Me really, really heart sushi

For most mid-range restaurants, passing trade is a really big deal. Customer interest is piqued by walking past a place and seeing it heaving with happy clientele. If you’re off the beaten track, you probably have to work that little bit harder and develop a reputation: the other massive tool in piquing consumer interest. I often feel bad for the restaurants based in Imperial Wharf. Hidden away from Townmead Road in a smart, but slightly apart, housing development, the only passing trade they can count on are residents, and many of those appear to be fairly absentee. However, the one advantage is: those restaurants really have to work harder and develop a reputation. Imperial Wharf newbie Blue Elephant developed a fantastic one over all those years at Fulham Broadway, and can rely on it to tempt customers into their quieter riverside location in South Fulham. Having sampled the delicious food at Yamal Alsham too, it’s clear that restaurant is betting their success on developing word of mouth recommendations about how god damn tasty their dishes are. Today, I’d like to throw in another recommendation. You’ve got to check out the amazing Japanese food at Me Love Sushi.

The restaurant interior is slick and fairly minimalist, but it benefits from a large bar area out front with all the usual cocktails, comfy sofas and a surprisingly decent price point (£6.50 for a mojito is not bad going in Fulham). What it lacks in buzzy atmosphere, my Wednesday evening visit found the restaurant pretty quiet, it certainly makes up for once the food lands on your table. I visited with a strict vegetarian, and our vegetable tempura was beautifully light and fresh tasting – none of the oily, broiled rubbish you often find. We followed with delicious pumpkin fritters, served with a deliciously fresh and sharp dipping sauce and a full variety of rainbow vegetable futomaki. Considering sushi restaurants usually square their offering at fish-lovers (makes sense really) I was pleasantly surprised at the huge variety available for those not so keen on our sea-dwelling friends. There are interesting spicy meat and vegetable salads, noodles and rice dishes, as well as an enormous range of seafood. In fact the range in general was fantastic, and many dishes were exciting and inventive. Soft-shell crab, deep red salmon and fresh tuna all featured heavily and my favourite dish had to be my soft shell crab tempura futomaki, which was a fab mix of fresh, soft and crunchy, all at once.

The prices are fairly high. But the quality is undeniable. I think it would be great for a quick girly catch up with friends, especially if you indulged in a few of the cocktails at the bar first. I took advantage of their 2 for 1 offer with Tastecard: half the price equals twice as nice!

Me Love Sushi
8 The Boulevard
Imperial Wharf
Townmead Road
London SW6 2UB

Sake No Hana - great food and location, mediocre service

I admit that the whole furore surrounding this place had totally passed me by. To the extent that, when looking to book a cheap Wednesday night dinner with friends, and spotting it on the Tastecard listings, I assumed it must have been a much cheaper affair than it actually was. After all, TasteCard doesn't usually offer you deals on anywhere remotely fancy! I didn't follow through to the restaurant website (poor research I know) and was rather mortified when I turned up, having promised the girls a quick, and cheap, bite to eat, courtesy of my 50% discount.

Nonetheless, the surprise ended up being less embarassing, are more fabulous. Luckily, despite the dinner being scheduled the day before pay day, everyone was so excited by how goddam GORGEOUS this place is, that we barely registered the prices.

Sake No Hana is situated in what looks like a commercial building just off Picadilly, near Green Park. There is an intimate, low-lit cocktail bar on the ground floor (drinks from £9.50... I'm afraid we passed!), and to reach the main restaurant you go up a floor either by lift or escalator. Riding the escalator felt like entering a trendy nightclub, all black lacquered walls and low-lighting. Once you emerge onto the first floor you are greeted by an open sushi-kitchen and a minimalist but luxuriously designed restaurant, with the emphasis on sculptural woods (especially gorgeous was the wooden design suspended from the ceiling), and sleek furniture in varying hues of white.

Unfortunately, it transpired that my 50% off deal did not apply to the sushi and sashimi, which is unfortunate in a Japanese restaurant, but again it was my fault for not doing the research as on post-meal inspection this was clearly advertised on the TasteCard website. Not that it mattered, of the four of us, three ordered Japanese mains.

The food, when it arrived (and it arrived as soon as it was ready - I understand this might be the Japanese way but I do think expensive restaurants should make the effort to make sure food arrives together) was absolutely delicious. I order Tonkatsu Pork on a bed of white cabbage, whilst two of my friends ordered the seared tuna salad. The last clearly couldn't control her sushi cravings for the sake of her wallet and went for a selection of, very expensive but divine-tasting, handrolls, maki and futomaki. The food was also beautifully presented on dark slates - I know this is not the most original, but I do think it looks good. However, the service was less than brilliant. I think we might have ended up with a bit of a rookie, newby waitress but she tried to bring us somebody elses food on three occasions, didn't know which plate was meant to go to each diner, and we did have to request a glass of wine three times over. However, on debating the service charge with the restaurant manager, he was extremely professional about the whole thing, removing the 13% charge (ouch!) without fuss.

All in all, we had a wonderful experience, and the few hiccoughs didn't spoil the evening for us. Although, admittedly the experience probably seemed even better because we were totally unaware of any of the hype surrounding this place, and had been expecting somewhere on a different scale completely. Plus, we were long over-due a catch up!