The Bite Magazine - Summer 2019 - Issue 25

Omotenashi At Your Service Jada Brookes experience an array of sushi and Robata grilled dishes, and desserts made from matcha at Akira restaurant found inside the Japan House on Kensington High Street. bite cuisine J apan House on Kensington High Street is like a modern miniature museum or a gallery space with an ar- ray of Japanese art, design, innovation, and technology. It’s part of a global in- itiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs with two other sites in Los Angeles and São Paulo. Just one look through the ceiling-to-floor glass windows as you walk past the build- ing on the high street is enough to draw you in. Everything is neat, com- pact, and so intriguing that you would spend hours looking at every amazing item. A circular lift on the ground floor, with the stairs curving around it, will take you to the first floor where Akira, a Japanese restaurant named after Chef Shimizu Akira is located. The restau- rant presents a Japanese dining expe- rience based on the chef ’s ‘trinity of cooking’ principles - food, tableware, and presentation which they do very well. Interestedly, some of the items on the menu are based on the exhibitions held at Japan House which is a very in- triguing concept. When ‘Prototyping In Tokyo’ robot- ics and 3D printing exhibition curat- ed by Professor Yamanaka was held at Japan House from 16th January to 17th March 2019, Akira introduced a cocktail and dessert inspired by Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku Island, the pro- fessor’s birthplace in Japan. Renowned for citrus fruit productions especially mikan (satsuma mandarin), the Ehime Garden cocktail was made up of Sun- tory ROKU gin, yuzu juice and slices of mikan, while the dessert was a mi- kan crème brûlée. For the exhibition ‘Manga - The Art of Urasawa Naoki’ held from 5th June to 28th July 2019, Akira took inspiration from the artist’s ‘Yawara’ series to de- sign a new dish. This offering is a twist on the British classic of fish and chips, with deep-fried, bread-crumbed eel, topped with umeboshi (pickled plum) tartare sauce, served with okra chips. Most definitely an exotic dish that pro- vides a distinctive cuisine that a dis- cerning diner would appreciate.