The Ned’s new bottomless brunch doesn’t feature a single poached egg. Nor hunks of sourdough — or bread at all, for that matter. Instead, Sunday mornings at the hotel’s Asian restaurant, Kaia, involve a lively spread of sashimi, prawn tempura and all-you-can-eat poke bowls. All washed down with umami-infused Bloody Marys and free-flowing sake.
“Sushi has become increasingly popular for brunch,” explains The Ned’s managing director Gareth Banner, who says guests go wild for the two-hour Asian-Pacific-inspired feast. Tickets are £45 and other welcome drinks range from Asahi beer to Asian tea, while desserts include chocolate and sesame slices and matcha cheesecake. Tables are booked up three weeks in advance.
It makes a change from pancakes and toast, says Banner. “Diners are making healthier choices across the board.” The most popular dishes are salmon sashimi, tuna poke and robata grill lamb cutlets — though turning Japanese doesn’t mean you can’t get your avocado fix.
Nobu Shoreditch’s bottomless prosecco and sushi menu features salmon avocado cutrolls while Flesh & Buns’ brunch includes salmon avocado rolls served with asparagus, daikon cress and yuzu mayo.
It’s brunch but with a Japanese twist — and it’s more than just fish and rice: other wonder dishes at Nobu include crispy piglet belly served with mustard miso, shiso and buns, and Portobello mushrooms with tomato pickle and wasabi mayo. Try the sobacha crème brûlée for dessert.
At Aqua Kyoto in Soho, head chef Paul Greening lets you choose your level of hedonism. The fan-shaped brunch menu is divided into two halves: a healthier “purity” menu of tuna tacos, vegetable gyozas and buckwheat yakisoba or a heartier “indulgence” menu of teriyaki chicken wings, rock shrimp tempura and Japanese pancakes with honey-cured bacon, tonkatsu sauce and katsubushi — a type of dried, fermented and smoked tuna. Guests can choose to accompany the food with bottomless bubbles and Bellinis for £49 or Veuve Clicquot for £69.
At Yashin Ocean House in South Kensington there is a roaring trade in its two-hour bottomless brunch with unlimited sushi starters and free-flowing champagne from £60. And at Sakagura’s sushi brunch in Soho guests can choose from unlimited champagne, Japanese Bloody Marys or sake — the perfect way to celebrate London Sake Week, which runs until Sunday. Try the sparkling Gekkeikan sake from on-site sommelier Natsuki Kikuya, a lighter, sweeter alternative to normal Japanese rice wine.
