London - Zuma
Winter 2008/2009
Frank's view 
'Good food - shame about the booking nonsense'
I’d called at 1.15pm from the Fifth Floor of Harvey Nics, across the road, to ask for a 2pm table for two. The £19, ‘3 courses for the price of 2 Market Menu’ at HN didn’t appeal as all they were doing was offering a freebie pud, and my sweet tooth wasn’t craving.
“We don’t have a free table but you can sit at the sushi bar,’ said the unobliging voice at the other end.
Zuma‘s kitchen closes at 2.15pm and so I found it incomprehensible that not one table would be free on a January Wednesday lunchtime just before shutdown.
We decided to take our chances.
Pushing back the solid wood door of Zuma, we were greeted by 3 blondes in red and 2 men in black, all huddled behind the reception desk.
“Do you have a table for two” I enquired, giving no indication of my request, a few minutes earlier. A quick inspection of the reservations sheet was followed by:
“Yes.”
Bemused, we followed our slender escort to a prime table for four.
Zuma offers several seating options and our position provided a perfect view of all.
The Sushi Bar and Robata Grill, where you can walk in off the street and sit by the chefs, had a scattering of loners. The Tosho Table, by the loos, was the exclusive domain of one couple, and we were certainly not allocated the only empty table in the main dining room.
Swarms of staff buzzed all around. Dark brown and black seemed to be the only dress criteria as a hotchpotch of attire made it difficult to disentangle servers from lavatory searchers. The ratio of staff to paying customer at Zuma must rival the most exclusive Barrier Reef Islands resorts.
As restaurants brace themselves to be credit crunched you might wonder where all the homeless staff end up.
The answer is careers@zumarestaurant.com.
The food was very good (with the exception of the seaweed salad), and not unfairly priced.
The California Maki Rolls (6 pieces) at £7.80, was as enjoyable as any, anywhere.
We ordered from the ‘Zuma Dishes’ section of the menu and were not disappointed.
‘Karei no Karaage,’ crispy fried lemon sole with spicy ponzu sauce, was fantastic.
The ‘moromi miso marinated baby spring chicken’ was also excellent.
Zuma cuisine is not as subtle as Nobu but it is, nevertheless, among the best in London. It’s just a pity that securing a table is such a nonsense.
Zuma
5 Raphael Street
Knightsbridge
London SW7
020 7584 1010
http://www.zumarestaurant.com/
“We don’t have a free table but you can sit at the sushi bar,’ said the unobliging voice at the other end.
Zuma‘s kitchen closes at 2.15pm and so I found it incomprehensible that not one table would be free on a January Wednesday lunchtime just before shutdown.
We decided to take our chances.
Pushing back the solid wood door of Zuma, we were greeted by 3 blondes in red and 2 men in black, all huddled behind the reception desk.
“Do you have a table for two” I enquired, giving no indication of my request, a few minutes earlier. A quick inspection of the reservations sheet was followed by:
“Yes.”
Bemused, we followed our slender escort to a prime table for four.
Zuma offers several seating options and our position provided a perfect view of all.
The Sushi Bar and Robata Grill, where you can walk in off the street and sit by the chefs, had a scattering of loners. The Tosho Table, by the loos, was the exclusive domain of one couple, and we were certainly not allocated the only empty table in the main dining room.
Swarms of staff buzzed all around. Dark brown and black seemed to be the only dress criteria as a hotchpotch of attire made it difficult to disentangle servers from lavatory searchers. The ratio of staff to paying customer at Zuma must rival the most exclusive Barrier Reef Islands resorts.
As restaurants brace themselves to be credit crunched you might wonder where all the homeless staff end up.
The answer is careers@zumarestaurant.com.
The food was very good (with the exception of the seaweed salad), and not unfairly priced.
The California Maki Rolls (6 pieces) at £7.80, was as enjoyable as any, anywhere.
We ordered from the ‘Zuma Dishes’ section of the menu and were not disappointed.
‘Karei no Karaage,’ crispy fried lemon sole with spicy ponzu sauce, was fantastic.
The ‘moromi miso marinated baby spring chicken’ was also excellent.
Zuma cuisine is not as subtle as Nobu but it is, nevertheless, among the best in London. It’s just a pity that securing a table is such a nonsense.
Zuma
5 Raphael Street
Knightsbridge
London SW7
020 7584 1010
http://www.zumarestaurant.com/
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
