Umu

I had a bento served with wagyu beef. Wagyu was quite tasty but the sauce was a little bit sweet. Brown tea ice cream was yummy, and I really love it. Services and vibe were good as well.
One problem was that I don’t think the rice tastes nice, just lack of a good smell.

Third time and each time seems to get better and better. Amazing service accompanied the amazing and meticulously prepared dishes. Always a treat when I come to London

Nice Japanese food

Good Japanese food and excellent service, but at very high prices. The food is a mix of quite authentic Japanese dishes (fresh uni, sushi & sashimi, etc.) and some kind of fusion (lobster with a "bisque" sauce). We enjoyed the authentic Japanese dishes more than the fusion ones, but everything was very well prepared and presented, and mostly with good flavors. However, when you compare the food here with the equivalent in Japan, which would cost you less than half as much, it does not seem to be good value for money.

I had an enjoyable lunch and the staff were very pleasant and generally attentive.
However, for a 2 Michelin starred restaurant I was a little underwhelmed by the flavours. Visually the food was stunning, beautifully presented with clear artistry becoming of an establishment with its Michelin accolade.
There just wasn’t anything that sent my taste buds soaring which was a little disappointing.
Everything was pleasant but for me ‘pleasant’ isn’t enough in a restaurant of that status.

Good beef. Better than Engawa. I would come back again for the tasting menu.

Delicious! Loved the matcha tiramisu

Saturday lunch I visited, half of the Umu punters were Russian (picture head to toe D&G or Balenciaga, but with nannies in tow for their selfie obsessed offspring) spending accordingly, with round after round of lobster nigiri. It is true Umu charges oligarch worthy prices, but I dare you to find Asian fusion 2-Mich star anywhere with better lunch menu prix. It's a real treat at £38-45 depending on what you choose. Exceptional food and service, and decent selection of sake by carafe or glass, if you are dining solo or in a couple that doesn't want to.go by the bottle. My lunch special consisted of beautifully presented vegetables entree, then a Bento box of nigiri and sashimi atop of fragrant yuzo rice with marinated shiitake and salmon roe underneath. Layer after layer of surprises, and just gorgeous flavours, and a joy for the eye. Dessert I opted for one of 4 lunch menu choices, ginger sorbet, with mini fruit - exceptional, as were the gorgeous petit fours. Definitely coming back here dinner or lunch, but especially set lunch, as it's an affordable treat for any day of the week or weekend. I also suggest any solo diner to book the spot at the counter, as it affords fabulous view of the chef/kitchen action.

Food and service like same as in Kyoto-Japan
Thank you

Very disappointing. We went for my husband’s birthday and they were totally out of lobster and didn’t even apologise. We ordered 2 appetisers which were tiny and bland. We were so uninspired we cancelled our champagne order which seemed to be taking forever and didn’t bother with mains. Not sure how it has two Michelin stars. We left and went to Zuma which was incredible!!

Great Japanese restaurant!!
Recommend the Losbter Tempura.

The venue is of a high standard
The service is nice & relaxed but not to the high standard of a 2 star Michelin restaurant.
Staff are chatty & polite but lack real attention to detail.
A service charge was not deserved.
However the food is a real treat &is top class.
Will not rush back which is rather a shame.
If not careful the restaurant will lose a star in the near future as its rather complacent in its approach to be the very best.

My friend and I visited here for lunch. We decided on Umu because my friend loves Japanese cuisine and I love trying new things. Umu did not dissapoint! My friend loved her assortment of sushi, particularly the scallop one and I adored my smoked charcoal eel. We both thoroughly enjoyed our chocolate dessert with some form green tea ice cream. I would also like to make special mention of the staff as they were really pleasant and particularly accommodating, as I am unable to use chopsticks due to a disability. We will definitely be back!

a bit over priced, their dessert is better than the main dish

I was expecting something a little more special as far as ambiance. Also it was very difficult to understand our waiter as he tried to explain the dishes. It was interesting.

Food is really quite over priced, and would absolutely fit the “try-too-hard” category. Would rather dine in other restaurants such as Dining’s, Hakkasan, (the old) Sumosan etc for more enjoyable Japanese food. We took our 6 month old baby, who is familiar and very well behaved in restaurants, for an early weekday dinner - the maître D was great however our waiter and other colleagues seemed almost judgemental and rude about it. For a dinner for two for +£350, not the “welcoming” you would expect. The ambiance is great however and, perfect for a date night.

The food was frankly average with high prices

A very good restaurant. It has genuine Japanese taste. Japanese beef was outstanding.

The fodd was excelent. I am never disappointed there. The service discrete and perfect! Out waiter is a gem!

