This restaurant opened in November 2025, in the premises that was formerly Republic, and before that the iconic Hedone. The dining is quite smartly decorated, with banquette seating and small tables. The room can seat around sixty or so diners. The kitchen team is all Brazilian, yet the food is pan-Asian, mostly Japanese. The manageress was Italian. The menu was quite lengthy and a la carte, with a range of styles from sushi to noodles, to Japanese curries to teriyaki dishes and more. There was a wine list, but there were no vintages shown. Examples were Dudley Stone Chenin Blanc at £33 for a wine that costs about £9 in the high street, Domaine de Vauroux Chablis at £54 for a bottle that retails at about £22, and Laurent Perrie Rose at £120 for a champagne that costs around £79 in a shop.
What was notionally tempura prawns did not seem to have tempura batter, but were just breadcrumbed prawns that had been deep fried. These were harmless enough (11/20). Homaki tuna rolls were clumsily assembled, with cheap nori and sides of horseradish from a tube and pickled ginger from a jar. This was not good, barely supermarket level sushi rolls (10/20).
Chicken katsu curry had rice, more of the pickled ginger, shredded cabbage and pieces of deep-fried chicken slathered in an oddly coloured, gloopy brown sauce. It actually tasted better than it looked, but then that would not be difficult (just about 11/20). Noodles actually had decent prawns, with more of the deep-fried prawns that I had eaten (11/20).
We skipped dessert, as this meal would only be rescued if someone like Anne-Sophie Pic’s head pastry chef was doing an unexpected stage in the kitchen here, which seemed unlikely. Service was fine, and indeed the dishes appeared at a gallop. From sitting down to finishing the main course was barely half an hour. The bill came to £42 per person.
I usually like to try restaurants local to me at least once, but to be honest once was plenty enough in this case. There were a decent number of customers on a Tuesday night, and certainly the ambience and service are quite good. I just wish they had spent less money on the décor and more on the kitchen team.
Matthew
Thank you Andy, as a fellow local you've confirmed what I feared and saved me both time and money. Perhaps a cocktail in their basement bar may have redeemed things (although suspect they were closed when you visited!)
Richard Wilkins
It should be illegal to serve food like that in the former Hedone. Like blaspheming in a church. Sacrilegious.