Review on So Restaurant
'So in Soho' trips off the tongue quite memorably, and you should have no difficulty in locating this modern Japanese restaurant on the corner of Warwick Street and Brewer Street. It's the brainchild of businessman Tetsuro Hama, who teamed up with his old buddie, Kaoru Yamamoto to create a minimalist venue with lots of special features.
On the ground floor is the bar, an airy space with wooden floors, green colour schemes and displays of Japanese crockery in glass cabinets. The low-ceilinged, pink-walled dining room is below stairs, and its focal point is an open kitchen with a yogan-yaki grill (where dishes are cooked on volcanic stones from Mount Fuji).
Mr Yamamoto ran a French restaurant in Tokyo for 20 years, which explains why there are so many East/West crossovers on his menus. Fans of fusion should be mightily impressed by foie gras with sautéed Japanese fungi, slow-cooked salmon 'mi-cuit' topped with capers, ikura and houjicha powder, and grilled Spanish Iberico pork in white miso with steamed broccoli. Elsewhere, traditional sashimi, tempura and grills win the day, and it's worth finishing off with the kabocha (pumpkin) crème caramel accompanied by green tea ice cream.
Cuisine
Japanese / Fusion
Chef
Kaoru Yamamoto
Restaurant Opening Times
Lunch: 12.00 - 3.00pm Mon-Fri (All day Sat)
Dinner: 5.30 - 10.00pm (10.30pm Fri & Sat)
Accepted credit cards
Visa, Master Card, American Express