Looking towards the open kitchen in MOI's main dining area
What do we need to know about MOI?
This is the first restaurant from a new restaurant group, MAD Restaurants, that has gathered together quite the pool of culinary talent. Group Executive Chef, Andy Cook, worked for Gordon Ramsay for years and opened Soho Farmhouse. MOI's Head Chef, Nick Tannett, was previously Head Chef at the much-rated Evernight in Vauxhall and before that was Senior Sous Chef at Endo at the Rotunda. Here in Soho, they've put all that talent to good use in opening this restaurant, which uses amazing British produce to create Japanese-inspired dishes.
Where exactly is it?
You'll find it midway down Wardour Street - take your pick as to whether Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square is the easiest tube stop for you. It used to be a Vapiano and those places are huge, but it has had one hell of a makeover. From the poured concrete spiral staircase linking the two floors to the huge tree trunks acting as columns in the main dining room, it's quite the looker.
The sushi bar downstairs (opening soon)
Where should we sit?
This is a big old restaurant with numerous sections. On the ground floor is the main restaurant. There's also a semi chef's table by the open kitchen if you like being really close to the action. The ground floor also has an area that can be carved off for a private do.
But, if you head down the already much-Instagrammed staircase, you'll find another floor of equal size. Here, there's a sushi counter (opening on 2 Sept with an omakase offering coming in the autumn) along with a huge listening bar (opening on 25 Sept) that's not only going to have a late licence but will also be bookable.
The listening bar, which we can envisage ourselves spending a lot of time in...
OK, so we've found our table. What's on the menu...
There are actually two menus to look at - sushi and the main one - so you're going to need to take a bit of time here. Maybe do what we did, and get some cocktails ordered and two of these to eat while you're perusing them.
Bluefin tuna onigiri, white soy, cured yolk (£12) - regular readers will know how obsessed we are with onigiri. These were very good and very generously filled with tuna.
The sushi menu had around 10 nigiri options when we visited, so you can put together your own selection or opt for the chef's choice of nigiri or sashimi. We had an eye on all the other dishes we wanted to try, so we just went for this.
Hand-dived scallop nigiri (£14 for two pieces) heaven, obviously and Shabu-Shabu langoustine nigiri (£16) - so SO good.
The main menu starts with snacks and raw options, so here's what we had from those two sections first.
Pineapple rib tomato, smoked cream, toasted nori (£11) - we've been obsessed with this tomato since we first tried it at Carousel. And when we say obsessed, we mean we actually travelled to Cambridgeshire to Flourish Farm, where they're grown, to buy more. This is the best tomato dish being served in London right now and we won't hear anything to the contrary.
Bluefin tuna tataki, karashi miso, grapefruit (£18) - what a combination, the light lick of the grill on the grapefruit bringing out just enough sweetness in the grapefruit to balance it against the tuna.
Then you move on to the second half of the menu, where each of the three categories - binchotan, hornbeam and birch - is defined by which type of wood and live fire cooking method has been applied.
Hispi cabbage, shiitake mushroom, fried ginger dressing (£7) - a great veggie skewer.
Native lobster tail, clam dashi, sugar snaps (£42) - beautiful to look at and a delicate summer hit of a dish to eat.
Baked rice, Scottish girolles, Cacklebean egg (£22) - perhaps the only dish of the night that we wouldn't immediately want to order again. This was nice, but it could have done with a more confident amount of seasoning.
Room for dessert?
By comparison to the menus so far, the dessert selection is a tight edit of just four options. If we'd had more room, the chocolate mousse with tonka beans and Jersey milk ice cream would have made the final cut. As it was, what we did have was more than enough for two to share:
Shaved ice kakigori with English raspberries, sansho and burnt meringue (£16) - look out for the item on the counter in the kitchen which looks like a torture device. It's actually where they shave blocks of ice for this dish and then add syrups to layer in flavour.
What about the drinks list?
Another top talent, Dino Koletsas, is in charge here (he includes Harrods and the Artesian Bar at The Langham in his CV). The list is low-intervention with biodynamic wines from small-scale winemakers. And they appear to have more on offer by the glass than the list shows, so it's worth asking what's available that day. There's also a lot of sake to choose from: we stayed local with glasses of SORA 'SKY' HONJOZO from London sake brewery Kanpai.
Overall thoughts:
Easily one of the best openings of the year so far - and that's with only half its offering actually open - MOI should be on your hit list if you love good Japanese food. The food here is extremely good and on the innovative curve of London's sushi scene. Its biggest draw will be the fact that if you're here with a gang and fancy going somewhere after dinner, you only need to head downstairs to that bar.
More about MOI
Where is it? Soho - 86 Wardour St, London W1F 0TQ
How to book: Book online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @moi.soho.
Hot Dinners dined as guests of MOI. Prices correct at time of publication.
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