Mr.N had a meeting in Mayfair. We hardly venture out in Mayfair, in fact, since I started working at my current firm we only seem to go out around Soho. Our plan was to meet after work and head somewhere nice for a few drinks. I booked Mr.Foggs’ Residence but they only had a table at 8pm. What would we do until then? Window-shop around the luxury designer stores in New Bond Street, perhaps? We decided to look for somewhere casual to eat, nothing fancy as we were going out the next evening with friends. The problem, of course, was that we were in Mayfair and the concept of casual doesn’t exist here.

In our fruitless hunt for a casual restaurant, we came to the end of Bruton Lane only to see this magnificent restaurant emitting a red glow. “Isn’t this the restaurant you tried to book a couple of months ago?” Mr.N asked pointing at Sexy Fish. He was right, I tried to book this upmarket Japanese after I’d read that Rita Ora had been here. If it’s good enough for Rita, it’s good enough for me. I was, however, firmly told that there were no weekend reservations for another six weeks! Forget that, I thought. We glanced at the menu and I was convinced that Mr.N would object as there was nothing casual about this place. Much to my surprise, Mr.N encouraged me to enquire inside if there were any tables. I walked up to a woman behind the reservation desk in a black dress who bore an uncanny resemblance to Christina Applegate. There were no tables, but there were two seats at the chef’s counter. Perfect.  Everything about this place exudes opulence, from the grand interior design to the beautiful female staff in their teal Victoria Beckham dresses.

We had an all access pass to the bustling testosterone fuelled kitchen, from seeing the skewers charring over the charcoal to eavesdropping on the chefs. I was scouting the menu for the one dish I was craving the most, and if you read my blogs you can guess what this was: black cod, obviously. Much to my initial horror, this sexy little fish didn’t make the cut. I was later informed that their version of this popular dish was the miso glazed Chilean sea bass served with cauliflower cooked not one, not two but three ways (who knew cauliflower could be so titillating). The rice-less sexy fish roll was pleasant, as was the beautiful yellowtail sashimi served with a green mandarin ponzu and myoga. Mr.N was in love with the white miso and truffle filled wagyu gunkan, but that’s no surprise as the man is obsessed with anything truffle related. The crispy duck and watermelon salad embellished with sweet pomegranate, cashews, mint and sakura herbs was every bit as refreshing as we expected it to be. This salad has become such a firm favourite of mine that it is now my ‘signature’ dish when we host dinners for our family and friends.

During our meal we got chatting to the su chef, Lawrence. Lawrence had this wonderfully warm charm. He was busily preparing these stunning looking plates within inches of us, so focused on his craft yet so engaged with us at the same time. It transpired that we had a lot in common and we learnt that despite having a notable chef father, even his young children are super fussy when it comes to dinner time! Then there was the archetypal loud and proud Italian waiter, Anthony. You could say he was the Robin to Lawrence’s Batman. The two jestingly debated the status of Michelin star chefs and how Italians are convinced that their cuisine is the best in the world. It was like being in the presence of an old married couple and I could have listened to them all night. Lawrence convinced us to order the Isle of Mull scallops (our waiter tried to persuade us earlier but it carried a bit more weight coming from Lawrence). Lawrence personally presented us with the glazed tender baby chicken with shavings of parmesan. Lawrence could tell our passion for food (probably from the ridiculous amount of food we had ordered- we always over order, always). He let us sample the smoked Japanese sausages with mustard miso, the poshest mini hot dog we’ve ever had. Lawrence also very generously gave us a taste of the scallop and monkfish yakitori dressed with red vinegar and shiso.

Lawrence asked us if we were still hungry. Was he kidding? Mr.N and I could barely move having polished off half the menu. I’ve never regretted being so stuffed in my life because it was at that moment when we threw in the towel that Lawrence revealed that he was about to recommend the Chilean sea bass. We couldn’t eat anything substantial or savoury but we needed something sweet and light to complete our sensational meal. We went for the soft and super fluffy doughnuts served with rich chocolate sauce and yuzu curd. Lawrence told us that we would have to try the chocolate fondant on our next visit.

From what was meant to be a casual night somehow ended up with us dining at one of London’s trendiest restaurants, even today, months after opening. Some will call this place pretentious and some will say it’s overpriced. Whilst to a degree there may be some truth in those observations, sitting at the chef’s counter indulging in banter with Batman and Robin and tasting some mouth-watering dishes made our night so much more special than we imagined our ordinary Thursday would be.

Food: 9/10  Atmosphere: 9/10  Value: 8/10

If this restaurant were a fictional character, it would be….Sayuri, Memoirs of a Geisha– an exceptionally beautiful young woman who turns heads wherever she goes, but one with a lot more depth to her than meets the eye.