Last Friday I was out dining and then partying in a Japanese & Italian fusion restaurant, yes that’s two cuisines together.
Italian and Japanese those are the two cuisines I thought I’ll never see under one roof. Yet they work well together. Think pan fried sea bass and aubergine drizzled with soy sauce or salmon rice pizza.
Plus all the classics like miso glazed aubergine, rolls to truffle topped raviolis and burrata.
Sumosan Twiga is a restaurant, bar and a nightclub set over three floors on Sloane Street between Knightsbridge and Sloane Square.
It has a beautiful flower décor from entrance to the stairs and a classical white cloth, dark wood restaurant setting. The bar, which is located on the top floor, has a stunning lit up amber wall with spirits resting against it, which I talked about in my earlier article – Sake Masterclass.
While the club downstairs finished with mischievous giraffe wall art and colour changing ceiling lighting. We visited both the restaurant and the club.
Our evening began with a carefully put together tuna tartar, which immediately won over our hearts with its colourful stripy arrangement of ingredients. Followed by a creamy burrata with “datterino” tomatoes. That’s the cherry plum shape – longish.
The burrata also arrived with 3 miso cod and prawn gyozas on the side. The gyozas had a rich fish flavour and very delicate thin dough. Our dinner was accompanied by a fruity and easy drinking 2016 Pinot Gris, Hugel.
Our next favourite was the homemade burrata ravioli with butter sauce, winter truffle shavings and crispy sage. It was a truly stunning dish, despite the sage being a strong flavour on its own it balanced out the creamy butter sauce and brought out the truffle, also adding a bit of texture and saltiness.
Our savoury part of the dining was rounded up with 3 more dishes: coconut tofu, miso glazed aubergine and sea bass with a more Italian style of cooking aubergine and miso sauce.
I have tried many variations of tofu before except for coconut coated version. The tofu was coated in a crispy shredded coconut forming a crunchy coating with a soft and creamy tofu inside.
It was a very clever dish, which makes me wonder why it is not made by more restaurants. The miso aubergine was a welcomed classic. I learnt an interesting fact from my Japanese friend who kindly accompanied me to the restaurant.
Miso glazed aubergine is served as an easy and quick snack in casual style pubs in Japan and can never be found in high end establishments there. Yet in the UK it is a must have starter on all the menus of Japanese cuisine from casual to formal.
In my case it is an always welcome dish as I love aubergine plus this was a particularly generously sized eggplant.
The seabass also arrived with more aubergine but more slow roasted Italian style. The fish was fresh, although we found the miso sauce a little bit too salty the coconut coated tofu on the neighbouring plate balanced it out well.
Our dinner was complete with 3 ice cream mochi classics and the creamiest and lightest tiramisu. It was a dance in a cup.
After our delectable dine we headed downstairs to the club. Although, it was not the busiest of times, we were told a fair portion of regular club guests heads on holidays in summer it had a good ambience.
We danced away till 1:30 in the morning to the pop club beats under giraffe pattern shaped lighting while sipping on 42 Below Vodka and tonic. It was a good night.
Our evening finished the classical way – on the phone flipping through taxi apps but as we were in Knightsbridge the taxis were plentiful and fast to book, which is always a good bonus when choosing a venue for a night out.
We liked Sumosan Twiga, the menu has all the Japanese must haves plus Italian classics and more, adding those needed carbs you sometimes crave after a Japanese meal.