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Reviews of London's Restaurants, Supper Clubs and Hotels, Wine Tastings, Travel Writing, and Home to the Japanese and French Supper Clubs in Islington
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Where: Park Plaza Riverbank, 18 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TJ
Cost: The special Dias de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) menu for Friday 2nd November 2018 is a four course tasting menu with a Mexican theme, and is priced at £45 per person, for a minimum of 2 people.
About: Describing itself as a modern pan-Asian cuisine and Latin bar, Chino Latino London is set on the first floor of the Park Plaza Hotel on the South Bank at Waterloo, with a gorgeous view of the Houses of Parliament across the river.
With live jazz from 8pm, a cocktail bar with a strong Latin theme, this is not your typical Asian restaurant. The menu has a range of Japanese-Nikkei dishes from Peru and Brazil, as well as Chinese, Thai and Malaysian specials.
I have been here a couple of times before, you can read my reviews here and here. This latest trip, however, was to try the one-off Mexican-themed dinner for the Day of the Dead.
What We Ate: The Dia De Los Muertos menu kicks off with Jalapeno Maki Rolls. Topped with a "Mexican hat" made from sliced tomato, green Jalapeno chilli and an orange creamy spicy sauce, the maki was filled with avocado, carrot and truffle aioli, and the rice mixed with quinoa. The chilli was not overpowering, but gave a gentle heat to the maki.
The Lobster Taquitos with aji amarillo, avocado and lime were creamy, crunchy and lightly spicy.
The Ceviche Mixto, with ultra-tender calamari, shrimps, seabass and avocado was creamy and generous, with red onion, radish and cancha corn, but for me lacked acidity and zinginess from much needed chilli and lime. I mentioned this in my last review, it is a pity that their ceviche is rather toned down.
Next came empanadas of red snapper, with mango, Gruyere cheese, and a refreshing tomato and onion salsa. These were very good, especially with the accompanying salsa, although I could not detect the Gruyere.
The bacon-wrapped dates with linguica (Portuguese for sausage) and mustard mayonnaise were one of the highlights of the meal - rich, very soft, with sweet and savoury nicely balanced.
The main course was another highlight - an exceptional Latin BBQ - Churrasco Grande, with beef skewers, chorizo, spicy chicken and sirloin steak. Served on a bed of smoulderingly hot rocks, the meats were nicely chargrilled but tender, the beef medium rare, and the accompanying sauces were well judged.
To accompany the meat, we were served a tamale. This was creamy, intensely flavoured with sweetcorn and artichoke, and topped with a delicious Huancaina sauce, a classic Peruvian sauce made from evaporated milk, fresh white cheese, aji amarillo and powdered cheese crackers.
The dessert was Passionfruit Flavoured Relic - a creamy mousse "skull" set over crumble and edible flowers. This was a beautifully presented dessert - light, and with a refreshing acidity from the passionfruit.
What We Drank: Served as part of the Dia De Los Muertos menu, a "Waking the Dead" shot of Mezcal infused with lime, coriander and chilli was refreshing and left the palate tingling with refreshing citrus, spice and heat - an excellent palate cleanser and teaser for the dishes that followed.
Likes: Highlights for me were the bacon-wrapped dates, the tamales and the churrasco main course. The live music was well judged - not intrusive but definitely adding to the experience.
Dislikes: I could have done with a 2nd tamale to accompany the main course as there were two of us.
Verdict: For one night only (2nd November 2018), the Dia De Los Muertos menu at Chino Latino is a delicious blend of Japanese, Mexican and Peruvian flavours, which at £45 per person is excellent value. Highly recommended.
Name: Chotto Matte Brunch Menu
Where: 11–13 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 4RB, http://www.chotto-matte.com
Cost: £50 per person for brunch with alcoholic drinks, or £45 per person with non-alcoholic drinks, available on Saturdays and Sundays only, between 12 and 4pm.
About: This was a revisit to Chotto Matte, a Peruvian Nikkei restaurant set on Soho's busy Frith Street, you can read my first Chotto Matte review here.
Born from the Japanese diaspora living in Peru, Peruvian-Nikkei cooking is much more than just a trendy fad – it was born out of necessity in the early 20th century as most Japanese immigrants lacked the necessary ingredients to cook their home fare. Instead, they resorted to using the fantastic produce of Peru, from Pacific fish and seafood to the high altitude vegetables of the Andes, and the fruit of the Amazon. Today, Peruvian-Nikkei cuisine is very much part of the mainstream diet in Peru, with dishes like Tiradito and Maki Acevichado being just as popular as ceviche or causa.
I wrote about this style of food in my cookbook “Nikkei Cuisine: Japanese Food the South American Way” available on Amazon here. You will also find one of Chotto Matte’s recipes in the book as they kindly contributed towards it.
