Zuma

Even early on a Tuesday evening Zuma is humming with activity, with every table taken, every seat at the bar occupied and a throng of suspiciously good-looking people having a drink; it is almost as if you have strayed into an episode of “The OC", where all the girls are blond and all the men clearly work out at the gym every day. In a place as trendy as this, one might suspect the food will be a let-down, but it is not. Indeed if anything the food to me seems to be improving slightly with each visit.

Tonight we had “dynamite spider roll” (£10.80), essentially a soft shell crab sushi roll with a roll of cucumber, chilli mayonnaise and wasabi tobiko sauce. The soft shell crab was very nicely cooked, avoiding the greasiness that can sometimes happen, while the room temperature rice had excellent texture (6/10). Spicy tuna roll (£7.30) was a little less good, made with chilli miso and yuzo tobiko which for me rather dominated the tuna (4/10). Prawn tempura (£11.80) had a light batter and tender prawns (5/10). Grilled red piquant red miso quail (£13.80) was served on skewers and featured tender quail with lively spicing (6/10). A salad of seared tuna with chilli daikon and ponzu sauce (£11.30) for me was a little over acidic (3/10).

Salmon (£13.80) was served as a large, very carefully cooked fillet with teriyaki sauce and sliced pickled cucumber (5/10). Asparagus with wafu sauce (a mix of soy, sesame oil and garlic with a little mustard) and sesame was an example to others in how to cook asparagus perfectly (6/10).

Pork skewer with yuzu mustard miso (£5.30) was the star of the evening, perfectly cooked pork belly with a beautifully judged dipping sauce with controlled mustard taste and a little acidity from the yuzu to balance the fattiness of the pork; I would have been very happy to have eaten this in a really top restaurant (8/10).

We made it to dessert for a change, where I had superb lemon beignets (7/10) which were not quite as good as the near-perfect ones they used to do at the Square, but were again better than ones I have had at many a serious restaurant. Service was pretty much faultless, the waiter friendly and helpful, topping up good, and no trouble getting attention. No wonder the place is packed.

Andy's profile     Other reviews by Andy     Places Andy likes    

Fantastic atmosphere, very busy restaurant. The food is wonderful great portions with a wide aray of sushi options on the menu.

Helpful staff, great surrounding, an ideal place to wow the inlaws or a first date.

James's profile     Other reviews by James     Places James likes    

I've been to Zuma quite a few times and love it every time. First, the cocktails are amazing - my fav is kiwi bellini, very refreshing.Secondly, sashimi are freshest you can find and presentation is beautiful. Every time I have black cod - can't get enough of it!Oh, if you still got room for desert go for smth which sounds like shawa mushi - absolute delight!The staff are great and atmosphere is fantastic. Also it's better to be prepared to pay around �100 pp for a proper dinner and drinks.

AB's profile     Other reviews by AB     Places AB likes    

Zuma is a glamorous restaurant, the epitome of contemporary London dining. The robata grill and cocktail bar greets you as you enter the granite & stone restaurant and you know that you have arrived at a restaurant that will leave most people destitute. At �96 the tasting menu is not cheap. The food as you would expect is fantastically prepared and presented. The best tables surround the open plan chefs' kitchen, much more fun then the private dinning room. Often difficult to book due to its popularity it�s a great place to spot a celeb.

"Visually stunning, but I just think this restaurant tries to take it too far. Sometimes these fancy places loose sight of what they are trying to achieve I think. It's all a bit much really. The food is lovely though, but I would rather go for less pretentious surroundings and pay a little less. After all, it is the food that you go to a restaurant for isn't it? I suppose it doesn't matter if you have truckloads of cash, but most normal people don't!"