Ukiyo Weekend Brunch Review: Bottomless Champagne and Delicious Sushi at Aqua Kyoto

If there was one thing we’ve all come to love, it’s a good brunch. Whether it’s smashed avocados on toast, stacks of pancakes or endless sushi – there’s always a brunch for every taste. One of those recent brunch experiences led us back to one of our favourite Japanese restaurants – Aqua Kyoto. Sumptuous interiors, delicious food and one of London’s best rooftop terraces.

Every Saturday and Sunday, Aqua Kyoto offer a delicious Ukiyo Weekend Brunch menu and I must say – it’s a bit of a bargain. Starting at just £36 for the food, you can upgrade your brunch with bottomless bubbles & bellinis for £49 or enjoy free-flowing Veuve Cliquot Champagne for £65. The latter which we enjoyed. Once the bubbles arrived, so did the food and we started with their starters. A warm bowl of miso soup, salted edamame and some very addictive rice crackers.

The main spectacle of this epic brunch has to be the gargantuan sushi platter. Everything is made fresh to order and is so meticulously executed. It’s all very modern too, with flavours and ingredients you might not expect to find in sushi elsewhere. Sushi rolls filled with miso marinated black cod (these were amazing), Japanese pancake on rice, rolls topped with sweet juicy lobster and spicy rice squares topped with rice paper. Just a few of the amazing creations on this beautiful platter.

If you fancy upgrading your brunch even more, you can enjoy this platter of sashimi for £10. The fish they use here is of excellent quality and so I highly recommend adding onto your meal. You’ll get a good selection of tuna, salmon and yellowtail, the latter was my favourite.

Once we’d finished our incredible sushi selection, we moved onto the main courses. The mains are actually a selection of small sharing plates and each diner can pick two dishes from a large selection – either from the indulgence menu or purity menu, the latter offering slightly healthier dishes and I highly recommend the crunchy tuna taco from it.  We also fell completely in love with the aubergine kara-age. Moist morsel of aubergine, wrapped in a golden batter and topped with coriander miso, smashed ohba and furikake.

Apart from all of that sushi and sashimi, our two favourite dishes from this brunch menu were the smokey beef & spring onion yakitori and the rock shrimp tempura. Those prawns were so juicy and the batter oh-so crunchy – but still as light as a cloud. It was all made even better when dunked into the truffle scented dipping sauce. Heaven!

Rather full by this point we just about managed desserts, washed down with a few more glasses of Champagne. The Japanese waffle filled with chocolate almond custard wasn’t really my thing, but the ice cream mochi yakitori went down a treat and had us both fighting over who’d get to eat it. Obviously I won that argument.

We had such a lovely afternoon here at Aqua Kyoto and returning has only convinced me of just how consistent and reliable all of the restaurants under the Aqua umbrella are. Stylish, delicious and incredibly satisfying. If you’re looking for a brunch to remember full of just about all of your favourite things and a little too much Champagne – then this is what you’ve all been dreaming of.