Set over 3 floors with an outdoor seating area great for people watching, Chotto Matte has an uninterrupted funky soundtrack that certainly makes for a party atmosphere. The décor is bright and colourful with plenty of natural wood, stone and glass. On the ground floor, there is a vast, UV-illuminated mural created by Tokyo-based graffiti artist Houxo Que. Chotto Matte is undeniably a beautiful restaurant.
What We Ate: There are two choices of brunch menus - one featuring fish and meat, and another for vegetarians. We tried one of each.
We kicked off with a ceviche of seabass sashimi, served with sweet potato, crunchy Peruvian corn, coriander, chive oil and a zingy leche de tigre (tigers milk – the dressing used to ‘cook’ fish in ceviches and tiraditos).
The vegetarian opener was Chotto Matte’s famous paper-thin vegetables – a crunchy and refreshing medley of daikon, carrot, beetroot, quinoa, physalis, lime and chia seeds.
The fish sushi had a selection of fish, each topped with its unique seasoning. Tuna, scallop, and yellowtail were delicious, and I particularly enjoyed the salmon with dots of aji amarillo, and seabass with truffle cream.
The vegetarian sushi selection was equally good and very creative – this included tamago omelette, nasu (aubergine), avocado, shitake mushroom, courgette and yasai (vegetable) truffle roll.
The tempura course was Nikkei Sepia - calamari with an aji amarillo and yuzu emulsion (a Japanese citrus) with sugar and mayonnaise. I loved this but wished the portion was a tad more generous.
The vegetarian tempura featured tender stem broccoli and shiitake mushroom, with a delicious scattering of tempura diced chilli. Though the batter was light and crunchy, the broccoli was slightly overcooked.
From the robata grill, Asado de Tira was in our opinion the best of all dishes on the menu - a wonderfully tender beef short rib with asparagus, purple potato puree and teriyaki jus.
The Pollo Den Miso (chicken with a miso-based sauce) was also excellent – this had deliciously smoky charred chicken, carrot, daikon and yellow chilli salsa.
The vegetarian robata grill equivalent was Calabacin al la Parilla – this was a platter of chilli courgette, pickled shallots and crisp-fried sweet potato. We enjoyed this although we felt this was a little uninspiring and more like a side dish than a main course in its own right.
The Nasu Miso was cubes of aubergine marinated in Japanese miso, with apricot, puffed soba, and sesame seeds.
Both robata grilled options came with sake-sautéed broccoli with Huacatay sauce. I enjoyed this particularly for the sauce, a deliciously zingy one made with the Peruvian huacatay, a mint-tarragon type of herb which is the base of this sauce together with the fruity aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chilli).
For dessert, both menus had an intensely rich, creamy and bitter chocolate pot, frozen mochi balls of mango, and of yuzu, with a passion fruit brûlée topped with pomegranate seeds. The desserts were very well conceived - rich and intensely flavoured. The menu offers a choice of tea or coffee.
If you visit the restaurant, not everyone in the table needs to order the same menu. For example a couple can order one menu each containing the vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Even tough I felt that the non-vegetarian menu was the strongest menu, this way you would get the best of the variety that the restaurant can offer.
What We Drank: There is a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails on the brunch menu, and we opted for the Bloody Mary – made with Belvedere vodka and Chotto Matte’s own cocktail mix.
With the food, the menu includes a choice of a half bottle per person of a Prosecco, an Albarino or a Rioja Reserva. We chose the Albarino, Irexario de Saiar, Bodega Sucesores de Benito Santos, Spain, 2016. Crisp and refreshing, this had plenty of citrus, apricot characteristics to balance the flavours on the plate.
Likes: The robata beef short rib was for me the highlight of the meal. We also enjoyed the sushi and particularly the vegetarian sushi platter. The Bloody Mary was refreshing and spicy.
Dislikes: Some of the vegetarian courses were weak including the grilled courgettes, I would have felt short-changed if that was meant to be my main course.
Verdict: Chotto Matte's brunch menu is a great opportunity to try a range of the restaurant’s signature Nikkei dishes, a cocktail and ½ a bottle of wine per person. At £50pp, the quality and variety of food offered makes it a good deal not to be missed. Recommended.
Words and Photography by Greg Klerkx and Luiz Hara
In the jungle of London’s hyper-competitive restaurant market, claims to be the best of the best are as common as threats of a Tube strike. Few enough restaurants can make this claim in the first place with any hope for consensus; those that make the whispered short-list – ‘one of the best in the city’ – rarely stay there, whether done in by hubris, transient talent or just changing times.
It’s all the more remarkable, then, that Knightsbridge stalwart Zuma finds itself celebrating 15 years in business still among that happy few at the top of the pack. Pick your blog or guide; pick your year of review. There you’ll find Zuma, unwavering in its place as the go-to spot for inventively Japanese cuisine.
