Counter seating at Ukiyo (they really need hooks for the bags).
London's sushi scene's really hotting up isn't it?
It really is - there have been plenty of interesting new openings over the past few months from high-end Kioku in Whitehall to the modern izakaya Sushi Revolution in Shoreditch. Now the latest to join their ranks is Ukiyo, an all-counter hand roll bar.
Who's behind it?
The owners are also behind various successful food places in and around London. They've brought in head chef Konstantin Tskhay who used to head up the kitchen at Sumosan Twiga.
So where is Ukiyo?
You'll find it in The Yards in Covent Garden - that's the development behind Long Acre which is also home to Lahpet, Arome, Gura Gura and Dalla Terra.
And what kind of food is it?
Ukiyo is billed as a Japanese hand roll bar, but actually it's much more than that, with hand rolls only one part of the menu. There are a range of starters, as well as maki, nigiri and sashimi. Handily, if you're not that great with so much choice, they do a range of set menus for the hand rolls.
There's also a tasting menu option which we went for at the bargain price of £75 for two people. That includes two starters, two hand rolls, six nigiri, three sashimi and one cut roll.
Here's what we had from that (we'll add in the prices for if you were picking them a la carte).
Truffle tuna tartare (£12) - a beautifully presented tartare topped with homemade truffle aioli
Yellowtail tiradito (£12)
Toro Uni hand roll (£20) - a great mix for this hand roll, although we'd have liked it to have been a bit more generous in proportions. That may be because it was part of the tasting menu though.
King crab California roll (£25) - the dish of the night and hands-down reason alone to come here. The bright sweetness of that king crab made this the best California roll we've ever had.
Sashimi selection
For the nigiri course we used our choice of six to pick one of each of the menu options, so salmon, tuna, yellowtail, toro, prawn ebi and spicy scallop.
What's on the drinks menu?
Ukiyo are the first place in London to offer a sparkling peach sake on tap from the Kanpai brewery in Bermondsey, although It was unavailable when we went, due to a technical hitch with the lines. In its absence, we really enjoyed a couple of glasses of the deeply umami Tokubetsu Junmai from the Akashi Sake Brewery (£8).
The short cocktail list is also Japanese-influenced and includes this Smoky Tokyo Nights (£12.50) - Mezcal, passionfruit, agave, chilli and shichimi togarashi
Anything else we should know?
Look out for the opening of their downstairs room over the coming months which is going to be more of a lounge vibe.
Overall thoughts:
The arrival of Ukiyo adds another interesting element to the mix of restaurants, cafes and bars in The Yards. There are surprisingly few eat-in sushi bars in Covent Garden so we reckon it'll do very well.
More about Ukiyo
Where is it? 8 Slingsby Place, London WC2H 9JZ
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @ukiyo.handrollbar
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Ukiyo. Prices correct at time of publication.
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