Sachi is a restaurant that is oddly hard to find. It is located at the top of the Pantechnicon building on Motcomb Street, which hosts several venues in a building constructed from the remains of the eponymous storehouse, of which Amelie on the ground floor is its diametric opposite – hard to miss and very clearly there.
But head up the lift to the top floor and it’s a rather wonderful surprise. The food here is inspired by kappo ryori cuisine – meaning ‘to cut and to cook’, crosses boundaries within the world of Japanese dining, sitting somewhere between formal kaiseki dining and casual izakaya-style cuisine. Which makes for a very interesting balance with robata meat skewers sitting on the menu alongside very tempting sushi and sashimi.
But before we get to the food, the venue itself is a delight. A long atmospheric room and, best of all, a terrace overlooking the street which was a perfect place to float above Knightsbridge on a warm late summer evening, with the sounds of the city below you and some excellent cocktails in hand. Try Silence is Golden, a variation on an old fashioned with bespoke whisky, Benedictine pineapple and Okinawa sugar – a proper drink for autumn – or their frankly lethal take on a mai tai, the Shikuwasa with Santiago De Cuba 11 Rum, Green Chartreuse, Velvet Falernum and Kalamansi.
The terrace is also perfect for their SACHI Sundowners- available Monday to Thursday 4pm to 7pm – where they make the offer of drinks on you, nibbles on us, in other words for every round of drinks you order, enjoy chef’s selection bites on the house. Yes please.
In other words, food aside this is an excellent place to get quietly smashed on some superb cocktails, and best of all you can even vape on the outside terrace while doing so, which is a rare and special treat these days.
But alone that would be a travesty as the food is worth your time and money (and it being Belgravia you need to be realistic that it will cost some money). We started with hamachi no usuzukuri, excellent Yellowtail tuna with sesame yuzu and enoki mushrooms, and maguro no karikari oshizushi – crispy sushi rice, punchy spiced tuna offset with creamy avocado. Both excellent. Salmon maki and seabream sashimi was almost taking it too far, but as I do not believe you can take it too far with quality seafood they were ordered, eagerly consumed and agreed to be excellent.
I was also tempted by the Maldon No 3 oysters with yuzu ponzu, pickled wasabi and lime at a more than reasonable £19 for six, because this is very much the kind of place lends itself to an order of half a dozen oysters matched with a martini (maybe with a Japanese twist). And a very happy diner you will be if you order as such.
Yet we needed to draw ourselves away and try the robata, albeit by this stage I had proved beyond doubt that my eyes were bigger than my tummy (albeit a photo would suggest otherwise). Trouble is that it’s the sort of menu where frankly I would eat everything on it, and with the skills in the kitchen to back that up. But it was worth the effort, as the Japanese A5 Wagyu striploin was magisterial. Perfectly cooked – soft red interior, layers of fat, but with a caramelised texture on the outside. I’d almost say skip the seafood and go straight for this, but then in no known universe would I ever say “skip the seafood”. But my goodness it was good.
Which is really what this place is, with the addition perhaps of “very”. The place looks great, the staff were superb all evening and very helpful, I love the terrace, the food is spot on. The whole package is very, very Belgravia. So, it’s worth the effort of finding – and it is not easy to find – because you’ll be coming back.
Sachi 19 Motcomb St, London SW1X 8LB – 020 7034 5405