Cubé: An izakaya straight out of Tokyo

There’s a stellar, three-pronged team behind this new Japanese restaurant a short walk from Oxford Circus.

It is run by Mayumi Nunn who previously worked at Kanada-Ya and Eat Tokyo, with former Nobu and Sake no Hana chef Osamu Mizuno in the kitchen and Reo Nomura, previously of Kouzu and Tokimeite, overseeing the bar. A pretty impressive lineup of experience.

With all this pedigree in mind, tucking into sushi and sashimi is a no-brainer. Generous slices of ultra-fresh fish are every bit as fine as at his previous haunt Nobu, but significantly cheaper.

The pinnacle, and admittedly least cheap, is the tuna otoro — soft, flavour-packed meat from the belly of the beast. If you’re ever going to spend a fiver on a single piece of sushi then this is the time to do it.

Elsewhere on the menu, go for exemplary tempura, an interesting dish of cold fresh tofu laced with zingy yuzu and chilli, and delicately cooked scallops laced with a rich sea urchin butter.

The menu speaks of Japanese tapas and fused flavours, but that’s a little misleading. Yes you can get edamame with truffle oil (delicious, unsurprisingly) and there are udon noodles with black olive pesto on the menu (didn’t go there) but essentially it is all about Japanese food, just done in a modern, multicultural way.

In fact, both its offering and simplistic atmosphere feels much closer to the izakayas of Tokyo than most London spots which loudly shout about authenticity.

If you love Japanese food but don’t have a plane booked, get a table here.

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