Unrivalled Sushi Arrives In Mayfair

Chef Shinji Kanesaka's new outpost at 45 Park Lane, his first outside Asia, promises a revelation for London diners.

- Ben Oliver

LONDON’S MOST EXPENSIVE restaurant has its least visible presence. Sushi Kanesaka lies behind a dark, unmarked wooden door in Mayfair’s 45 Park Lane hotel, the exterior of which also fails to advertise the place. Further confusing matters, the entrance leads off a private room in the hotel’s Bar 45, whose dim, louche, 1950s Italian nightlife vibe clashes with the occasional appearance of a Japanese okami-san in traditional dress as she prepares for one of the evening’s two services. At which point bar patrons must wonder what, exactly, went into their Negronis.

But a restaurant doesn’t need shouty signage to grab passersby when there are only nine seats to fill and the set menu costs £420. Chef Shinji Kanesaka holds two Michelin stars for his equally exclusive restaurant in Tokyo, and he has opened more in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. The London outpost of Sushi Kanesaka, his first outside Asia, was awarded its own Michelin star in February, just seven months after it opened. And while other London restaurants offer more expensive individual statement dishes, such as the roughly US$800 Wagyu tomahawk at Nusr-Et, Kanesaka’s 18-course set menu is the UK’s priciest, with sake pairings adding at least another US$180 or so to that bill.

Kanesaka came to London for a few days just as that Michelin star was announced, preparing his omakase menu for some of London’s other Michelin-starred chefs and a few invited guests, including