Ukai

This is not just any old pub in Portobello. The large corner site is a lively bar with a world-class drinks list, a performance space and an astonishingly good Japanese restaurant tucked away at the rear. (‘Ukai’ refers to the traditional Japanese method of fishing with cormorants.) It’s a magnet for locals and tourists drawn by the cheerful atmosphere, live music at weekends and top-notch cooking.

Chef Alessandro Verros polished his skills at Nobu and Roka and brings a distinctive mix of modern and authentic Japanese cooking overlaid with ultra-fashionable Peruvian touches. There’s a large menu ranging from small-snack ‘japas’ (geddit?) such as vegetable gyoza, rock shrimp tempura and salmon and mango tartare. There are steamed buns with pork belly and cabbage, and a lavish lobster tail tempura with yuzu mayonnaise. There’s an ambitious range of sashimi, nigiri and temaki in combos including dragon roll with eel and avocado.

Sit at tables around the walls or the high counter opposite the robata grill and watch the chefs prepare scallops with orange and tobiko, or spicy lamb chops to die for. It’s all delicious, especially with a Fire Blossom cocktail (pisco, saké, fruits and chilli is a beautiful balance) created by an expert bar team. This is a very classy operation.

On Notting Hill's Portobello Road, UKAI delivers a creative combination of modern Robata Japanese cuisine with a spectacular cocktail list and colourful design. The menu draws influence from Mediterranean and South American flavours, which you may not typically pair with Japanese food. The restaurant is open seven days a week, whether you're popping in for drinks or dinner.

Spicy seafood soup, lobster and shrimp gyozas and wagyu beef sliders all feature on the hot japas selection, followed by several ceviche and tataki options. White tuna tataki with truffle is topped with peanuts, then there's a lobster carpaccio with yuzu granite, citrus granita and sauce, and salmon ceviche tacos with a spicy sauce. Following those selections it’s straight into mains, with seafood and meat robata and hot dishes. Choose from roasted black cod with miso sauce and lime, which is a restaurant favourite, to beef toban-yaki with enoki mushrooms and chicken breast in a creamy mushroom sauce.

There are plenty of side dishes to choose from, including baked aubergine with a miso sauce and parmesan, UKAI salad with lettuce, radicchio, seaweed, soybeans and house dressing, and brown rice cooked in an iron pot with Japanese mushrooms, truffle and parmesan. Tempura and fried dishes that can be enjoyed as sides, or as mains when ordering a few, include prawn tempura with orange ponzu, baby squid with a jalapeno mayo and lobster tempura with yuzu mayo and lime.

Some of the house special rolls include spider maki with soft shell crab, hamachi and jalapeno rolls, California with premium blue crab meat, dragon rolls with marinated eel and salmon tempura with a spicy sauce. To try a bit of everything, order the UKAI deluxe with a mix of volcano, smoked salmon, cucumber avocado, prawn maki and butterfish sashimi.