Rika Moon | High-End Japanese Fusion Dining
Rika Moon has a lot to recommend it. The food, the service, the atmosphere…
…but the first thing that most people will likely tell you about is the loo.
Because really, there aren’t really any other loos like them in the whole of London. Probably. Because this one has a big red ‘DISCO’ button in it that you can press, and instantly have a miniature rave inside. So if your dining companions question why you took so long, you can simply tell them you were having too much fun.
You’ll find those loos, and that restaurant, on Notting Hill‘s plush Kensington Park Road, just one street over from Portobello and a few yards down from Core by Clare Smyth. It’s very much at the vanguard of the area’s restaurant renaissance, which has seen places like Caia, Straker’s, and Dorian pop up in recent months. And Rika Moon is there to fill the ‘high end Japanese fusion dining with a nevertheless relaxed atmosphere’-sized niche that the neighbourhood had found itself with.
Walk through its inviting white doors, and you’ll find a glitzily plush interior staring back at you, with a sleek marble bar, and some fresco-style art covering the walls. There’s a larger dining area downstairs (with a mirrored ceiling), and all of the seating, whether at a table or the bar, seems to be sumptuously comfortable.
The menu swings from classic tataki and sushi which comes on an impressive, flower-laden pedestal of crushed ice, right through to crisp vegetable tempura (the shiso leaf is particularly nice), gloriously rich & flaky black cod with a buttery miso dressing, some A5 grade beef with caramelised mirin onions, and clay pots of rice mixed with vegetables and mushrooms. And if you still have room for dessert, the rich panna cotta will do nicely.
There are cocktails too of course (get the mezcal-loaded Shisorita, it’s their signature, and it’s wonderful), but there’s plenty of globally inspired wine and not-quite-so globally inspired sake on their list, too. And the best bit? None of it’s particularly expensive.
So you’ll leave feeling pretty flush.
NOTE: Rika Moon is open now, Tuesday-Sunday. You can find out more, and make a booking at their website right here.
Rika Moon | 120 Kensington Park Rd, W11 2PW
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