Kyashii

Love this place, came here for my 40th. Sushi was superb, cocktails expertely mixed and staff - attentive and knowlegable. it's a littel higher than average on price, but you get what you pay for. Beautiful , sleek decor and fun crowd to mingle with in the bar - mixed age group which made for interesting and fun night x

The great shame of this review is I know nothing about authentic Japanese food, so there's no way I can vouch for that side of the presentation.  What I *can* say however is that if you're a fan of clean, crisp, flavoursome food in a funky & modern setting, then Kyashii is worth a visit.

My girlfriend and I started with scallop carpaccio, shichimi pepper squid, and the MOST AMAZING chicken gyoza I have ever tasted.  The pepper squid was visibly deep fried, but other than its crispy texture displayed no evidence of having been anywhere near a frier - whether they individually pat these things dry, or what, I have no idea.

For mains we moved on to sweet potato tempura, "rainbow rolls", and chicken tobanyaki - again, an explosion of flavour with a very visual presentation.  Rainbow rolls are 8 pieces of sushi featuring 5 different types of fish, and some of the sushi pieces have up to 3 of the fish on them - superb!

Add in a few glasses from the well-crafted wine list and our bill for the night came to about £80, so not exactly a cheap & cheerful option.  However we'll definitely be back some time.

Several of the reviews here focussed on the service - if anything we found them a little over-attentive, although unfailingly polite.  The only negative point for the night really was being stuck next to a gaggle of squawking girls with immaculate hair and bright orange flesh, but being right in the thick of Covent Garden you can't really fault that.

There are a number of outstanding things about this bar/restaurant, the first of which is the amazing decor.

Surrounded by curves, polished glass, seamless fixtures and carefully placed lighting you cannot but feel relaxed as if in a warm cocoon.

Whilst the upstairs bar displays large screens, the main restaurant downstairs is lined with fishtanks down one side for a more serene atmosphere.

Downstairs two private rooms display a sea of cream leather, or if you are lucky enough to sit it the fish tank room, you will find each wall an aquarium.

I have been for both cocktails and food here.

The cocktails are distinctive and the food is sublime!

On mt last visit we tried a lemongrass and coriander cocktail and a six course meal.

Whilst I wasn’t too endeared with the cocktail, which was nothibg to do with quality, but was a taate preference, I was impressed with the selection and unique offerings.

The meal itself was perfectly cooked, each course was presented well, and was delicious.

I have to say the salmon screwers were the best salmon I have ever tasted, the edadame had the best kick and the sushi was extremely tasty.

Although each course was a small portion, we left feeling satiated and content.

In my books this place should always receive a high rating just for the decor alone, I am also not too concerned about cost, the fish tanks alone must cost a fortune to upkeep, let alone their bills for glass cleaning.

That said, upon leaving (in fact after sitting for about 10 minutes after we had finished and when we were on the way out of the door), although we had pre-purchased a discount voucher, we were presented with a bill for gratuity for the full price of the meal, which I believe was in bad taste and quite rude!

Took my friend here the other day and we had amazing cocktails up at the bar with the happy hour 2for1. Would have to say the Kya Matini was like summer in a cocktail with a buzzy atmosphere to go with it, although it wqas a little hard to catch up properly. But when we moved downstairs it was completely chilled and we had a delicious meal. My lamb was perfectly cooked with just the right amount of kick.

Recently went here for a ‘Girls Lunch’, we decided to go for the set sushi menu and it was such a refreshing change from my usual. The fish was fresh and the miso soup it was served with complimented it nicely. A lovely light lunch in a relaxing atmosphere. The staff were very attentive and the fish tanks in the walls gave an excellent twist!

Upon turning into Upper St Martin's Lane, I immediately recognised Kyashii from its earlier incarnation as 'Denim' - a style bar that came straight out of a 90s *Wallpaper mag shoot. Maintaining the clinical feel of its predecessor, Kyashii is a paean to white pleather, glass and chrome. It feels very self-conscious and dated already, style-wise, but I try not to hold that against a place if the food's good.

