Sake No Hana

Great venue for business and pleasure. Veg food was some of best I’ve had in a Japanese place anywhere. They could increase their Sake menu. The hamachi was normal and what you would expect. Recommend trying it!

one of my fav restaurants in mayfair to have sushi
lovely décor amazing food and good service’
always happy to go back recommend it!

Sake No Hana has been on my must visit list ever since I saw it on SilverSpoon London’s blog at the start of this year. It’s a little more out of my price range for a regular dinner but via OpenTable you can get a great 5 course Taste of Sake No Hana menu including glass of prosecco for £29 per person which is great for a special occasion.
The first course was, of course, a traditional white miso soup — shiro misohiru which oddly came with no spoon. Instead we started off trying to eat it delicately with chopsticks before giving up and slurping it down. It was much lighter than other miso soups that I’d had before and slightly less salty which was nice.
We then had a starter of prawn or vegetable tempura and while the portions were quite small they were cooked to perfection. The batter was deliciously light and crispy instead of soggy and there was a wide range of veggies used including asparagus (my fave!) which makes a nice change from the usual boring offerings at Yo! Sushi of carrot, onion and aubergine.
Next was the sushi course, I went for the fishy version while Victoria opted for the vegetarian. So many people think that sushi has to involve raw fish and that’s really not true at all. Some of my favourite kinds of sushi are the ones with no meat in it, avocado maki rolls for a start. Anyway, I digress the sushi at Sake no Hana was utter perfection and I didn’t want it to end. You could tell that it had been freshly handrolled right before serving.
For main there was a choice between salmon hoba teriyaki (Char-​grilled salmon on hoba leaf with teriyaki sauce), Yukki Dori Sumiyaki (Char-​grilled organic chicken with pickled courgette) or Agedashi tofu toban (Tofu and aubergine in dash broth). I of course chose the salmon and my dining companion went for the chicken. The presentation of these dishes was exceptional and almost too good to eat. Only almost though and what followed was some of the most perfectly cooked fish I have ever had. The little crisps that it came with gave a wonderful texture to the dish and although I was struggling I made sure I ate every last morsel.
Finally it was time for dessert and I have to say I was bitterly disappointed. When Lifestyle Lauren went just a few weeks before us the signature dessert was a delicious looking mango pannacotta. For us it was a still beautiful to look at slice of apple tart tatin but if there is one thing I really don’t like its hot fruit based desserts. Sorry!
The Taste of Sake no Hana menu is really great value for money. The food is of exceptional quality and the atmosphere is lovely too so I really recommend it even despite my dislike of the dessert ;)

Pretty pricy and posh, but also very good. I came alone and ate at the bar, which is the best seat as you can watch the chefs prepare gorgeous sushi. The waiters were friendly and good, but perhaps not 5-​star. The sushi was amazing! The black cod very nice. The aubergine and fig dish was good, but not great. The mochi ice cream was super. All in all a good experience. The venue and location are both great.

I will start by saying how excited we were to be having sushi for the first time in months. We were celebrating my husband’s birthday and had reserved a table for 10:30 after the show we were going to let out. We picked this place because it was the closest higher-​end sushi restaurant near the London Palladium, and has such high reviews on TripAdvisor. We arrived at 10:20 and were ushered into the bar to wait for our table to come available. After enjoying our overly priced drinks (£29 for a cocktail, and 12 year Japanese whiskey) no one had come back to show us to our table. After 30 minutes of waiting my husband checked in with the hostess and was told they were unaware we had arrived and had given away our table. Despite the fact that there were 4 individuals at the desk when we checked in for our booking, and one of them escorted us to the bar herself, and then told the bartender exactly which table number we would be seated at. We were then told it’d be just a bit longer until they could seat us, so we waited another 20 minutes in addition to the initial 30 we had spent at the bar. At 11:10 we still had not been seated so we paid our bar tab and let them know we would be taking our business elsewhere. No apologies, no offers to right the situation. I regret paying our bar tab, we should have just walked out. I will never return to this restaurant. It is grossly overpriced and the service is beyond terrible.

We did the 35 quid deal on Book-​a-​table. I think Allen Yao forgot what flavor is when it comes to his mains at Sake No Hana. Sushi is was great but Salmon Teryaki was dry and Chicken had no flavor. I wouldn’t come back again.

Visited Sake no Hana with a big group, which may explain I didn’t find the experience all that great.
Food wise I didn’t get to pick — various selections were brought out — so tried the thinly sliced sea bass (good), sesame fried aubergine and fig (average), sesame spinach with casava chips, salmon, duck and I cannot recall the other dishes. I didn’t find any of the dishes I tried impressive and the service was quite slow (again it was a big group, but you would expect that they would be better prepared to handle it). All in all I wouldn’t go again and as other reviewers said, sister restaurant Yauatcha is much better.

