Kiru - Removed from website August 2021 (closed) - Chelsea, London

Kiru opened quietly in 2016 but has sparked a slow, sustaining burn with lots of fanfare from those in the know. Having heard good things, we headed down to Elystan Street on the beautiful and bucolic Chelsea Green, for an evening of Japanese cuisine done just right. During a Wednesday night visit, the chic dining room was thronged by a well-heeled Royal Borough set tucking into sushi and sashimi within Kiru's sleek environs. 

Startlingly white mid-century modern chairs contrast with the dark wooden floors and tables, with stark monochrome white walls adorned by striking murals from contemporary artist HUSH. There's a full service cocktail bar in the restaurant knocking out cocktails that play well with Asian flavours. Executive chef Taiji Maruyama comes from three generations of sushi itamaes, with nine years of experience working at Nobu.  To experience the full range of his talents, we recommend opting for the Creation tasting menu, which showcases them beautifully for £75, and wine pairings bolted on for an additional £25.

Our meal kicked off with an array of small snackish bites, including chilli garlic edamame, crispy seaweed with an intense umami salsa, and yellowtail with koji quinoa, with were all quite fresh on the palate. These were followed by a couple of heartier, more unctuous dishes. Namely a wagyu haramaku (the beef vibrantly seamed with fat and wrapped up Japanese spring roll style) and a mixed mushroom salad given a deeper earthiness from a shot of truffle.   

Things kicked up a gear with the sushi course, with a variety of exciting flavour combinations like toro with truffle miso, salmon with apple salsa, seabass with yuzu kosho mayo, eel foie gras and the house style salmon avocado roll. More substantially, a three-day Koji-cured Chilean seabass with spicy tosazu would give the best black cod a run for the money, while a generous tranche of wagyu beef with three types of dipping sauce was just the kind of special treat you'd want to round off your evening. We barely had room for Hashira - an orange sponge cake served with black sesame ice cream. 

Truth be told, Kiru was one of the tastiest Japanese meals we've had in recent memory, and we're very happy to add it as an Innerplace restaurant.