Yamato

Refined sushi and tempura from the team behind Kanpai, with Japanese wagyu beef at the heart of the menu.

The 2018/19 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £7.95 (+p&p).

This new kid on the sushi block seems set to outshine the others. Sister restaurant to the ever popular Kanpai (and replacement to the equally well-beloved Sushiya), Yamato's décor is traditional Japanese zen – simple and serene with opulent undertones, dark slate walls and wood panelling, intimate booths and subtly placed orchids. The food is so beautifully presented on gilt dishes, coloured glass plates and the prettiest china bowls, with a tiny yellow pansy here and a sliver of white truffle there, that you almost don’t care what it tastes like. But the first mouthful will make your senses burst into song (don't actually sing though, the ambience is quite refined). The fatty tuna belly is sublimely subtle and all that cow-massaging pays off in the grilled Wagyu beef nigiri: it truly does melt away in your mouth. All the sushi greats are represented as well as a few adventures, such as uni gunkan (sea urchin) and snow crab hand roll. Classic dishes like teppan teryaki salmon, takoyaki (octopus fish cake) and gyoza are perfectly cooked and the grilled aubergine in miso is so sweet and melty it’s almost a pudding. Sip some sparkling sake in accompaniment to achieve nirvana.