And it is.

Unfortunately, it's nowhere near as good as pretty much any other Japanese eatery in Soho you'd care to mention. I've been to many but I've never eaten such tiny portions for such an exorbitant price.

Starters are teeny - four gyoza were enough to fill my back tooth, and the salmon yakitori barely registered on my taste buds. A tummy-growlingly long wait for mains to be delivered (1 hour, due to our ticket being "lost") ensured we were ravenous when the food finally did arrive.

What a disappointment. Rack of lamb came as three lonely, yet artfully arranged, lamb chops. How I was meant to tackle them with chopsticks was anyone's guess.

Service was polite and efficient, but I felt a little patronised by the question: "have you ever eaten here before?" and subsequent explanation of the restaurant's mission to serve modern Japanese food (and to, presumably, fleece out-of-towners while they're at it) .

If this is the modern stuff, I'll stick with the traditional.

Great place!! I've been to Kyashii a few times now and have to say i keep coming back, the bar upstairs is like a hanging bar so you get the whole atmosphere from the ground level too which is quite cool!

We decided to have dinner early and then go up to the bar to enjoy the rest of the night last Thursday, the restaurant was quite buzzy already when we arrived at 7pm and we were given a lovely table towards the back and i must say we felt quite looked after throughout dinner, i tried the lobser this time and i think it has to be my favourite dish now, i could have eaten two! the wine list isn't fabulous but the cocktails are - so recommend you go for those, i had the gene genie (think i got the name right!! - if you're a fan of coriander and lemongrass its gorgeous!!!)

Yes some items on the menu are a little over what i would pay but in general the prices are reasonable.

Definately recoomend trying this place if u havent before!

My partner book us a table using a discount voucher we got from a life style site. It included a 9 course meal and a bottle of wine. She rang to book a table on a thursday with a week left on the voucher. The person taking the booking said that we should book on friday instead. So we did and specifically said that was one vegetarian coming.

when we got there they told us the wine special had finish the night before and that they had no vegetarian options on the 9 course menu. and we had to convince them to change the menu for the vegetarian option.

overall the food was very tasty, but the fact they told us to book for friday knowing full well we were using a voucher and that the wine deal finished on thursday is questionable to say the least. and that we specifically told them a week in advance that we needed vegetarian options a week in advance which they totally forgot about.

the service is very hit and miss, again food itself was great. but the price of the food on the normal menu was a lot to pay for what it is. i can see what they are trying to do, going to that next level of restaurant experience. but for that price and the below satisfactory service, good food cannot save them alone.

For photos see Greedy Diva @ http://greedydiva.blogspot.com/2011/02/kyashii-covent-gar...

Kyashii is like a space ship. A space ship with fish tanks. It's ultra modern and white and smooth and shiny and bright. You would be forgiven for wearing sunglasses at the table - and it's the kind of place where people probably do. Some will love the design, others will hate it. It's not really my thing, but it might be yours.

Marina O'Loughlin was scathing about the service last month. And her report clearly did the job - someone at Kyashii has issued some seriously stern orders to get the troops into line. As soon as I enter (2 hours ahead of when I am expected due to a mix up about the booking time) I am greeted by big smiles and warm welcomes. This is a different planet from the treatment Marina received earlier.

As invited guests, The London Foodie and I are given excellent, knowledgeable service all night - as you would expect. However, everyone seems to get a friendly greeting and waiters are evenly stationed around the place to watch for attention needing moments. There's still a weak link or two among the assortment of service staff, but things have clearly stepped up quite a few notches. The barman upstairs is genuinely friendly and fun - and makes a mighty fine lychee martini (and yes, I can also vouch for the watermelon and raspberry champagne cocktail), if you're in the market for a frilly drink on your way in.

Down in the restaurant, minced pork gyoza (4 pcs, £4.80) are plump and juicy, and the enticing smell of the truffle oil on a mixed seafood tartare (£9) wafts gloriously towards us before we see it coming. I am wary that the truffleyness might overpower the seafood, but the silky texture and creamy luxuriousness of the fish works well with the sensual pleasures of the heady truffle oil.

