Handmade soba, Contemporary Sushi, Wagyu Yakitori at Aqua Kyoto’s Endless Champagne Brunch
The champagne flutes are topped up as soon as we are seated for brunch. Every place is set with their specially commissioned ceramic tipped chopsticks. You will find this theme throughout the meal at Aqua Kyoto, where every detail is innovative and original.
If you are looking for a place that is special in Central London, book yourself in for the weekend brunch at Aqua Kyoto. You will have the most unusual Japanese meal with a cchoice of bottomless fizz. (Book through this link to get a free meal when you bring 3 friends along). for Chef Paul Greening and his team have put together a menu that is quite sensational. On the surface, the menu seems conventional, with dishes that you would recognise like tempura, sushi and yaki soba, but the food is anything but.
Each dish was so well thought out, using top quality sourced produce, with such well-balanced flavours that every bite was a delight. If you love champagne, the endless Veuve Clicquot champagne option is a no brainer, together with the great food offering, it is a great deal.
If you are a bit of a food geek like me, you would find another layer of appreciation for the food here at Aqua Kyoto. Scroll down to read about the kinds innovations and food experiments that Paul and his team get up to at Aqua.
The weekend brunch menu comprises of 8 courses with a choice of bottoms less prosecco or champagne.
Aqua Kyoto weekend brunch menu
Edamame with sea salt or & garlic
Miso Shiru
white miso soup with tofu & wakame
Sushi & Sashimi
Ebi matafa Yasai Tempura
prawn or vegetable tempura, unami,
kimchee & garlic sauce
Yaki soba
Yaki soba onion teriyaki, winter vegetables,
ohba leaf
Yakitori
Robata chicken spring onion yakitori
Omakase yasai kushi yaki
Omakase vegetable yakitori
Wagyu kushi yaki
Wagyu beef yakitori
Wafu burure
Omakase Japanese brulée
with bottomless bubbles or Bellini’s
or Bottomless Veuve Clicquot Champagne
This is not your average Miso soup. It is made with 3 different white miso and a special dashi stock base which gives it an extra level of flavour.
The light and crispy prawn and vegetable tempura is served with a warm bowl of dipping sauce made with a special katsuboshi dashi.
Sushi and sashimi is served on massive platters, with a selection of air-flown and local fish and seafood.
The dish of the day for me was this bowl of homemade matcha soba noodles. Served with 3 types of Japanese Mushrooms, wakame, pickled vegetables, edamame and some rice crisps for texture. The sauce is made with premium soy sauce and mirin. The combination of textures and umami flavoured sauce is just a delight. Unfortunately, this dish is only on the brunch menu but we suggested that they offer it ala cart. It could this every day. It is so good!!
To end the meal, we have some highly seasoned yakitori skewers of chicken, very meaty shitake mushrooms and wagyu beef. I love their sauce they used for these skewers but on the mushrooms, it made them quite outstanding. I would use this sauce on all sorts of vegetables and could make me add more vegetables to my diet.
Innovation and food geekery at Aqua Kyoto
Paul Greening studied Micro Biology before embarking on a career in food. His kitchen at Aqua is also a lab where they experiment with new ingredients and create new components for their dishes. They seem to be constanly testing and experimenting with new ingredients and cooking processes.
Of the things they make at the restaurant is the Soba noodles, made with liquid that has carefully calibrated alkali qualities.
They lacto-ferment a lot of different vegetables like wild garlic. They make their own kimchi which goes into various dishes and the juice is used in some sauces. Nothing is wasted.
Grasshoppers are not just for frying but you can roast them and make soy sauce too.
Miso was originally made with acorns not soya beans and they have made their own acorn miso and acorn tofu too. These are not found in the regular dishes on their menu though.
They invented this new yellow skin for wrapping sushi. It has the texture of gelatine but is made from some proprietary recipe. This one was mango flavour and used to make some make rolls.
All the fish is caught the Ikejimi way and some are air flown from Japan like that.
This Fuji Apple dessert has been reworked. The blown apple shell is blown with Isomalt not sugar. It’s filled with a mixture of apple mousse and apple with nitrous oxide. On the plate you have caramelised apples, meringue and a tart sorbet. It makes a stunning end to a meal and so instragrammable. This is not on the brunch menu but on the ala carte to order.
Aqua Kyoto is hidden away just a few steps from Oxford Circus. If you are shopping in town or going off to the theatre in the West End, this would be a great place to stop for a bite and a stylish cocktail. I highly recommend the Weekend Brunch as it’s not only great value but such superb food.
Aqua Kyoto Special Offer
The Aqua Kyoto Brunch Menu is available every weekend, with a choice of bottomless prosecco (£49) or bottomless champagne (£65). Here is a special deal when you book through this link , you will get a complimentary brunch for you when they bring 3 or more friends along for brunch. This offer is only valid until 28 May 2017.
Aqua Kyoto (entrance is on Argyll Street, opposite the Palladium)
240 Regent St,
Soho,
London W1B 3BR
Tel 020 7478 0540
EatCookExplore was a guest of Aqua Kyoto.
