Gorgeously designed Japanese restaurant at the top of Raffles Hotel London from Michelin starred Endo Kazutoshi
For background of this restaurant please refer to my first review of 21 Sep 24. This visit was to try the set menu lunch which is three courses for £55 and represents a very good value for what was received, or £65 for four courses – still good value. The set lunch menu is only available Wed-Sat and on this occasion I couldn’t resist the sashimi on its freshness and authentic wasabi with soy sauce. I have not yet had the duck which was the main of choice served with fermented chilli, barley miso and hispi cabbage. Whilst the duck was slightly tougher than expected, the portion size was generous and the mix of spice, fermented elements and umami from the miso worked well, as did the rendered fat for overall taste. Sparkling sake was enjoyed on this occasion as a very pleasant addition and something not done very often – fresh but with gentle umami at the same time on this particular offering, expertly steered by the sake sommelier. The twig tea creme brûlée could not be resisted again and I see the caviar has been removed from the offering – perhaps the right move if it did not add much value compared to the price difference. I also see that the terrace has a partnership with Rathfinny this summer (2025) and this rosé seems to be a clean and fresh start to any meal in the sun and a good choice for any meal. There is also a canapé and Rathfinny snack menu for £30 on the terrace between 3pm-5:45pm now which serves as a very good impulse option (and one I will probably very much taking advantage of).
Food Grade: 77%
Another visit to Kioku and another elevation in the experience. I have written on the history of the building and background of the team before at my first review so please do click on 21 Sep 24 review for that if needed. Suffice to say this was another visit that confirmed Kioku is one of the very few restaurants in London open on a Sunday evening, which this was. We were treated royally to a series of canapés and Ishiyaki (whereby the meat is heated by direct contact with a hot coal at the table) as a new addition through this meal. This was another wonderful visit to Kioku which is rapidly becoming one of my favourite places in the country to spend time at.
Food Grade: 84%
For history of this building and general introduction, please see my first review of 21 Sep 24. Suffice to say, I was so impressed with this that I simply could not wait to come back and try the Wagyu again… which was duly done. For this occasion, we tried the restaurant at night and to my amazement Endo Kazutoshi himself was in to assist the head chef George Gkoregias as Endo at The Rotunda was on a break. George Gkoregias hails from Albania and brings the Mediterranean influences to this mainly Japanese menu. In summary, this was another wonderful meal and occasion in general in the warmth of the restaurant feel and hospitality. Not a cheap outing when you go en masse on a boozy evening, but the whole display and fun of trying different things in the manner in which it is done here makes the bill much less of a painful activity when that happy.
First up was a glorious otoro tartare on miso brioche bites. This full fat tuna tartare is always wonderful and is very good here, made more enjoyable with the crunch of the mini brioche biscuit and was a lovely addition to the menu not seen before. An array of fine sashimi and nigiri were then enjoyed and is served with two, different soy sauces for the corresponding sashimi.
Two new fish courses were tried on this occasion. The first was turbot with smoked emulsion, spinach, yuzu, shiso and sea beet sauce. This was fine with me as I adore sauces in general and this lovely and good-sized portion of turbot sat in a lake of the sauce which was lovely, but the dish was over within a few scoops and I was trying gain more of a hit of some kind from the emulsion in general. The second fish was Sea Bass with Shiso pesto, koji beurre blanc and pickled celery which was fine; no fireworks but completely agreeable.
The non-negotiable for the main courses was the Wagyu. As mentioned in my first review, this is the jewel in the crown and worthy of repeated detailing. Firstly the 100% Wagyu is from Miyazaki Prefecture (close to Kobe) which the Executive chef, Endo-san holds dear. The Wagyu sirloin is A4, meaning the best quality and one grade shy of the most fatty one can get (grade 5). At level 4 there is undeniably more beef flavour without tasting of pure lard which sometimes it can be, so I think this is perfect.
The side for the Wagyu is a mix of potato and herbs: Alyssum flowers are the edible flowers, and the chips are called Gobo (the strings). On top of the potato there is smoked miso, olive oil and tofu puree (the white puree) and Mitsuba mayonnaise (Japanese parsley) as the green puree). The magnificent sauce is made from white onion, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, kombu (seaweed), sugar, garlic. I can’t stress how superb this dish is and when you look at the value, £80 is a lot for a beef dish, but there are significantly worse options for the return and my mind immediately things of T-bone steaks or large cuts of fillet at either main stream steaks and grills chains which can cost upwards of £60 and can sometimes not even be cooked as requested (which I have experienced more than once). I would 100% rather spend another £20 or £10 for immaculate and stratospherically pleasing 100% Japanese Wagyu instead.
