So Restaurant & Bar

So Restaurant and Bar is one of the most recent additions to the capital's burgeoning Asian dining scene; located in the heart of Soho, So Restaurant and Bar is the brainchild of successful Japanese businessman Tetsuro Hama, and showcases fine classic cuisine from his home country combined with traditionally Western ingredients, an unusual dining concept.

You enter through the sophisticated ground floor bar, good for more relaxed dining and quick lunches; light and airy, the bar boasts floor to ceiling windows and is decorated in a palette of serene greens with a glass-topped bar, mahogany furniture and a display of traditional Japanese pottery. For more formal dining, you need to head downstairs to the elegant restaurant complete with soft pink walls and a contemporary open kitchen where you can watch the chefs in action.

Sophisticated and original, the a la carte menu was created by Japanese head chef, Kaoru Yamamoto, classically trained, Yamamoto started his career in Paris before returning to Tokyo. Thirty years on his experience is reflected in his 'East meets West' dishes with starters including salmon mi-cuit, Scottish salmon partially cooked served with capers, ikura and houjicha powder; tebasaki, crispy fried French chicken wings dipped in a soy, sesame and white wine sauce; foie gras, fresh foie gras with sautéed Japanese mushrooms; and black truffle tofu, tofu made to order and served warm with cracked pepper, dressed with truffle oil.

Light salads, sushi and sashimi dishes include scallop and daikon salad, seared scallops with Japanese white radish and yuzu mayonnaise; chirashizushi, a selection of prawns, salmon, crabmeat, eel, shiso and salmon ikura served on a bed of rice; as well as crab spider rolls, soft shell crab fried tempura style wrapped in sushi rice served with spicy mayonnaise.

Main courses, uniquely grilled over volcanic rocks from Mount Fuji, include grilled wagyu sirloin with grated white radish and French beans; premium Spanish Iberico pork marinated in white miso served with steamed broccoli; and black sea bream coated in yuzu, soy and mirin served with pickled cucumber and carrots.

For a more relaxed dining experience, So Restaurant and Bar also offers a selection of set lunch menus. Choose from mixed tempura, king prawns and seasonal vegetables served with traditional tentsuyu, tosazu spicy dipping sauce, pickles, rice and miso soup or sakana, fresh fish of the day served bento style with rice and miso soup, amongst others.

The menu is complemented by a strong international wine list as well as an exclusive range of shochu and sakes including Kicchomu and Tokino Furin shochu, Kikusui Mukantei and Kubota Manjyu sake.

For an oriental twist on afternoon tea, So Restaurant and Bar serves an exclusive range of Japanese teas from Ippodo Kyoto, one of the oldest and most respected teas houses in Japan. Choose from Matcha, the delicate and mild blend used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies which is best accompanied by light sweets and cakes; Genmaicha, a melange of green tea and roasted rice to create a rich, warm, nutty flavour; or Sencha, a clean, crisp, refreshing tea made from ichiban cha, harvested from the first shoots of spring.