UKAI Restaurant Review: Sushi Heaven and Robata Perfection in Notting Hill

I’ve eaten in some very good restaurants this year, sometimes even amazing ones but if I’m completely honest – nothing has really given me that tingle inside. The type of meal which gets you excited from every element of the experience – its food, its wines, its cocktails and the element of surprise. I recently made my way over to Ukai in Notting Hill and that all changed. A trendy modern Japanese restaurant on Portobello Road which spawned to life in 2006. Why I’d never heard of it before is beyond me. The kitchen is looked after by head chef, Alessandro Verros who trained at ROKA and you can feel that in the food. Exquisite presentation and attention to detail.

We propped ourselves up at the bar first and enjoyed two stunning cocktails. A beautiful Japanese take on the classic Negroni with whiskey and laced with sake – plus the heavenly tropical take on a whiskey sour with a lovely spicy finish to it at the end. I’d even go as far as saying these were the best hand-crafted cocktails I’ve had this year. They’re exquisite and so carefully prepared.

While cocktails were exquisite, the food was works of art. Dishes such as the seabass ceviche Ukai style for example. Thinly sliced raw seabass of the highest quality in a pool of spicy citrus sauce. So much vibrancy and so much flavour – we couldn’t help but fall in love with this dish with every new bite. Priced at just £9 it was incredibly good value too given the quality. As was the £11 tuna tartare. Very large, loads of high-grade tuna and fresh avocado. The whole thing sat in a sauce of raspberry, which I had reservations about – but the added yuzu really helped marry everything together. Quite easily my favourite dish from our lunch.

The sushi here is what makes Ukai that extra bit special. The quality of everything and the freshness shines through. Head chef, Alessandro Verros told us the fish arrived just that morning and was cut to order only a few minutes before. We ordered the nigiri platter for a real taste of what’s on offer. Salmon, tuna, prawn, tuna belly and seabass. It really was a fantastic showcase of high grade quality sushi.

Another favourite of ours was this beautifully presented kampachi salad. Sliced cobia (tropical white fish), rocket and a sauce of yuzu and truffle whose perfumed aroma wafted around the table and left a sweet lingering flavour in the mouth. It went particularly well with our bottle of dry riesling.

Admittedly we ate alot of food here at Ukai, but thankfully my stomachs now officially trained in the art of over eating – well at least that’s what I tell myself. Part of our feasting meant I got to try something I’ve never eaten before – butterfish. It’s incredibly soft and as its name suggest, it almost feels like butter in the mouth. We had it both as sashimi and nigiri with an accompaniment of Asian pear and golden pearls of roe in pot carved out from cucumber.

Maki rolls are my favourite when it comes down to sushi and we weren’t let down by the soft shell crab tempura rolls here at Ukai. The crab was cooked fresh to order, before being stuffed inside the sticky rice and topped with a covering of tuna tartar and spicy mayo. Stunning.

Hot dishes were spectacular too. Star of the two we tried was the teriyaki salmon. Again served like a piece of art on the plate and beautifully cooked with its sticky teriyaki marinade leaking out all over the plates and clinging on to the ends of our chopsticks. The sizzling beef arrived from the kitchen with a lid shooting out meaty smoke across the room – it was all very theatrical. Inside you’ll find some of the most soft tenderloin, marinated in a sweet and sour sauce.

By this point we were well into a state of food coma, but all in the name of research we ploughed on with a dessert platter. Two rich and decadent chocolate brownies, a rather unusual raspberry cube which I fell in love with and hands down the best selection of mochi I’ve ever come across. I’ve no idea if the mochi is made in-house or not, but regardless it was delicious and I’m normally very underwhelmed by them. Again at £15 for two people this dessert platter was a bargain.

We had such a lovely afternoon at Ukai and were quite honestly caught by surprise by the whole thing. I’m not entirely sure how I felt about the actual venue or its website, both could do with some money being spent on updating them – but the food, the staff, the cocktails and the prices are all utterly fantastic. Ukai isn’t just any Japanese restaurant, it’s Notting Hill’s best Japanese restaurant and I can’t wait to come back. Allesandro – you’re a sushi master.

NB: I was invited to review and elements of my meal were complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.