Review: Kouzu - Japanese Fine Dining

Style Points: 5/5
Price: £££
Overall: 5/5

Kouzu is a beautiful restaurant nestled in a beautiful period building. The palatial entrance leads into a sophisticated and atmospherically lit space with a magnificent glowing golden blossom chandelier dripping down into the restaurant. This double height glass fronted entrance to London’s newest and most anticipated Japanese restaurant and bar lives up to high expectations that have been set about this venue.

The restaurant is set over two levels, with the downstairs space housing a cocktail bar and traditional seating area and more private dining area behind the kitchen space. The spiral staircase leads up to the ‘floating’ sushi bar where the fish is prepared with an impressive display of precision and knife skills. It is not a large space as the restaurant can sit only eighty people and this is reflected in the intimate feel of the restaurant.

When it comes to Japanese cooking Kouzu has hired some of London’s most talented and celebrated Japanese chefs, including Chef Kyoichi Kai of Zuma and Kyubi of The Arts Club who lead the finely selected all-Japanese kitchen staff. This results in over 30 years of experience in some of the world’s top restaurants and this is evident in the quality of the food.

Downstairs dining space

Would I Want Seconds?

Kyoichi Kai is regarded as one of London’s most prominent Japanese chefs and he has introduced a new experience of Japanese dining at Kouzu which aims for artistry and meticulous detail.

Kouzu means 'composition' and there is an evident focus here on the ensemble and traditional formation of each dish to ensure that it delivers an exquisite flavour and experience. Kouzu offers a comprehensive sushi menu featuring sashimi platters and fresh-rolled maki, nigiri and ‘Aburi’ nigiri which is pre-seasoned and torched resulting in no need to use soya sauce.

To start with, my dining companion, choose the yellowtail with truffle dressing from the new stream sashimi section of the menu. The sliced yellow tail arrived with shiso, myoga, ginger, spring onion, ponzu truffle dressing and just as our well-informed waitress has suggested, was totally divine. As I have a weakness for fried food I ordered the prawn tempura with spicy mayonnaise. The prawns were light and covered in a crispy batter and were served alongside salad leaf, chives and dressed with spicy mayonnaise.

I then tried a piece of salmon aburi nigiri which our waitress suggested we twist in our mouth when eating in order to taste the seasoning on the top of the piece. This was an immensely delicate and well-seasoned piece of fish which just melted in my mouth.

We then moved onto the new style roll section of the menu where we chose the spicy California roll composed of crab, avocado, cucumber, ichimi pepper, mayonnaise and tobikko. These arrived in the more traditional roll sushi fashion but were just as delicisious as the previous dishes.

For our main course my dining companion ordered the roasted black cod which was marinated with miso with fennel, celery salad. Although this was not as intricately presented as the other dishes the tantalising flavours within the delicate flesh needed nothing more than a simple presentation.

I decided to try something different on this course and opted for the grilled duck breast with sansho, a Japanese pepper sauce. Although the dish was pleasant I felt the duck was slightly on the chewy side. Though as the specialty of Kouzu is fish this isn’t too much of a disappointment as I should have probably ordered a fish dish as my main course.

Finally for dessert we tried the delectable green tea tiramisu and a sesame seed inspired dessert which featured ice cream, sponge and even snow flavoured like sesames.  Both dishes were finely balanced between sweet with savoury and served as the perfect end to an amazing meal.

Yellowtail with truffle dressing

Prawn tempura

Nigiri and Aburi nigiri

Spicy California roll 

New style rolls and nigiri

Black cod

Grilled duck breast with sansho

Could I Afford Seconds?

Kouzu is not a cheap restaurant as the emphasis here is on luxury, quality and fresh ingredients. As a result diners should be prepared to spend a considerable amount in order to get the full experience.

The starters and new stream sashimi cost between £9 to £15 with the most expensive beef filet tataki costing £17.50.

The new style rolls which usually arrive as 5 pieces cost between £7 to £11. I would definitely recommend trying the aburi as this is a strength of Kouzu. One piece costs of salmon aburi costs £9 the o-toro aburi is priced at £16 yet despite the high prices leaving without trying one of these beautiful sliced and seasoned creations would be a calamity.

The main courses from the specials section of the menu are approximately £25, however there is only one fish dish out of four and I would almost suggest ordering more of the smaller dishes such as the sashimi, freshly rolled maki and nigiri instead of a main course dish as these are the specialty of the restaurant.

Despite the prices of the food, the cocktails on the menu stay below £10 making one part of the dining experience affordable.

Green tea tiramisu

Sesame dessert

Overall:

Kouzu is n upmarket Japanese restaurant as everything from the decor to the high standard of the food oozes luxury. Even the General Manager Yasuhiro Komatsu of Chisou ensures a high customer service is delivered at all times and our waitress was attentive, informative and friendly.

But there is also an element of fun about Kouzu as the staff all shout 'Irasshaimase' meaning 'come on in' when someone walks in as is often the case in restaurants in Japan.

Overall dining at Kouzu is an immensely enjoyable experience and the effort put into producing high quality dishes, especially the sashimi, nigiri and maki, as well as delivering the best customer service is immediately obvious.

I would not hesitate to recommend Kouzu as it would make a lovely destination for a special occasion where the quality is well worth the price.

Website: kouzu.co.uk

Address: 21 Grosvenor Gardens, Belgravia, London, SW1W 0JW

Nearest Tube Station: Victoria