This was my first visit to one of the Hakkasan restaurants and on this basis I’d definitely give it another go. Overall the food was good, the tasting menu reasonable priced and the service was fantastic. Having to get the lift down to the basement for a trip to the toilet was a bit weird but not odd enough to be too much of a distraction.
Food wise could be slightly hit and miss. The miso soup was pretty average (I’ve never found one that was any more than this to be honest) but the salmon and tuna sushi was fantastic and the wasabi had enough of a kick to make sure you are careful with the quantity. For mains the salmon teriyaki was far superior to the miso chicken (probably the worst thing I tasted) and the dessert was incredibly strange. I went for a sesame panna cotta with mango sorbet. On it’s own the panna cotta was not pleasant at all but when you combined everything on the spoon it just worked. It’s that kind of dish that makes me want to go back.

Having a dearth of experience in London Japanese cuisine, I am at a loss on how to review this venue according to local examples. Using New York for comparison is unlikely fair — so stepping it down a notch or two, I’ll use equivalent venues in Chicago might be more appropriate. If I were to do that, I’d give it 3 stars, as above. And what does that mean?
Quality is fairly good, and the vibe is very posh. Alcohol selection contains some high end, widely available sakes, with the majority of the list actually wine/​champagnes rather than more traditional pairings.
Pricing is scaled to London High Street, which is appropriate given that that is where it is located– but leaves the N. American diner a bit put out given that the price is higher than what is used to for equivalent fair, even in NYC.
Service was passable but without the attention to detail one might expect at equivalently priced pure-​Japanese service.
Overall, passable and mediocre.
(I do love clay pot rice — this is available here — even with black truffles; but it was uninspiring, even with the truffles… more’s the pity)

My husband, my 2 10-​year old boys and I rolled in on a Thursday at 5:30 pm, in t– shirts, hot and sweaty from walking around St. James Park. When I saw how nice it was, I thought they would throw us out. They could not have been any nicer! They found us seats at the sushi bar; the sushi was excellent, and the staff was incredibly gracious. Thank you for a wonderful last meal in London!

Amazing food, amazing atmosphere. You couldn’t ask for more authentic sushi if you took a plane ride to Japan, and if you go for the Sakura menu then you’ll actually feel like you’re there too! The cherry blossoms make it even more of a magical experience. I went here with a friend in the afternoon and we were soon discussing who else we’d like to bring — in-​laws, partners, parents — they would all love this place. And the quality of the sushi was just superb. I recommend getting the set Sakura meal — you won’t be disappointed.

Had the pleasure of lunch at this establishment (4 course) in the past week. Food was well portioned and full of flavour. Thoroughly recommend.

Only been here once, we came as part of a menu deal for a reduced bill on what we ordered but the day we came the deal wasn’t valid which meant we couldn’t order what we intended but the meal we did order was succulent and delicious, the table service was great and the staff were polite and helpful, complimentary water upon seating, a bit expensive but it’s a posh restaurant in London so it would be!

Posh place, service was just ok and food average for the price.
We booked for 6:30pm and was greeted first thing by the host that we need to finish & return the table by 9pm (not the 1^st thing you wanna hear when u arrive!)
Food was ok, average taste for its price. (We had the set menu for 2 pax) I had a good non-​alcoholic cocktail, try the Shi-​shi cooler if you’re a lychee fan.

