Murukami

Upmarket casual Japanese

Murukami bites

Murukami is a semi-modern Japanese restaurant located in Covent Garden which has just recently relaunched after refurbishment. I said semi-modern because the food is hardly traditional with a fair amount of western engineered dishes. But at the same time, the concept and cooking is not as adventurous or as creative compared to the likes of Shakafu. We opted for the a la carte menu. The soft shell crab rolls with avocado was average at best, it lacked flavours. As was the tobiko, while the spicy mayo dominated everything else, and at a cost of £14 for such a tiny portion, it was hardly worth it. The baby squid tempura was close to fast food level, too heavy in its seasoning and the batter was far too thick. 

Soft-shell crab rolls

Rainbow rolls

The aburi rainbow rolls were basically a selection of sushi rolls containing either salmon, tuna and prawn. The freshness of the cucumber and the buttery texture of the avocado worked well as a contrast. The richness of the salmon tasted the best out of the three, its oiliness and fatty acid goes hand in hand with the mild profile of the Murakami sauce, which tasted like a cross version of thousand island and mayo. Marinated baby ribs was the star dish on the day, the meat was really moist and contained a lovely richness of sweet and spicy flavours from the BBQ sauce plus a light touch of chilli.

BBQ ribs

To sum it up, the menu was a story of two halves. The first part was a disappointment with some very questionable execution while the latter part of the menu injected much more positivity and higher quality output. Service was pretty top notch and well mannered but then again I was expecting that considering the cost you would need have to pay for a meal there. It is rather expensive and if it wasn't for the special offer, I was not so sure it was value for money, there are simply much more affordable choices in the area. 

Food 2.5/5

What I paid: 
£15 per head 

Average cost without drinks and services:
£30

63-66 St Martin's Ln, London WC2N 4JS

http://murakami.london/