That’s something worth celebrating and we recently did just that at the invitation of Zuma’s founder Rainer Becker and his team, who’ve put together a 15-year tasting menu – an exclusive collection of the most iconic dishes from the past decade and a half.
Spoiler alert: there was absolutely nothing on this menu that was anything less than delicious. Not a duff note when it came to presentation, creativity or flavour. That makes for a potentially dull review, so we’ll work the thesaurus hard to find creative superlatives to describe what crossed our table.
First, like London buses, came a trio of starters. Suzuki no sashimi (thinly sliced sea bass with yuzu, truffle oil, and salmon roe) was so delicate that it practically levitated off its dish, the nearly translucent sea bass held in gravity’s check by a fine balance of tangy yuzu and earthy truffle oil. The salmon roe added that touch of the sea, and not a little complication to the balance, yet not a flavour was out of place.
The second dish, chu toro no osasshimi kousou fuumi (thinly sliced semi fatty tuna, chilli, coriander and sesame), was something like the sea bass’s cheekier cousin; the flavours turned up a notch, the spark of chilli held in check by aromatic coriander and sesame. It was almost a relief to tuck into the hourensou no goma ae (steamed spinach with sesame sauce), which hit our tastebuds like an earthy palate cleanser.
All three starters paired nicely with the Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV, slightly flinty but with a long finish that cradled each of our starters with loving care.
Next arrived a favourite dish of the afternoon, and how could it not be? Wagyu no tataki, kuro toryufu ponzu gake (freshly seared wagyu sirloin tataki with black truffle ponzu) was every bit as unctuous and complex as its long title suggests, the black truffle ponzu – a palate-dazzler all on its own – bringing out the wagyu’s notes of summer grass and, well, pampering. We had the thought that if an Earth-annihilating meteor struck at that very moment, this would be a fine dish to go out on.
As with the starting trio, the wagyu/truffle juggernaut was accompanied by a simpler, more restrained dish, in this case piri kara dofu to abokado salada (fried tofu with avocado and Japanese herbs). The Wieninger ‘Wiener Gemischter Satz 2015, an Austrian speciality a-brim with gorgeous grapefruit and stone fruit yet with sufficient acidity to ensure it wraps nicely around the decadent flavours and textures of the wagyu.
Zuma wisely shifted gears at this point in the menu, offering a selection of nigiri sushi, premium sashimi and ‘chef special’ maki rolls, all made to the high standard of everything that’d come before. This beautifully presented array was paired with Kimura Junmai Ginjo, a clear, crisp sake hailing from one of Japan’s most venerable producers. Taken alone, this combination would have made us happy at most other Japanese restaurants in the city.
Our final three savoury dishes felt like the last burst of fireworks at an epic Guy Fawkes display, where what’s left in the arsenal is lobbed into the sky in one, spectacular go, the intention to dazzle and amuse. Ainame no koumi yaki to kousou (grilled Chilean sea bass with green chilli, ginger dressing) and gyuhire sumbibiyaki karami zuke (spicy beef tenderloin with sesame, red chilli and sweet soy) seemed like a reprise of our first course, with that much more body, depth and punch.
The straight man in this lively trio was shitake no ninniku fuumi (shitake mushroom with garlic and soy butter), so deep and flavourful it was practically another meat dish. Castello di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva 2013 made for a snappy, peppery match across all three dishes. It was a marvellous display, and we felt somewhat bereft that it was finished.
Becker surely anticipated such a let down, because the real sky blossom was still to come. Describing our pudding as merely ‘Deluxe Dessert Platter’ is somewhat like calling Big Ben a clock. Our recommendation is to savour the photo here, though you unfortunately won’t be able to savour the mango and raspberry sorbets, the carmelised banana cake, or the variety of tunnel-dark chocolate offerings; ganache and fondant and more. It was a symphony of sweetness in a playful suit, matched with Yume no yado, Yuzu shu, a cheeky, sharp sake reprising the yuzu notes we began with.
It’s hard to know what else to say about Zuma at 15, except perhaps the obvious: here’s to at least 15 more years of inventive, precise, exquisite Japanese cuisine.
Name: Chino Latino
Where: 18 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TJ, http://www.chinolatino.eu/
Cost: Average cost per person is £45 not including drinks or service. The restaurant has three set menus, priced from £37 to £55 per person, offering a range of sushi, sashimi and main dishes.
About: With restaurants in Leeds, Nottingham and Cologne, the London branch of Chino Latino is situated in the beautiful riverside Park Plaza Hotel on the Albert Embankment.
The London Foodie visited Chino Latino a few years ago, reviewed here, but the restaurant has since then been thoroughly refurbished and moved to the first floor of the hotel, with full length plate glass windows opening to great views of the River Thames and the Houses of Parliament.
