Reaching for the Stars #5 | Sake no Hana (Green Park, London) | No star

Sake no Hana (lit. Flower of Sake) is a high-end restaurant situated in Green Park, central London. Opened in 2007 by Alan Yau (restauranteur behind Hakkasan Group), the restaurant labels itself to be a modern authentic Japanese restaurant.

The restaurant menu is what you would typically find in a Japanese restaurant in the west – A mix of grills, tempura and sushi with a great emphasis put on the last. A good portion of the menu are genuinely Japanese, incorporating distinctive features from various Japanese regions. As an example, one of the dishes features kanzuri (fermented chilli), a Niigata speciality. However, the sushi roll section went a bit out of control (Think cod tempura maki, unagi avocado maki) and we have decided against ordering them. Instead, we focused our orders on grilled dishes and sushi, which are allegedly highly prized. Wine and sake list is extensive, and we ordered a bottle of British Bacchus, which came with an acceptable mark-up of 3.2x.

Two appetizers were ordered. The Kogashi Tako (sous-vide octopus with sansho glaze) which was cooked under low heat for over three hours was tender and well-seasoned. The sauce was great – pronounced but mild with a hint of beurre noissete. However, it was a tad disappointing as I expected a powerful punch like what was served at The Clove Club (See #2). Ika Kuro Shichimi (Deep fried squid with a special blend of spicy powder from Kyoto) was interesting, but slightly chewy due to overcooking.

The two grilled dishes were both fantastic. The A5 grade wagyu, very possibly of Jyoshu breed came from Gunma Prefecture and was beautifully grilled on charcoal and reasonably priced at £92. Apparently many people ignore the grilled shiitake and padron pepper served on the side but trust me, don’t. Chilean sea bass was cooked with champagne yuzu miso sauce. The sauce was slightly sweet, enhanced by fragrant yuzu with a hint of earthiness given by fermented soybeans. It was pretty much like a saikyoyaki with citrus.

I just wish that the same standard was seen on sushi. Sushi rice was under-seasoned and hardened. Fish were badly sliced and too late for their prime. Some even dried out a bit. O-toro obviously looked more like chu-toro of mediocre quality. Sushi was the single point of failure of the night but unfortunately, we ordered quite a bit of them.

As with all other Hakkasan Group restaurants, desserts here were unreasonably strong and there’s no excuse for anyone to miss them - I had the Pear and Whisky Toro.

It is unfortunate that the sushi was very weak considering that they even have a sushi bar set up. However, the rest of the meal was surprisingly enjoyable and the meticulous service deserves a special round of applause. There is no doubt that this restaurant is more like a theatre for Gaijin, but this is a decent one.

★★★☆☆ – Grills and desserts. You heard me.