Next up, the scallop carpaccio with fresh mango and strawberry and yuzu dressing (£11) - it looks like Jackson Pollack has been at work, but I love fresh, raw scallops and these beauties are hard to criticise. The dish works well with the tangy yuzu.

A selection of kushiyaki skewers (ranging from £4 - £5.50 for 2) includes salmon, unagi eel, yakitori chicken and, my favourite, the shiitake mushrooms. Most are fairly average, but the smoky shiitake mushrooms are the highlight.

The long 8 piece dragon roll (£13.50) contains a tempura prawn wrapped in thinly sliced avocado. I have been disappointed by dragon roll before (everywhere that has it always recommends it as their "must have" dish, and Kyashii is no different, but they usually leave me wondering what all the fuss was about). This one, however, hits the mark - it's elegant with a lovely deep savouriness that reminds me of a smoky green tea. It does have a bit of an X factor. The spicy tuna roll (8pcs, £11) with minced tuna, spring onion and spicy mayonnaise is also good.

The Kyashii tempura (£16) is a bountiful selection of light and crispy king prawn, squid, white fish, aubergine, shiitake mushroom and sweet potato. It's light and crisp, with good quality fillings cooked adeptly. Same goes for the luxurious lobster tail tempura with green tea powder (£18.50).

From the main course selection, we share the grilled black cod fillet with saikyo miso marinade (£22) and the pan fried beef fillet steak strips with "dynamite" mustard sauce, served with shredded dried chilli and lotus root chips (£18). I really enjoy the cod, but find the steak completely overpowered by the blast of dense, hot mustard sauce.

For dessert, the banana and chocolate spring roll is disappointing - doesn't ring my bell at all, despite reading like the perfect combo of sake-soaking fare. But the zingy, creamy passionfruit cheesecake is absolutely lovely. I didn't really peruse the wine list, sticking to some excellent sakes (including a cloudy, unfermented one) which, from memory, seemed reasonably priced.

Make no mistake - Kyashii is not cheap. However, you could eat amply for around £40-£50 per head plus drinks/service. Some of the more fru fru embellishments don't always work out, but other dishes are right on the money. Just don't forget your shades.

I was very excited about dining in this restaurant, at first glance it looked edgy, fresh and exciting. But looks can be deceiving.

Firstly, the two of us entered the place which seemed fairly unoccupied yet surprisingly noisy. I wasn't sure if we were being led downstairs into a strip club or a nightclub, but we arrived at a little confined room surrounded by fishtanks which was very loud indeed due to a large table of fully grown 'chavs' drinking and barking at nearly full volume. A nice quiet couple beside us looked as distressed as ourselves at the situation. We decided that we needed to move somewhere else and the staff kindly accommodated this (otherwise we would have left). Not surprisingly, the couple beside us then followed our example. The new room (next door) was nice and spacious, not to mention quiet.

The service was nice but perhaps a little over the top and unnecessarily pretentious as we were served by two many different people including a guy in a suit. Because of this It almost seemed like some kind of surreal themed gangster experience rather than cool, slick and sophisticated.

The food was well presented and well prepared but the portion sizes were insubstantial (to be kind), especially at those prices. Our sushi roll for £12.50 was no more than a mouthful. Our main sizes were totally inadequate, probably not even the size of an equivalent (reasonably priced) starter. For £15+ each I would have expected much more. We didn't bother with dessert and left knowing that this would be our one and only Kyashii experience. Unfortunately, this place is nothing like it could be.

Annapear has summed up Kayashii very well - it's definitely a case of "style over substance". The interior is what you'd expect in a top end cocktail bar or nightclub, with a large fish tank, neon lighting and everything either laquered black or ivory white.

Unfortunately, the food is a massive let down. My dining companion and I purcahsed the 7 course taster menu via a special offer online (£25+service for a supposedly £70 menu).

There's no way the food served could have been priced at £70, as the portions were small and of average quality. For example, the shiitake mushroom skewer contained only two miserable mushrooms. Considering its Covent Garden location, I'd say about £30 at full price is more realistic for what was offered.

