Murakami - Removed April 2018 Permanently Closed - Covent Garden, London

Londoners have a longstanding love affair with Japanese cuisine. You'll find it in all corners of the capital, from guilty pleasure tonkotsu ramen shops in Hackney to Mayair's kaiseki palaces to fin-to-tail experimental dining in South Ken. However, there's always room for one more, and the recently launched St Martin's Lane restaurant Murakami occupies an as-of-yet untapped niche between Nobu and your local sushi joint.   

Located about half way up St Martin's Lane in between Covent Garden Market and Leicester Square, Murakami is a welcome enclave from the press of tourists, maybe just allow yourself an extra five minutes to account for some of the more bovine pedestrians on the pavements! The restaurant is divided into a more informal area in the front, with a long sushi bar and robata grill running the length of the room, and a slicker dining section in the back. Here you'll find a striking living wall amongst the many sharp angles and natural woods that comprise Murakami's design scheme.

The cocktail menu comes compliments of Brixton's Shrub & Shutter, and they did an astute job keying in on eastern influences in western style drinks; the Wind in the Willows Manhattan, garnished with a burnt cinnamon stick, being case in point. This coupled well with the small nibbles we commenced our meal with: edamame, seaweed salad and popcorn tempura prawns. The latter was served with a chilli lime mayo with each sweet little morsel of shellfish encased in a golden carapace of batter.

There's an abundance of dishes to choose from, ranging from soup to robatayaki skewers to grilled fish and meat, however we were craving sushi and opted for the Gold Set. This extensive array of raw fish included a number of delicious rolls: the best of which were the salmon roll with cream cheese, the spicy salmon roll with tuna shavings and the green dragon roll. They had been prepared with a minimal amount of rice, allowing the flavours of the ingredients to come through more clearly whilst catering to the carbohydrate conscious.

We were smitten, however the star of the show was the gunkan. Rice wrapped in nori was stacked high with flavourful toppings including spicy tuna; scallop tobiko and kewpie mayo; and octopus with spring onion. Anyone looking to enjoy top-class sushi in the West End without emptying their current account will be well served at Murakami.