The décor and the atmosphere can really distort ones taste buds especially when the dishes are so elegantly presented as well.
Sake No Hana was a bit like that. I was left in awe the whole time I was there stunned by the beautiful venue, Green Park prestigious location, the live sushi bar but mostly by the temporarily Sakura pop up bar where the whole of downstairs was decorated artfully with artificial cherry blossoms.
For the first day opening of the Sakura bar they even invited two Japanese drummers to play a traditional opening ceremony which was a stunning performance, greatly synchronised playing with great attention to detail. For that alone I would give it 5 star. They also ended generously with the breaking of the sake barrel where everyone present was offered a cup of sake and although very diluted it was very a traditional act and much appreciated.
Better were the special cocktails on offered which included the Hanami Bellini Cocktail and Sakuratini cocktail. I did slightly preferred the latter for it’s sweeter taste although both had a good depth and lovely notes of flavour.
Without this event though I doubt our lunch experience would have been that spectacular. For it’s location food pricing was soaring high but sadly the quality of the food did not match it. It seems that more attention was placed on the presentation rather than the cooking and flavours.
We decided to start with the special menu offered and went for the special Sakura Crystal Double Layer Bento Box to share. It came with a miso soup starter which was definitely a higher quality than your usual fast food miso soup– more smoother with a nice rounded flavour and not just salty.
The box also contained seven-​spice chicken kuwayaki which was overcooked especially around the edges which meant it lost most of it’s tenderness and became dry and dense. The flavour was hardly original bur rather like any yakitori flavouring, I definitely couldn’t remember tasting the seven spices in there. I much preferred the fresh crunches of the nicely marinated broccoli with sesame dressing. It was paired with deep fried lotus which could have been anything deep fried as you could no longer taste the lotus.
The second layer comprised of the sushi which was more successful. I very much enjoyed the quality of the salmon sashimi, fresh, rich and clean cut. As much as I enjoyed the texture of the rolls and the quality of fillings (salmon avocado, spicy tuna and California rolls, and chu-​toro) the rice was not sticky enough and was falling apart. I do expect a much higher quality for the price of £28.
Barely filling our stomachs we went for the Taste of Sake No hana set menu and chose the red miso soup to start which came with yam croquettes. These were too soften for my liking and lost all it’s yam taste it was barely recognisable. We both preferred the white miso as this one lacked the smoothness and creaminess. Still it was enjoyable and a different miso tasting.
For mains we chose the salmon teriyaki which which could have been better if it was cooked slightly less so it was still pink inside. Being cooked slightly more than it had to meant it lost it’s buttery texture although still nice as it was. But the problem was there was no originality in this dish either and something I could have ordered at another Japanese restaurant for half the price. I do believe most of what we paid for was the way it was presented, on a hoba leaf above a little charcoal stove.
I’m glad on the side we also ordered the sesame fried aubergine and fig which actually was one of the highlight dishes of the meal. This is where creativity sparked in terms of flavour and actually worked. I very much enjoyed the sweetness of the figs against the fried aubergine smothered nicely in a lovely rich, savoury, nutty flavoured sesame paste. It was all nicely balanced nicely with a light salad on top too. Delightful.
We finished on desssert. The Matcha pannacotta with kumquat yuzu and pistachio was very zingy and creamy although I felt there was not enough sweetness to balance it. It was one of those dishes that was great to look at but taste didn’t match.
Luckily we ended on another joy which were the skilfully crafted vanilla macaroons with cherry blossom tea ganache. They were slightly more crunchy on the outside but still falling into a light creamy filling. A very nice finish to the meal.
Although it was a very enjoyable meal most of it was due to the surrounding factors of the restaurant itself rather than it’s food. We did manage to find some great dishes in there but sadly not enough to recommend or return any time soon on an ordinary day.
However we will be more than happy to return yearly for its celebration of the Sakura season just for an insight of the traditional Japanese culture. I would love to see the drum performance again as words cannot describe the energy and care that went into it. A big well done for getting that organised.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Sake No Hana, but I went back last weekend to their bar, where they were celebrating the Japanese cherry blossom season by decking out their entire bar with pink cherry blossoms. Quite a sight!
There was also a special sakura season menu, with cherry blossoms and cherries featuring in drinks and desserts, as well as a double layer bento box for lunch.
If you go, do see if they have a double layer bento box, as it was quite a sight and even tastier to eat! One layer of scrumptious sushi and sashimi, and the other with the two hot courses.
Desserts were amazing, although slightly too rich for my tastes but if you like chocolate you would definitely enjoy. Cocktails were well crafted, and service was excellent.
The best thing though about Sake No Hana is that while it is just moments away from the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly, it was like an oasis of tranquility, made even more so by the pop-​up sakura garden for these few weeks.

Discussing and overpriced… The service is ok and at least the place is beautiful!
You really don’t want to go to this place!
(And we had to wait 25 minutes to get our table!)

My partner and I visited for lunch, and we enjoyed the innovative Japanese cuisine very much.
Their wine list was nicely put together. Service was professional, yet, still friendly. Visiting during the day was a great way to see Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s inspiring space in natural light. One can make a reservation using Bookatable, or, Square Meal, and get instant confirmation.
Would I go back? Yes.

