RAI to reopen in Bloomsbury next month

By Restaurant

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RAI to reopen in Bloomsbury next month
Omakase restaurant RAI will reopen in a new London location having been closed for a year.

The restaurant was previously located on Windmill Street in Fitzrovia but is relocating to a site nearby on Bayley Street in Bloomsbury.

With only five tables, the main dining room will seat a maximum of 10 people. It will also have a separate sushi counter that can seat up to eight guests.

Food will be served omakase-style in a multi-course menu using top-end ingredients such as the highest-grade Hyōgo Prefecture kobe and A5 Kagoshima wagyu beef; Sanpuku nori, which the restaurant says is the finest nori from Japan’s Ariake Sea; Koshihikari rice, which is considered to be one of the best sushi rices; fresh Japanese wasabi that takes up to 3 years to grow; and ‘extremely rare’ aged soy sauces up to 38 years aged in 100 years old cedar barrel. 

RAI-sashimi-driftwood-web

Dishes on the tasting menu will include homemade tofu and natto gyoza accompanied by traditional dashi broth; ikijime seabass garnished with yuzu beurre blanc, and kombu and citrus oil; hand-dived scallops from Scotland with yuzu, shisho pesto and British caviar; unagi and ethical foie gras with English truffle; and sushi and sashimi with koshihikari rice, sanpuku nori with aged soy sauces and freshly grated Japanese wasabi.

The tasting menu will be priced from £130 per person. For diners at the sushi counter there will be an a la carte menu as well as omakase sushi set menus, which start from £75.

RAI was launched by executive chef Padam Raj Rai and director Shrabaneswor Rai in January 2002​, replacing the duo’s sushi and steak restaurant brand Hot Stone. The duo also run a Hot Stone restaurant in Islington's Chapel Market and Kibako Restaurant in Fitzrovia.

RAI Bloomsbury is due to open on 7 February. 

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