Desserts were a lovely strawberry mille-feuille and pink pepper with superb vanilla cream. The pastry was delicate again and the whole sum a complete pleasure. The other dessert tried was the twig tea crème bralée, cream cheese ice cream and caviar. This was far nicer than the previous version tried and again the texture and cooking with thin sugar coating was absolutely on the ball and very well done. The jewel in the crown however was perhaps the ‘Konyakkumeron, sansho, yuzu to kamomiru’ dessert which was Cognac-infused melon, sansho, yuzu and cramomile sorbet. The infused melons were absolutely sensational and all the surrounding components perfectly matched.
The bill came to a hefty £757 for the four of us making it £189 per person which, for a large evening meal at a 5* Hotel restaurant and plenty of wine, sakes and pre-meal canapés (which the restaurant kindly did off menu for us outside) is actually pretty good comparably. This remains one of the most enjoyable places for me to go in the whole of London.
Food Grade: 78%
This is a fabulous place. When The Old War Office was bought commercially by Raffles it was steadily transformed over the years from its former Government purpose to a glittering 5* Hotel (now named Raffles at The OWO). It has no less than 9 venues to choose from to eat and Kioku (meaning Memories in Japanese) has been headed by the renowned Endo Kazutoshi from Endo at The Rotunda (in Wood Green). It is the only rooftop venue of the Hotel and oh how they have done a good job with the overall design. Aside from the fabulous and 100% wagyu and some other quality dishes, I have rarely come across a team that have so much natural hospitality and this was evident from the word go. Detailed notes of the meal are at the below button, but I am most impressed with this and be returning for the wagyu in a heartbeat.
There are set lunch, a la carte and tasting menus available. The lovely touch here is that you really can go for some sushi, sake and coffee and just that if one wanted or the full £130 tasting menu. After some superb Otoro (full fat tuna), on this opening occasion I opted for the king crab chawanmushi served with N25 hybrid caviar and ginger, kaffir and yuzu as the starter. A middle course tried was the pasta – Chashu pork ramen ravioli which was pretty, but sadly a little bland.
The Wagyu however was the jewel in the crown and worthy of detailed run down here. Firstly the 100% Wagyu is from Miyazaki Prefecture (close to Kobe) which the Executive chef, Endo-san holds dear. The Wagyu sirloin is A4, meaning the best quality and one grade shy of the most fatty one can get (grade 5). At level 4 there is undeniably more beef flavour without tasting of pure lard which sometimes it can be, so I think this is perfect.
The side for the Wagyu is a mix of potato and herbs: Alyssum flowers are the edible flowers, and the chips are called Gobo (the strings). On top of the potato there is smoked miso, olive oil and tofu puree (the white puree) and Mitsuba mayonnaise (Japanese parsley) as the green puree). The magnificent sauce is made from white onion, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, kombu (seaweed), sugar, garlic. I can’t stress how superb this dish is and when you look at the value, £80 is a lot for a beef dish, but there are significantly worse options for the return and my mind immediately things of T-bone steaks or large cuts of fillet at either main stream steaks and grills chains which can cost upwards of £60 and can sometimes not even be cooked as requested (which I have experienced more than once). I would 100% rather spend another £20 or £10 for immaculate and stratospherically pleasing 100% Japanese Wagyu instead.
Desserts were a lovely strawberry mille-feuille and pink pepper with superb vanilla cream. The pastry was delicate and the whole sum a complete pleasure. The other dessert tried was the matcha creme brûlée. This isn’t my preference of flavour for sweet custard, but the texture and cooking with thin sugar coating was absolutely on the ball and very well done. The jewel in the crown however was perhaps the ‘Konyakkumeron, sansho, yuzu to kamomiru’ dessert which was Cognac-infused melon, sansho, yuzu and cramomile sorbet. The infused melons were absolutely sensational and all the surrounding components perfectly matched.
The bill came to £182 per person including service, but that was with a £126 bottle of NV Billecart-Salmon and some sake. As mentioned, you can come here and not spend that much, the problem is purely self-control as the place and the options are simply that lovely. I shall return for the Wagyu in an absolute heartbeat.
Food Grade: 75%
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My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
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