With having eaten great food at sister restaurants HKK and Ayuatcha, I have become a bit of a fan of Alan Yau. Sake No Hana did not disappoint either and there is a great Unilocal check-​in offer to get you into the mood for food! 29£ for a four course menu and a glass of sparkling.
The restaurant is absolutely beautiful! Decorated in a subtle Japanese style, with light flooding in from the lengthy windows, there is a warm dignity to the place. It is worth visiting just for the ambiance. We arrived just before dusk, so we got to see the space both bathing in daylight and candlelit dark. Someone had really done their job well with thinking of the look of this place.
About the food: We happily went for the set offer menu called «Taste of Sake No Hana». It sounds a bit like there’s not that much food, but boy was I stuffed after all four courses. We had around two/​three options to choose from for every course. Only the dessert was «un-​choosable» and a surprise, only described as the «dessert of the day». We started off with a white Miso soup, with mushrooms. The hot soup was an excellent first course, heating us up after stumbling in from the freezing March weather. And the taste was good too =)! We continued with some nice tender Chicken Sukiyaki with spring onion and mushrooms and my sister, who is mainly a vegetarian (except for eating seafood) tried out the prawn and vegetable tempura. All of us were happy with our dishes. The third dish was a set of Futomaki and Gomoku Inari sushi. The maki-​rolls were huge, and who ever complained about there being too much rice (in an earlier Unilocal review) had clearly gotten the message trough. There was only a thin belt of rice surrounding the fresh mix of fish and vegetables. The Gomoku Inari sushis were «cakes» of rice” covered with tofu. Boy where they yummy, very full in taste! The Dessert of the day looked familiar, it was a beautiful raspberry-​covered chocolate cake. I remember drooling after it at Ayuatchas dessert counter. It came with some fresh lychee ice cream, that did not impress as a companion to the full chocolate notes, but was delicious on its own. It just made me wonder slightly if they had sent all the leftover cakes from Ayuatcha to be served as dessert at this place. It was just a thought, the cake was anyway very good.
About the drinks: Our menu came with a nice glass of sparkling to start with. It was an a-​ok Prosecco. I am more of a cava girl (and constantly disappointed at the dominance of Prosecco here in the UK), so I was not that impressed. But hey, it was inclusive in the menu, no Finn will turn down alcohol. We also tried a few drinks of the cocktail menu. I had a delicious gin-​based drink with ginger juice, grapefruit, vanilla and chili served in a pretty, tall martini glass. It was excellent! Not easy on the chili, but that’s how I like it. I could definitely imagine coming to the bar just for a few of these drinks. There was a lot on the menu to choose from.
About the service: There was a lot of staff for an early Monday dinner. Perhaps as it was Easter. We received very friendly service from all the staff. The manager (whom I recognised from being a regular at Ayuatcha) came also to check on everything being ok. Our waiter fumbled a bit with the food, but it did not bother us as he apologised and cleaned up quickly. There were even a bit too many apologies during the evening for the small mistake =).

Sake No Hana is part of the growing Hakkasan empire (Yauatcha, Hakkasan, Naamyaa Café & HKK and other laces — all created by Alan Yau, also the man behind Wagamama and Busaba Eathai) and Sake No Hana is as many of the other places nice and sleek in its design. There is a small bar by the entrance, looked nice so will visit some time, but we were going to the restaurant and to get there one has to take a small escalator up. There were huge number of staff everywhere and I think 8 or 9 people greeted us before we had walked to our seats. The dining room is really nice, the tables are in light wood, the ceiling is high and we were coming in as the sun was setting so we first got to see it being very light and bright and when the sun set the lighting was adjusted to create a really nice atmosphere.
We were having the set 4 course menu with a glass of sparkling for £29 so was a bit hesitant what to expect, especially after going for a similar set meal at Benares a few weeks earlier which was a real disappointment. Here it did start of well though with attentive service and the glass of sparkling was served quickly. One in our group wanted to exchange it for something non-​alocholic and that was no problem so good service.
The menu as such consisted of a soup (choice of two different), a main (choice of four different), sushi (choice of two different selections) and the dessert of the day. I started of with the white miso soup with mushrooms. It was a delightfully light flavor with plenty of mushrooms so a very good start. It was followed by a chicken sukiyaki that was really good, a good mix of juicy chicken, great sauce, onion, spring onions, mushroom and tofu. I then went for the vegetarian sushi option and it was a huge dish (same went for the regular sushi) so I was getting very stuffed already. Tasted good, a nice spiciness to it as well. The dessert of the day was a raspberry creation filled with chocolate and served with lychee ice cream. I could recognize the style from the desserts at Yauatcha and the it was really great in taste here as well. This was also surprisingly big so we were rather stuffed. Did also try some cocktails, the ones we tried were very good so may actually drop in just for a drink in the future as the location is good and I liked the ambiance of the place.
Service was in a sense very good, we had people there the instant we wanted it and there were a few things messed up but they quickly managed to fix things so cannot really fault them. It did however seem like the service was a bit anxious, when something went wrong five people apologized for it and the I think we were asked around 10 times if everything was ok so I think they would benefit from a relaxing a bit more. Still did like the place and would be happy to return both for food and cocktails.