Cherries are one of my favourite fruits. As a child I loved picking the ripe, deep-red pearls from my grandparents’ garden as I continued to practice handstands on the same patch of fading green grass.
So when hearing of the new menu at Sake no Hana (part of the Hakkasan group) to celebrate the Japanese cherry blossom season, I was very much looking forward to the experience.
The evening promised a meal under sweet-smelling cherry blossom trees and behind the somewhat ordinary exterior, we were seated in the bar area, which was alight with blossoming pink flowers.
We would be dining from the new Sakura Gozen menu (£32) and to get our evening started, we sipped on the violet risshun two-part cocktail, with its fruity and sour blend that got the juices ready for the main.
It consisted of a carafe with jinzu gin, green chartreuse, grapefruit juice, shiso, burlesque bitters and in a miniature jug which accompanied the gin, there was belsazar rose vermouth, maraschino cherry, cranberry and lemon juice.
Oliver, the charismatic bar manager advised us to start with the jinzu gin before adding the vermouth and the combination stirred both a sweet and sour taste on the palette.
The white miso soup was steaming hot with slithers of spongy tofu and specks of spring onion. It was wholesome, with a hint of garlic and it was a pleasant starter to the evening.
Next, our waitress, Manon bought over the sesame spinach with cassava chips. The spinach was wonderfully slimy and the nutty sprinkle of sesame seeds contrasted with the texture of the wood flavours of the crispy cassava chips.
As it made its way to our table, I couldn’t help but wait in anticipation. The Sakura crystal box was simply beautiful. It consisted of kuro kampachi, salmon, seabream sashimi otoro, chu toro, akami nigiri, spicy tuna, salmon avocado and California maki.
The translation – succulent strips of prime, fresh fish encasing mouth-size nodules of rice, accompanied with strips of ginger and a green ball of hot wasabi.
The raw salmon and sea bream slithered on the tongue and both mine, and my fiancé’s favourite was the spicy tuna slice.
We thought the evening was over, until our waitress bought over the baked Sakura cotton cheesecake with fresh cherries, cream cheese and cherry sorbet (£8).
Just like the crystal box, the cheesecake was alluring with specks of sweet cherries, slices of crunchy pavlova and it was accompanied by the tangy cold taste of the cherry sorbet.
It cleansed the palette while the cherry blossom and vanilla macarons, with cherry blossom tea ganache, (£1.80 each or 5 for £8) was the perfect ending to a fine dining experience in the heart of Mayfair as each bite oozed a rich chocolate flavour in the mouth.
At the end of our meal, Oliver showed us around the Grade II listed restaurant just upstairs which boasts a £6 million renovation project.
Diners enter via a single escalator and as it’s considered bad luck to go back on yourself, the exit is via an escalator which loops around the other end of the restaurant.
I was impressed by the sheer number of customers on a Friday night and by the authentic Japanese decoration that included walls lined with bamboos.
The bar area where we dined was quieter and more intimate than the restaurant and we enjoyed a very fine meal in Mayfair (it’s also very reasonably priced), just around the corner from The Ritz.
