Inside A Night At London’s Most Expensive Restaurant

The cost-of-living crisis has impacted everyone in London – apart from, it seems, sushi restaurants. Hyper-exclusive, high-end spots have been popping up all over the city recently, offering double-digit-course tasting menus for close to the price of a month’s rent. There’s Taku at £300, Endo at the Rotunda at £275, Juno at £180 and, priciest of all, Sushi Kanesaka for a modest £420. In fact, it’s London’s most expensive menu full stop – although technically it doesn’t quite qualify as London’s most expensive restaurant outright as it is, in theory, possible to drop a grand on dumplings at, say, Hakkasan, or in a North London kebab shop if you’re Taylor Swift.

Offering your own input into the meal is a little like giving your doctor tips pre-triple-bypass

What sets it apart

Sushi Kanesaka is the first London outpost of legendary chef Shinji Kanesaka, who heads up the two-Michelin-starred original in Tokyo’s Ginza district of the same name (the London version received its first within seven months of opening). It all takes place in an intimate, nine-seater room where the staff outnumber the guests. It’s an omakase, meaning the diner relinquishes control to the chef – offering your own input to the meal is a little like giving your doctor tips pre-triple-bypass. Just leave it, they know better.

But let’s get to the point. What do you get for such a singular outlay? Essentially it comes down to two things: skill and ingredients. The price point allows an oceanographic carte balance. The sea is quite literally their oyster, where every day its most prized treasures end up in this kitchen to make up the ever-changing 20-course menu.

Our experience

Any omakase experience includes a mild form of panic – am I eating this right? Are two slices of pickled ginger between courses overdoing it? Have I drank the sake quickly enough to keep up with the schedule? But here you are made to feel comfortable, or as comfortable as I’ll ever be able to feel on Park Lane. Despite outnumbering the guests, service is never remotely overbearing. Cool, friendly, even knowingly teasing about the fact this is not a natural environment for most guests. 

Then the food starts rolling in. First up, Cornish king crab with beluga caviar as an amuse-bouche. The price begins to make sense. Then, a scarlet red nigiri of marinated akami, the lean part of the tuna. I deduce from the description that this is a flex course, an often-overlooked ingredient brought to the fullest of its potential through sheer skill and execution. It was delicious, sitting atop almost sweet rice, served at room temperature (as it should be). The otoro, a cut from the belly of the bluefin tuna and as premium as it gets, came later and was as buttery and flavoursome as it could possibly be. 

I deduce from the description that this is a flex course, an often-overlooked ingredient brought to the fullest of its potential through sheer skill and execution.

If I gave you a list of fish the menu didn’t feature, it might save time. Squid, ghostly white and topped with more beluga caviar, was almost impossibly tender. Kinmedia, a relative of the grouper I’ve never heard of from the Atlantic coast of Portugal was a surprise standout, and the mackerel offered up a beautiful tang of the ocean all the while retaining sweetness. Between nigiri courses, there were offerings of handroll with eel and octopus, as well as Kobe beef that disintegrated when it met the tongue. It might sound cliché, but this is more art than dining experience.

All the while, sake is being served in an array of beautiful glassware (the sake pairing adds an extra triple figure sum to the bill, but if you’re at it you might as push your chips all in). It varies between being sweet, dry, pure, and volcanically enhanced by proximity to Mount Fuji. At the end decompress with some Japanese melon, and you’re back out on the street. 

Verdict

There really is no point in asking if Sushi Kanesaka is worth it. On one hand, spending half a grand on fish, to most, is bordering on enough evidence to be sectioned. On the other, you won’t find a more flawless and one-of-a-kind experience anywhere less than a 13-hour flight away (such is the skill and unique technique each sushi chef has, omakase experiences are wildly different and individual). It does, unfortunately, defy a pet theory I’ve developed (mainly through videos of celebrities being fed by the tip of Salt Bae’s knife at £1000 per gold-sprayed steak in Nusr-Et) that with great wealth comes a great loss of taste.

If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anyone but there would be signs… a return trip to Sushi Kanesaka is on the list.

If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anyone but there would be signs – namely, a booking at Ikoyi and twice-weekly padel games at 60 quid a pop. A return trip to Sushi Kanesaka is on the list.

where: 45 Park Ln, London W1K 1PN
website: www.sushi-kanesaka.com