Donabe

Donabe is in the premises that used to house kaiseki restaurant Hannah. It is in the same ownership, with the chef of Hannah moving to the Stafford Hotel from late April 2025. Donabe continues in its place, offering claypot rice dishes, donburi and tempura, so a more casual style of restaurant than Hannah. The décor is unchanged, with the same open kitchen and generously spaced tables. The wine list from Hannah remains, with the same deep selection of sake offerings, or you can drink Japanese beer. I had Kirin beer tonight. 

Tempura prawn (£24) was excellent, served with tempura of aubergine, broccoli, green asparagus and sweetcorn. The batter was light and not greasy, just coating the ingredients lightly. The tempura was not quite as feather-light as a top tempura restaurant in Japan but it was better than most that you find in the UK (14/20).

Lobster tempura (£40) was presented with pieces of lobster shell and had a dipping sauce flavoured with fish liver. The lobster was tender and the batter was again light (14/20). Chicken and mushrooms rice (£22) was garnished with black truffles shaved at the table. This was served in a clay hotpot, the rice having good consistency and the chicken and mushrooms nicely enhanced by the aromatic truffle (14/20).

Eel rice (£25) used the freshwater eel (unagi) rather than the milder seawater eel (anago). Again the rice was good, with the juices of the eel, which had plenty of its distinctive flavour, seeping into the rice in a pleasing manner (14/20). We also had some miso soup (£3) and pickles (£3) as side dishes with the main course, which were both fine. Dessert (£7.50) was tonka bean ice cream rhubarb jam and shaved pistachio. This was a modified version of a dessert served at Hannah. The rhubarb’s acidity nicely balanced the richness of the ice cream, with the pistachios providing an extra texture (easily 14/20).

Service was charming, and although I was being treated this evening so did not see a bill, a typical cost per person would come to around £75 with beer or some sake to drink. Donabe is a very enjoyable place to eat, serving less formal food than its predecessor here, but with considerable care and attention paid to the dishes.