easy to pop delicately into our mouths. On the plate were spicy tuna maki, salmon avocado maki and spicy chirashi maki containing salmon, white fish, avocado and cucumber. The portion was very generous too as we had two full plates for the table.
Still saki was bought out for us to continue the lunch with, but I’m afraid it was too strong for me and I was happy to stick with the sparkling version.
Next we moved on to the main course:
The prawn and vegetable tempura was crisp and not at all greasy and it was served with a creamy wasabi sauce.
A perfectly cooked chargrilled salmon served on a hoba leaf with teriyaki sauce was (obvs) my favourite dish of the day.
Next came a rather exciting main course, Sukiyaki with candy floss…
It was a great bit of table theatre and a very tasty dish!
Umai Saturday is all about having a long lunch and taking the time to really enjoy every course slowly. It was great to bask in such a relaxed and chilled environment, giving Ashleigh and I a perfect chance to get to know each other’s other halves.
Dessert was an absolutely beautiful looking and fabulously tasty panna cotta.
And one of Mr S’s favourites an apple tarte tartin with vanilla ice-cream. As there were two of each dessert on the table we didn’t have to play spoon wars!
Thank you, Sake No Hana for inviting us to the first Umai Saturday, with the relaxed environment and fabulous food, it was the perfect place for our first blogger double date!
Umai Saturdays will be available from 31st January and is priced at £37 per person.
Sake No Hana
23 St James Street
London
SW1A 1HA
020 7925 8988
Our meal was complimentary