If you're familiar with Japanese cuisine, you'll almost certainly feel disappointed with Kayashii. If you're paying the full menu prices, you'll also feel ripped off.

On a positive note, the service was very good and they did make a nice cocktail. Maybe they'd be better off doing away with the restaurant idea and turning themselves into a Asian themed cocktail bar?

I really cannot believe that people have given Kyashii 5 stars. I went there for a 7 course taster menu and the quality of the food was quite appalling for the price. Everything seemed to come in the same sticky soy sauce which whilst pleasant enough was the kind of thing you'd get in a bog average chinese takeaway not a supposed splurge like Kyashii. To be honest, Wasabi the high street value sushi chain is much better - at least there the sushi rice isn't hard and stale around the sides. Maybe you'd enjoy the food here if you'd never eaten Japanese before but otherwise you're going to find it a massive disappointment and huge ripoff. I felt ripped off even though I'd got 50% off!

Go to the fantastic Soseki at Liverpool Street because this place is the Japanese equivalent of an Aberdeen Angus Steak House. It's the restaurant equivalent of China Whites, yes the deco is impressive but you will feel like you're eating your meal in a club.

The one plus point is the cocktails, they are really nice, but it hardly makes up for the overall experience. DONT GO!

It is quite cool to see Upper St Martin's lane getting some action, with neighbors like Dishoom and Jamie's Italian it seems this area is finally getting some quality food options into the area.

Kyashii defiantly falls into the high price end of this road though. It is really beautifully presented, both the interior and the food, but heavy on price and small on portions. Which is a shame, because they do know what they are doing when it comes to the food. Fantastic flavours in everything, even the edamame beans had a little kick to them. The sake was really good too, and the traditional warmers were really cool- little stone vessels of perfection.

The place is quite surreal, like a honey comb maze, but all black and lacquered and reflective. Add to that some inbuilt fish tanks, a karaoke area and some very robotic efficient staff and your done!

Kyashii was fabulous! Great location (leicester square tube is around the corner), excellent prices (50% off in August if you're lucky as I was, and even without the discount, prices are absolutely affordable and you get more than you pay for even in this case!), excellent service and delectable food!

I HIGHLY recommend the Dragon Rolls if you are going for sushi (they make them look like little dragons and they are also scrumptious) and if you are a seafood lover the Jumbo King Prawn are delicious and the Black Cod just melts in your mouth. There was a great selection of other dishes but I was in a seafood mood!

The setting is also gorgeous - you are surrounded by fish tanks..!!

All in all the experience is very VIP, get VIP treatment, VIP food, yet at an affordable price and without the snobbery that comes with some of these high end places!

Oooh and did I mention the cocktails!?

I have already booked a table for next Thursday!

yum, yum and yum again, i absolutely adore the food here - dragon roll platter has to be my favourire dish! i'm a sucker for avocado and prawns!

i've been lucky enough to try lots of dishes! the black cod is second to none i have to say and it's one of the friendliest restaurants too which is a real plus!

start telling your friends as it's going to be hot! x

What an amazing place. Conveniently located by Leicester Square tube station. Started up in the Champagne bar - excellent & original cocktail menu expertly shaken by Kay. Can recommend the Bellisimi, Kya martini and the unusual lychee & rose water martini.

Fabulous food - we had the lamb and tempura.

Complete feeling of luxury with great service but very affordable.

Cant wait to go back and try the sushi menu.

Kyashii, London's most eye-catching restaurant venue is now under new management and has undergone a fantastic regeneration and is opening from Monday 9th August.

A Combination of mouth-watering Japanese/Pan Asian cuisine and delightfully affordable menu options, now make Kyashii an even more spectacular dining experience.

Complete with it's brand new Sushi Bar, the venue boasts 4 uniquely beautiful dining areas and a wonderfully elegant Champagne lounge.

All areas are available for private hire - please contact mel@kyashii.co.uk for more details

www.kyashii.co.uk

www.kyashii.co.uk