Two new restaurants have helped London secure its status as one of the culinary capitals of the world. The Araki and Umu are now amongst the top London Michelin-rated restaurants.
As you might have gathered from the name, London’s newest Michelin superstars both serve Japanese cuisine. Located in the posh Mayfair area, The Araki is the incredibly creation of the talented Chef Mitsuhiro Araki. The highly ranked restaurant only features one menu. Of course, a sushi omakase chef’s set menu. This will run you around $465 per person. The steep price might make you think that you can somewhat customize your one-menu option. Wrong. Don’t bother asking for tempura, teriyaki or even any dietary requirements. The Araki only does one thing, and they do it extremely well. Simplicity seems to be a major theme in this small spot. It only seats nine diners at a time, in two seatings for dinner. The quality, control and pureness is truly the beauty of this experience.
Joining The Araki as the hottest new eatery on the scene is Umu. The $180 menu may seem modest in comparison, but is still as rich in flavor. Umu has a kaiseki menu, which means a set menu of select food served on an individual tray. The focus of this tranquil eatery is to move traditional Japanese cuisine into the modern age. It is also uniquely the only restaurant in the UK influenced by Kyoto.
Michelin may have only given out two two-star ratings, but they certainly gave out a handful of one-stars. Fifteen other establishments in the UK and Ireland received single stars from the guide.
Editor of the guide, Rebecca Burr said, “It’s encouraging that some talented young chefs are coming through. They have confidence in their own style of cooking. It’s a change from the 1990s, when things were more formulaic. These guys are setting out on their own.”
Here is a full list of the 2016 Michelin guide to London. Just incase you weren’t sure, three stars mean exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey; two are for excellent cooking, worth a detour; one denotes a very good restaurant in its category.
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