The top line: 45 Curtain road is the signature restaurant within 45 London, the hotel that the was formerly The Curtain and more recently The Mondrian. Described as a Japanese-inspired chophouse with Mediterranean influences, the restaurant occupies the site that was once home to Marcus Samuelsson’s fried chicken spot Red Rooster and then Dani García’s Spanish restaurant Bibo. Leading the kitchen is executive chef Alex Furusawa-Cadoni, a trained omakase chef who has spent time as a private chef and who also provides kitchen consultancy and support in Japanese cuisine.
On the menu: The restaurant’s elevator pitch is that it combines ‘bold flavours with Japanese techniques and both local and Japanese seasonal ingredients’. In practice this means a menu that features a large selection of snacks and starters, including aonori milk bread with melted butter and either red miso or sobrasada; crystal prawn tempura with burford brown ‘onsen tamago’, togarashi, and sansho glaze; morcilla and prawn ‘tsukune’ with mustard sumiso, lotus root, and furikake; beef tartare with smoked dashi, crispy potato, and confit egg yolk; and horse mackerel crudo with radish, aubergine, tosazu jelly, yuzu olive oil. Larger dishes include josper grilled John Dory; whole blue lobster with sansho butter; a dry-aged T-bone steak; and a Suffolk pork chop with sides that include wood fired carabinero rice; tomato salad; smoked beef fat pink fir potatoes;and mac & cheese. For desserts, the kitchen team has really let its creative juices flow with options such as matcha churros; a hybrid Spanish/French toast with sherry caramel and an Asian twist of tofu ice cream; and jamon ice cream with sherry, yuzu olove and kombu. The wine list is tighter than one might expect for a hotel restaurant offer, with whites denoted by categories including ‘crisp and refreshing’, ‘complex and mineral’, ‘rich and iconic’, and ‘bright and dry’, and reds divided into ‘juicy and easy’, ‘balanced and savoury’, ‘bold and structured’ and ‘refined and iconic’ rather than by from where they are from.
The vibe: Effort has gone into making 45 Curtain Road a moody and opulent space that leans into its Japanese inspiration, with dark coloured walls, flowers hanging from the ceiling above the bar area, low hanging lighting, and wooden blinds on the windows. Wooden tables, light brown banquette seating and sage green chairs complete the look.
And another thing: 45 Curtain Road is part of 45 London, which is located within Virgin Hotel London-Shoreditch that also includes rooftop dining, co-working areas and lounges, events spaces, a late-night club and lounge, and spa and wellness sanctuary.
45 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3PT / www.45london.com/45-curtain-road