Words & Photography by Simeen Kadi and Luiz Hara
Where: 38th - 39th Floor, Heron Tower, 110
Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY,
Cost: Small plates from £8 to £23 including sushi and ceviche, large dishes from £16 to £49, average spend per person £50 (not including drinks or service)
About: There is definitely something childishly exciting about the glass lifts at the
Heron Tower, home to Sushisamba and sister restaurant Duck & Waffle. The
way the city drops away as we sweep swiftly skyward is astonishing. Once on the
38th floor the thrill continues with 360° views and a great outdoor
terrace.
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| London Skyline from SushiSamba Restaurant |
Our table overlooked the east of
the city with twinkly lights stretching out to the horizon and we spent a few
minutes identifying landmarks and scoring points on our aerial knowledge of
London’s cityscape. The restaurant is a large buzzy space with low, curved
banquettes and an enormous orange installation hovering above which makes
everyone look like they have spent too long at the (or possibly in) St Tropez.
Staff are very cordial and
knowledgeable and we were given a potted history of Japanese immigration into
Peru and Brazil – Sushisamba is about the resulting Nikkei cuisine of the
Japanese who settled in large numbers in Lima and São Paolo and incorporated
traditional Japanese cooking with the ingredients and dishes of their new
homeland.
What We Ate: The menu is divided into Small Plates, Raw, the Robata grill, Samba rolls and Nigiri & Sashimi. We started
with some Green Bean Tempura from the
Aperitivos menu. The batter was crisp and it was a good, salty starter while we
perused the menu, although the truffle in the black truffle aioli was only just
discernible.
Crispy Taquitos followed which were bursting with flavour – yellowtail
marinated in lime and served with aji
panca and miso infused with the flavour of roasted corn. Aji Panca features frequently on the menu and is a vibrant red paste
made from a smoked, mild red pepper from Peru. Chillies gave the dish an extra
kick.
Wagyu Tataki was layered with a silky coat of foie gras and topped with a fried quail’s egg – a small but
perfectly formed mouthful.
The Chicharon
de Calamar was a satisfyingly large mound of crispy fried rings of squid
which had been tossed in a sticky coating of tamarind, lime and a zingy pico de gallo sauce. Crunchy, sweet and
sour, I could eat this dish every day.
Dishes from the Raw menu include
slices of Yellowtail Sashimi Tiradito
with a zesty sauce of jalapeno and lemongrass and Sashimi Seviche of Tuna with watermelon and tiger’s milk which was
a little wan – lacking in the mouth puckering zing of limes and chilies.
Chilean Sea Bass Anticuchos (let’s hope it was sustainably caught
as there was no information available) came as two generously portioned skewers
of exquisite fish anointed with miso and served with a drizzle of sweet dulce
de leche on a bed on giant Peruvian corn.
Poussin, also from the Robata
grill came as a teriyaki, served with
a delicious yuzu kosho mayonnaise.
From the large plates we chose the
Moqueca Mista and we were not
disappointed. A large earthenware dish brimmed with seafood cooked in a rich
coconut sauce, coloured with dende
oil, a bright orange palm oil typical of Brazilian cooking. In a nod to
neighbouring Argentina, the rice that completed the dish was mixed with
chimichurri herbs and seasoning. And, crowning it was one enormous prawn.
This was a lot of food but we did
it justice and almost all of it was very good. And we still managed to make
room for some sushi. The São Paolo Samba Roll, ordered in honour of
my dining companion’s hometown, was complex and delicious. Perfect sushi rice
encased scallop, masago, tuna, salmon
yellowtail, avocado and sat up provocatively, dressed with hacho miso soy and
chive oil and topped with a morsel of truffle.
We weren’t done yet. Desserts here
are worth the short lived discomfort of overeating. A bright mango mousse which
came alongside a zingy kiwi-mojito sorbet and a lime and coriander sauce made
for a refreshing end to the meal. With
Love From Rio was rich and decadent, an intoxicating mix of valhrhona dark
chocolate ganache, coffee mousse and a silky tonka bean ice cream. Organic Red Chocolate Chili Peppers
featured a Peruvian chili mousse, which was sweet with a fiery kick, alongside
a raspberry and red pepper sorbet and a bright red tuile.
What We Drank: The wine list at Sushisamba is long and priced at the top end, as you would
expect from a City restaurant of this calibre. And the cocktails make the most
of the restaurant’s unique blend of Japanese and South American flavours. But
the real winner, to my mind, is the extensive sake collection. One of the
largest and best kept sake cellars (if sake is stored in a cellar, must find
out one day) in London should not be missed, especially as it provides the
perfect accompaniment to the food.
Maurzio Palomba, the head
sommelier, knows his sake and expertly paired our dishes. We chose to go
by-the-glass and received a short and insightful introduction to each sake. A
highlight was the Takara Mio Sparkling
sake, which was bone dry and minerally, lifted by the effervescence. Kokuryu Black Dragon was complex and
rich, while the Dassai 39 would make
for a fabulous evening of sipping – although your wallet will not thank you for
it.
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| Busy City crowd |
Likes: delicious Nikkei cooking, good service, fantastic range of sakes on offer, we thoroughly enjoyed the food and the London views from the 38th floor.
Dislikes: it is a pity that bar was positioned where it is, it is seriously overcrowded and noisy and it detracts from the food experience at Sushisamba.
Verdict: Sushisamba is more than just a fabulous view with a restaurant attached. Chef
Claudio Cardoso’s kitchen delivers well executed dishes full of flavour and
complex combinations - this is not to be confused with gimmicky fusion. The
crowd is a mix of moneyed City workers and couples on a special night out. And
the stonking view fills my heart with the joy of being a Londoner.
