About Umu
Umu occupies a discreet Mayfair mews on Bruton Place and has held one Michelin star continuously since 2009. The kitchen specialises in Kyoto-style kaiseki — multi-course seasonal menus structured around traditional cooking techniques rather than the Edomae sushi counter format — and maintains what is widely considered the largest sake list in London, with over 160 bottles catalogued by region and brewer.
The dining room is low-lit, Japanese-minimal, and divided into intimate zones that allow for genuine conversation. The counter seats offer the closest equivalent to an omakase experience; the private tables work for discrete business dinners. Service is polished-Japanese rather than polished-European: precise, quiet, explanatory when invited.
Tasting menus run from £170 to £295 depending on configuration, with sake pairings adding substantially. The seasonal omakase format is the point of the visit — the kitchen rewrites its tasting every two to three weeks around the Japanese seasonal calendar.
Best Occasion Fit
Umu is the Mayfair default for Japanese clients who would otherwise assume London can't execute kaiseki properly. The sake depth, the Kyoto lineage of the cooking, and the mews address combine into a statement that reads correctly to anyone who knows the category. Excellent for deals where the client is Japanese or particularly sophisticated about Japanese cuisine.
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