For those unfamiliar, Akira Back is a global phenomenon. He has more than 20 restaurants around the world. Each blends his unique style of Japanese, Korean and American, reflecting the countries in which he grew up. London is lucky to have its first Akira Back eatery, open now for three months in the recently launched Mayfair Mandarin Oriental. Both your reviewer and his dining comrade were impressed.
Even if the style of food and the accompanying Mayfair prices may not to be everyone’s taste, a visit to the venue is worth it alone. Guests enter through a discreet door only then to be wowed by the miraculous emerald green spiral staircase and triple-height, light-filled atrium. It’s a clever piece of architecture and design, with the hotel having spared no expense, sinking the dining room into a subterranean basement. There’s some beautiful artwork to enhance the aesthetic. Nestled to the back is a moodily designed black-hued bar that looks onto the restaurant and is probably superb for people-watching. Akira Back likely only truly comes alive after dark. When we visited at lunchtime, the place was probably little more than half full.
Staff tried their hardest to please, almost too hard. Admittedly the venue may still be finding its feet but we found there were too many intrusions throughout our meal, so much so that conversation was at times impeded. We were also somewhat irritated that the dishes we ordered came out when ready. Sure, this is the current zeitgeist everywhere, but there are certain conventions and etiquette that come with eating Japanese-style cuisine. We would rather have finished with sushi, but it was not to be.
The good news is that these problems ought to be easily fixable. What both of us took away from the venue was just how good was the food that came out of the kitchen. Have no doubt, Akira Back uses only the best of ingredients and prepares them with delicacy. Presentation was first-class too. Beyond superb sushi (a combination of spicy tuna, prawn tempura and salmon belly playfully named ‘perfect storm’) the two stand-out dishes for us were: tuna pizza and yellowtail ceviche. The former has to be tasted to be believed. Pizza it ain’t. Think more of a light tortilla coated with truffle aioli and then topped with wafer-thin slices of raw tuna. I could eat this any time of the day. Apparently it is one of Akira’s signature dishes, present in all his restaurants. The yellowtail was a piece of art – see picture – and tasted every bit as good as it looked. There was wonderful harmony and interplay between the contrast flavours of fish, spice, tomato and umami. A revisit is required.