Umu

Fish, water, vegetables

Fish, water and vegetables set the order of the day for Yoshinor Ishii, Chef at Umu in Mayfair, London. At this pass, he works kaiseki through a British larder, keeping the frame classical while letting the product declare where it came from. Fresh catches arrive daily from Cornish and Scottish fishermen; premium ingredients also come directly from Japan. The result is not fusion as decoration, but a disciplined exchange between provenance and method.

Ishii has been Executive Chef of UMU since 2010, while also serving as Lead Chef at Auberge TOKITO in Tachikawa, Tokyo, since 2021. His earlier stations include Kyoto Kitcho in Japan, the Japanese Embassy for the United Nations in Geneva and New York, and Morimoto in New York. That path matters here because Umu asks for several forms of control at once: counter discipline, diplomatic restraint, and the confidence to let a Scottish langoustine sit inside a Japanese curing vocabulary without losing either identity.

The curing vocabulary of the menu

The signature register at Umu includes ginjo sake cured Scottish langoustine, wagyu beef and amadai tempura. The langoustine is the clearest statement of the kitchen’s method: a high-grade British ingredient, handled through a Japanese technique, served within the grammar of Kyoto-style kaiseki. Ishii’s cooking is organised around origin, seasonality and the natural flavour of the ingredient, rather than a visible chase for novelty.

The restaurant offers both tasting menu and à la carte formats, but the work remains bench-side in feeling. Hours of hand slicing and dicing produce presentations held to the same shape plate after plate. Ishii also extends the craft beyond the pass, overseeing floral arrangements and custom ceramic tableware. His own line, “I don’t see any border between cooking and pottery,” sits comfortably in the room; the vessel is not an accessory to the dish, it is part of the gesture.

A counter for close work

The room is quiet, refined and built for looking closely. Umu’s entrance on Bruton Place is discreet, and inside the pace narrows around the counter, where diners can watch the preparation and speak with Ishii and his team. That counter changes the temperature of the meal. It places the knife work, the garnish, the pause before service and the final adjustment in the same field of vision as the finished plate.

The wider dining room keeps the mood formal without theatrical weight: elegant décor, intimate corners, enough calm for the sequence to land. The service style suits the food. Kaiseki needs space between courses, and Umu gives the kitchen that room.

One star, one disciplined address

Umu holds one Michelin star, recognition attached to this Mayfair address, not borrowed from any earlier station in Ishii’s career. Awards are not the center of the work here, but they do mark continuity: a Kyoto-inspired restaurant in London that has kept its attention on fish, water, vegetables and the hands that order them. The venue serves ginjo sake cured Scottish langoustine.