The restaurant group’s kitchens are headed by South African Executive Chef Werner Seebach formerly of Roka, Zuma and Kyashi restaurants, and offers a comprehensive modern 'Pan-Asian' cuisine.
The menu has a range of Japanese-Nikkei dishes from Peru and Brazil, and a smattering of other Asian dishes including Thai, Chinese and Malaysian. The restaurant has a long bar opened to non-residents and offers a range of great cocktails as well as live Jazz music every evening.
What We Ate: The a la carte menu is divided into small dishes, main courses, sides and desserts, and it is recommended to order a minimum of three small dishes per person.
We ordered a number of dishes from the a la carte menu, starting with a delectable beef salad (£11.50) with coriander, mint, chilli, shallots, cucumber and red onion – well seasoned and with many textures, this was excellent.
The seabass tiradito (£10.50) came with coriander tiger's milk, jalapeño chillies, borage flowers and chia seeds. With a gorgeous presentation, this packed quite a whack of chilli heat, which I felt somewhat overwhelmed the coriander cream – for me, the coriander’s tigers milk lacked acidity and depth of flavour.
Next up were the Taquitos Three-Ways (£20) – these were served on a dinky chrome frame, and combined crispy taquito cones filled with rare Wagyu beef and aji panca sauce, lobster with an aji amarillo sauce, and the third filled with a lovely vegetable brunoise - carrot, green bean and mushroom, with a topping of finely shredded lettuce and radish.
The anticucho of wagyu (£14), normally a skewer of slices of beef heart, was deliciously soft wagyu flank beef served with aji panca sauce (Peruvian dried red chilli) that added a layer of smokiness and flavour.
We loved the tempura - red chilli stuffed with cream cheese, and soft shell crab tempura (£10 for 2 pieces) – it was gorgeously presented on a slice of raw daikon, and served with a refreshing ponzu dressing and green chilli aioli.
From the sushi menu, we chose the surf and turf dragon roll (£20 for 8 pieces), filled with lobster, avocado and cucumber and topped with thin slices of lightly seared sirloin beef, spicy cream and chive. The sushi was well-made, specially the rice and the presentation, although I felt there were too many competing flavours in this roll.
From the main course menu, we chose one of Chino Latino’s signature dishes – their English sirloin steak served on hot black rocks (300g for (£29), with soy, garlic and mirin sauce. Beautifully presented, the steak was medium rare and soft and well flavoured.
The monkfish tail was served on the bone with yuzu kosho dressing and yuzu jelly (£32.50). I loved their use of yuzu kosho in this dish, this is a wonderful condiment from Kyushu island in Japan made from yuzu rind, chillies and salt, so it is spicy, salty and citrusy all at once. I is a great accompaniment to grilled fish and meats and worked quite well in this dish.
We had three side dishes. I love making miso aubergine with Parmesan cheese (£4.50), and this was what I ordered, though there was an excessive amount of Parmesan in my opinion. Better was the Peruvian corn sauteed in butter (£4.50) with a lovely sweet tartness from the addition of sugar and lime to heighten the flavours. And finally the cassava chips (£4) – these were fresh and crispy on the outside, they were served with a refreshing aji amarillo dipping sauce.
Desserts are all priced at £8.50, and include options like salted caramel banana mousse, yuzu cream sugar bulb, and chocolate brownie and peanut butter parfait with blackcurrant sponge. Tempting as they were, we could not try them as we had eaten far too much by then, I will return for those one day soon!
What We Drank: Pre-dinner, we shared the Chilli and Ginger Caipirinha (£9) – this blended Sagatiba Pura cachaça with ginger wine, red chillies, fresh ginger and lime. This was thoroughly refreshing and I loved the way the chilli heat came long after swallowing.
The Perrier-Jouet Blason Rose Champagne (£12.50) had a lovely strawberry nose and refreshing acidity.
There is small but well thought out wine list, with 7 white and 6 red wines offered by the glass. The entry level wines are a white Nederberg Chenin Blanc from South Africa and a red Granfort Merlot from France, both priced at £27. But as we chose a variety of fish and meat dishes, we preferred to share two half bottles. We chose the Sancerre Les Collinettes, Joseph Mellot, France, and the Don Jacobo Rioja Crianza Tinto, Boedgas Corral, Spain, both priced at £17.50 per half bottle. These were both excellent, with a great depth of flavour, concentration and complexity.
Likes: Anticuchos, tempura and taquitos were sensational. Great service and gorgeous restaurant.
Dislikes: the coriander tigers milk lacked acidity and depth of flavour, and there was far too much Parmesan in the miso aubergine. These were minor problems in a overall very good meal.
Verdict: For good quality Pan-Asian cooking, Chino Latino is my ‘go-to’ restaurant. If you are looking for great food, cocktails and a stunning setting overlooking the river Thames, I highly recommend Chino Latino.
