London, UK
Kouzu is a new Japanese restaurant in Belgravia, headed by chefs with backgrounds from Zuma and The Arts Club. It is located inside a listed period mansion with a beautiful chandelier suspended in the double height entry space. It's a very inviting entrance, even though there is no actual sign outside. The design and general ambiance is somewhere between a daytime and evening space, and the acoustics are good, meaning you can actually have a conversation unlike in many other London restaurants. We headed over for a weekday dinner, and got a table by the sushi bar upstairs. This is a good spot for watching the chefs prepare their pieces, including some blow torch sushi action. We started off with cocktails, from a list complied of classic favourites, all with a Japanese twist. The Pink Grapefruit Margarita with Yuzu-Shu was delicious and refreshing, and had the ideal balance of sweet and bitter. The Smoky Negroni was also good, although a little heavy on the smoke. To start we ordered the Yellowtail sashimi with truffle dressing as well as the Beef Fillet Tataki. Both of these were amazing, in texture and in their fresh flavours. I would say the beautifully presented Yellowtail is a must when visiting Kouzu. For mains, we shared one portion of the Roasted Black Cod and the Lamb Chops with Spicy Miso Paste. The lamb meat had great flavour, and the miso paste was a sweet and interesting accompaniment to it. We had heard good things about the black cod before going, so we naturally chose it as one of our mains. It was cooked to juicy perfection, served alongside a citrus and fennel salad, and we quickly devoured this plate to the best of our chop stick abilities. Another highlight of the meal was one of the simplest dishes we had, the Scallop Nigiri. The texture of the scallop was impeccable; no chewing necessary whatsoever. This little treat was so good that we had to order another portion even though we were starting to get pretty full at this point. We then moved onto some of their New Style Rolls. The Spicy Tuna roll was a refreshing classic, and the Negi Hamachi roll was super tasty and original with a crispy covering on the outside of the rice. For dessert we had a small, but incredibly rich, chocolate mousse filled with yuzu syrup pierced by candied orange. By the time we had finished our numerous delicious dishes, the restaurant was filled up with people, and we left happy and full after our first of hopefully many visits to come at Kouzu.
We were invited to review Kouzu, and the opinions expressed are our own.
