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Test Driving Koyn - fire in the kitchen at this Mayfair Japanese restaurant

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonWondering where Koyn is? Look for this car outside...

So what do we need to know about Koyn?

This is the fourth restaurant from restaurant group LSL Capital, a family company co-founded by father-daughter duo Samyukta and Dinesh Nair. In London, they already have Jamavar, MiMi Mei Fair and Bombay Bustle, and they're working on opening Socca soon with Claude Bosi.

Koyn is a modern Japanese spot with a focus on its sushi grill and robata bar. In charge of the food is Executive Chef Rhys Cattermoul who comes here with loads of top-level experience having been head chef of NOBU London and executive chef at Nobu Hong Kong.

Where exactly is it?

You'll find it just off the southeast corner of Grosvenor Square, on Grosvenor Street. Bond Street is your nearest tube station, but something tells us that not that many people here are arriving via public transport.

Where should we meet for a drink first?

There's actually a decent-sized bar here as you come in, and having tried the cocktails we can heartily recommend them. But if you are after a drink elsewhere, you're equidistant from both Claridge's and The Connaught bars.

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonThe bar at Koyn

Where should we sit?

Now, here's a question. Koyn is actually a restaurant of two parts.

On the ground floor Midori - a bright, light dining room with oyster shell walls and a marble sushi bar. Downstairs is a much more louche kind of dining room. That's called Magma and has a binchotan-charcoal-fuelled robata grill as its centrepiece (pull a stool up at the counter here on a chilly day and you'll be totally snug).

We can see Midori being a great lunch spot, but we were sat downstairs in Magma for our dinner and loved the atmosphere down here.

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonLeft to right: the downstairs dining room Magma and the sushi counter at Midori upstairs.

So, what's on the menu?

There's pretty much everything you'd expect from a high-end Japanese restaurant in London these days but with some real verve in presentation and twists on classics. The robata and sushi sections are particularly strong, but there's plenty to dive into in the specials section too.

We did a fairly large roam through the menu to give you an idea.

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonKoyn Senbei - tuna rice and nori cracker tacos with a sensational yuzu chilli and white sesame dressing (£19.50)

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonSliced dry aged seabass with oscietra caviar, sweet shrimp & yuzu dashi soy (£26)

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonChilean seabass shiso salsa verde - recommended to us by Samyukta herself, this was a stellar seafood dish with the fish cooked so perfectly and enhanced by that amazingly verdant salsa. (£46.50)

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonHalf a hay-smoked lobster with umami butter (£34)

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonScallop sashimi - so sweet and delicious and delicately flavoured from those limes.

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonClam ‘hot pot’ nabe - this is a good example of how traditional hot pot dishes are given a twist using the kind of seafood you'll get on our shores. It came with cordycep mushroom and yuzu sake soy (£21)

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonJapanese A5 smoked wagyu asparagus, kanpyo, black truffle (£58) - served with a bit of drama and plenty of smoke, these rolls were actually pretty light considering how rich the ingredients were.

What about vegetarians?

There's loads to enjoy on this menu from a spinach ohitashi salad with white sesame, kizami yuba & sesame dressing to kohlrabi apple tartare with avocado and tonburi.

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonThe deep-fried agedashi tofu featured bubu arare in its crispy coating and a ginger kombu dashi sauce which was good enough to drink on its own (£15).

Room for dessert?

After all that? For us, not a chance. But, if you are in the market for something sweet to finish your meal, desserts include matcha brulee and a selection of mochi.

What about the drink?

We'd been urged to try the sake flight (£35) which was a fun introduction to three varieties chosen by the restaurant's sake sommelier. 

koyn restaurant review mayfair londonThere's a specific order in which to try each of the sakes and each comes with a little tasting card too.

Overall thoughts:

If a packed restaurant on a Tuesday night (there's room across both floors for 150 diners) doesn't tell you something about how hot a restaurant is, then knowing it was doubly packed the night before on a Monday certainly should. The A-listers have been in already (we hear Keira Knightley's a fan) and there's a palpable buzz to the place.

But all that would mean nothing if the food wasn't excellent, which is it, and the service was some of the best we'd encountered this year. Yes, some of the dishes are Mayfair pricey - but you could also pop in here for a quick sushi lunch that wouldn't leave you too out of pocket. 

 

More about Koyn

Where is it? 38 Grosvenor Street, London W1K 4QA

Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @koynlondon

Book Koyn

 

Hot Dinners dined as guests of Koyn. Prices are correct at time of publication.

 

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