Vegetarian Bento box for lunch, so many amazing flavours I gave up trying to work out what they were and just enjoyed it. Excellent service, ambiance and most importantly food. It’s very rare that I write reviews but the whole experience was sensational and the price made it even more so.

We have tasting menu with sake pairing at lunch. As always the managerial grade staff are just so so. But all others staff are friendly and superb nice. Food are really nice which equal to the bill. Just wondering if Chef know that the front line did do well how will the chef feel...

Un really top japanese restaurant with super fresh sourcing of products and perfect cooking.

Came in with a friend for lunch and had the Bento box with tiger prawn tempura. There was nothing to really complain about but it was still not a meal I'll remember. My friend had the same impression. Had never been to a Michelin restaurant before and expected way more in terms of both service and food. Nothing exciting. Would not recommend it.

I cannot believe this place has Michelin stars. Every Japanese restaurant I’ve ever eaten in in France, California or New York was better than this as far a freshness and flavor. Even cheap and casual ones.

Average food nothing special, not worth the money .How can it be 2 star Michelin. Roka restaurants way much better.

Food was fantastic, but service was ver poor for a 2 star Michelin restaurant. We didn’t even get refreshing towels.

We visit Umu once a year at least for the fabulous kaiseki tasting menu. It consists of seven courses of Japanese food mainly based on fish and vegetables with one meat dish and a dessert. We changed the meat dish to vegetable tempura as we don’t eat meat. You start thinking it won’t fill you and by the end you can’t eat any more. Every course is picture perfect and tastes the same. We had the matching sakes which paired with each course very well and were expertly described by the waiter. It’s certainly not cheap but in our view worth the outlay on a special occasion.

Impressed with both the food and service at Umu. Authentic Kyoto cuisine style with beautiful presentation of the freshest seafood. The lobster bisque was our favourite.

It was the best sashimi we’ve ever had...! Would go again!

Outstanding food and service. Attention to detail was unreal.
We had a lovely evening and it was a great way to celebrate a special occasion.

My second time here and it did not disappoint. Chef creates a wonderful kaiseki (tasting menu)

The restaurant called to confirm the reservation the day before, and to alert us that the air conditioner was broken. It was pleasant that they called to inquire whether that was acceptable or not considering it was going to be a business lunch. The ambience was nice. The service was good. We had Shokado Bento, and the presentation was lovely. There seemed to be duplication in the teriyaki flavor in the fish and meat. We enjoyed the visually intriguing tiramisu very much.

UMU is one of the best Restaurant in London and we enjoyed every dish we had.
The service was great and David was great in explaining details about each plate on the menu.
We will be back and we highly recommend it.

Excellent Japanese food. The fish was extremely fresh and soft, absolutely delicious. The restaurant itself is very elegant and cozy. Highly recommend for a casual lunch or special occasion.

Awful.

Arrived and were seated. It was uncomfortably warm. We asked and were told that the AC was broken. It was at least 30c outside. We should’ve left, but we had planned this meal and had been looking forward to it. We’ve eaten at 3* restaurants in Kyoto and had been expecting a fun kaiseki lunch. Unfortunately due to the hot temperature inside the restaurant, we opted for bento box lunches — no way we could stay for a kaiseki meal.

Bento boxes were fine, but hardly one Michelin star worthy, let alone two. The wagyu beef was very nice, but on balance the cost was a bit ridiculous.

We drank through several bottles of water and they charged us for them — outrageous given the AC situation.

Would not recommend.

PS They said they tried to call me to notify about the AC. No such call appeared on my phone. And they had called to confirm prior, so I know they had my number.

The food was excellent well up to Michelin standards. The service was attentive and well paced.
Pity about the air conditioning

Very creative food and excellent service. The presentation was top notch - such that I have not seen before. Quaint and quiet. Highly recommended!

Wonderful dining experience — the sommelier, wait staff, chef, and host were exemplary and provided great background on all of the food and drink. I would rank this as the best dining experience, food, and wine that I’ve had in London.

We had the Kaiseki menu, trying both the wine and sake pairings. Sommelier was a gem, explaining why sake is served in different styles of vessel and even demonstrating the differential in taste between glass and ceramic cups. The food was, as one would hope for the cost, exceptional, particularly the 'head to tail lobster croquette'.
While there was not the intimacy found at The Araki (it may be different if sat at the counter) I much preferred the food, not least because we didn't leave hungry!
The only 'problem' is that I will have to go back to try the hotpot style dish that many of the regulars were enjoying...

We had the most lovely time here. The service was attentive and incredibly knowledgable and the execution of the food was very good. Can not wait to go back!