Zuma

Zuma Restaurant Review:

Chef-owner Rainer Becker made news with his more casual Roka, but Zuma is still the place to make for if you want to see how chefs in London can reinvent a concept. He has changed the Japanese restaurant dining experience from expensive and exclusive to sexy and innovative, a little like the fashionistas who frequent the place. The space is large, divided up into a buzzing, stylish bar and a steel robata grill and sushi counter resting on a huge, curved slab of granite, with an open kitchen. There’s a private room at the back separated by a wooden screen which the beautiful people who frequent the place appreciate as much as the “scene” --- which is the main restaurant. But it’s the imaginative and exciting cooking that provides the greatest revelation: dishes like barley miso marinated baby chicken, oven roasted on cedar wood; roasted lobster with green chilli and garlic hojiso butter; and from the robata grill, the likes of spicy beef tenderloin with sesame, red chilli and sweet soy. The contrast of tastes and textures is treated with a masterly touch, producing dishes that really pack a punch. The wine list is good and varied, the saké list impressive, and staff is friendly and approachable.