Mitsukoshi

Mitsukoshi is close to celebrating its 20th birthday, and still going strong. The restaurant began as one of the first sushi places in London, and has retained critical acclaim ever since. Health conscious types will particularly enjoy the separate sushi bar. This offers a minimum calorie lunch of fresh fish, rolled with sushi rice and seaweed, and fired with a grating of freshwater horseradish. Restaurant favourites include pungent, salty natto (fermented soy beans), alongside pure buckwheat noodles, chilled with ice, and eaten within minutes of preparation. These delicacies are teamed with silken tofu, dropped into nourishing miso soup, and finished with seaweed. The dinner menu includes a selection of tempura - prawn and vegetables dipped in light rice flour batter, and fried until light and crispy. The specialities don't end there, and Mitsukoshi also hones its specialist blades on yakitori - marinated skewered chicken cooked on a hot griddle. And if this wasn't enough culture for one evening, the green-tea ice-cream makes a deliciously different dessert.