Every
year at around Christmas time, my dad organises a theatre trip to London, with
dinner thrown in. This year we went to see A
Christmas Carol at the Noel Coward in St. Martin’s Lane. After asking for
recommendations, he booked us a table at Murakami – not only was it practically
opposite the theatre, but it was one of the places on my restaurant list!
Needless to say, I was really excited and looked at the menu a good four or
five times in readiness. I knew a good night would be in store and it’s great
that my family all love sushi too.
From
the moment we walked in, the service was excellent. Dad had requested a good
table and we were given a choice upon arrival. We went for one away from the
entrance, but still towards the front of the restaurant. Our server for the
evening was Jackie, who was so lovely. He couldn’t have done more for us
throughout the evening and even spent time chatting to us about London life and
his ambitions of being an actor. It was a total breath of fresh air to be at a
restaurant where the staff have time for you and aren’t keen to quickly take
your order and get rid of you after an hour or so. All the staff were great,
though he just really stood out – and is also highly praised on Trip Advisor!
My
brother was working on the Tuesday, so we met him in London and as he was going
to be driving home from the station later that night, mum and I began with
cocktails. She went for the kumquat daiquiri, which was incredible; I chose the
pink mojito, which was definitely an Asian twist on the classic. It contained pomegranate
and pink peppercorn syrup, along with all the usual ingredients – and was so
fresh. Dad started with a bottled beer and chose the wine, while we all perused
the menus. I loved that they were only two sides, as there’s nothing worse than
having to read through umpteen pages. Despite the size, there was still plenty
of choice with starters, soups, various kinds of sushi and grill items.
We
decided the best thing to do would be to order a selection of dishes to share –
that way we could get a taste of everything. The tables are quite small and
once the serving plates and soy sauce dishes are brought over, it leaves little
room for anything else. Luckily, you can choose as much or as little as you
like and we kept a copy of the menu to order various courses. Everything is
prepared to order and brought to the table when ready, so we managed to eat
each dish before the next came to the table.
Dad
and I both love soft shell crab and it’s something we always order at Yo! Sushi
– so choosing it at Murakami was a no-brainer. There were three large pieces,
so we all managed to sample a little and it was very good. The batter was light
and perfectly crisp, the crabmeat was succulent and the accompanying sauce
topped it off. I could have quite easily eaten the whole plate myself, I
enjoyed it that much.
Mum
picked out the Murakami rolls, which tasted as beautiful as they looked. They
were fresh, colourful and unlike traditional rolls which are wrapped in nori
seaweed, these were rolled in thin sheets of cucumber. Containing salmon
sashimi and avocado and topped with salmon caviar, this dish really set the bar
high and I was looking forward to trying more of the sushi.
We
didn’t have long to wait though, as our next dish was the cured duck rolls –
eight pieces which were neatly lined up, all topped with smoked duck breast and
drizzled with hoi sin sauce. These were a hit with everyone, so a good choice
by Robert. You could really taste the smoky flavour of the duck, which had been
cured nicely and so thinly sliced. Because the rest of the dishes we chose contained
fish or seafood, this made a change and broke the meal up a bit.
I
picked out two of my favourites: the crispy baby squid and the volcano rolls.
The squid was exactly what I was expecting: crisp, well-seasoned and with the
right amount of chilli. I can honestly say, it was the best I’ve had in a long
while and unashamedly, I ate most of the portion. It was so moreish and the
little pieces of batter at the bottom of the plate were too good to go to
waste. I’d had volcano rolls at the Buddha-Bar before and when I first looked
at the Murakami menu, my eyes went straight to them again. Boy, they did not
disappoint! Like everything else, the presentation was spot on. Eight rolls were
stacked up beautifully to resemble a volcano and it really made for a table
centre piece. There were so many contrasting textures: soft avocado and cooked
salmon, crisp tempura and the tobiko (which I think is my new ‘thing’), which
just popped in the mouth. This would definitely have been the highlight of the
evening, but we took a 10 minute break and then ordered some more food!
Again
I picked out a dish I’d had elsewhere before, enjoyed and knew would go down well
with the rest of the family – and that was the rainbow rolls. There was plenty
of variety with 10 rolls made up of five different kinds of fish, all varying
in shades of pink. I think I had tuna and salmon, it was difficult to tell and
I just had to top both with plenty of pickled ginger. Then to finish, dad
picked out the lamb chops from the robata Japanese grill section. In his own
words: it was good to end the meal with something other than fish. I could not
agree more, especially as the plate of four chops arrived to the table still
sizzling. The meat was still blushing, but had been char-grilled well to get
that barbecue flavour. The marinade of sweet soy was divine and the plate was
soon demolished. I highly advise trying out the lamb as a change from sushi –
and there are plenty of other grill options available, including rib eye and
baby back ribs!
The
meal may have been slightly on the dearer side, but it was well worth it, not
least for the array of dishes we managed to sample. We didn’t have room for
dessert and feeling suitably full, we made our way over the road to enjoy the
rest of the evening.
Love,
Lucy xx
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Love, Lucy xx