Ubon

I've been dying to try the food at one of the Nobu restaurants, so today with a craving for sushi making my mouth water, I decided to treat myself to lunch at Ubon. To be fair I've just returned from a trip to Japan where my sushi experiences were out of this world... but still.

I'm no Canary Wharf high roller so I chose the Bento lunch special which cost £31. The meal was... so-so. The black cod was barely above average; I've had better at Atami. The accompanying spinach was chewy and lifeless, and the pickled vegetable had no crunch. The spicy garlic vegetables was uninspiring and the sushi was not much better than what you can get at Wasabi.

While the staff were pleasant enough and the service fairly quick, I found the decor drab, tired and uninspiring. Overall, I did not feel Ubon was good value for money. There are other less well known sushi restaurants in London that while not been on the same level as eating in Tokyo, are heads above Ubon and will leave you with ample change for a cocktail or three at a swish bar.
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Drake
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Monday, August 04, 2008

Having previously eaten lunch here (great lobster & shrimp salad), I had high expectations when returning for dinner with my date. Unfortunately several 'niggles' added up to spoil the evening. Firstly, despite being 3/4 empty they seated a noisy corporate party next to us, which the BF objected to and although we were moved (one along), our waiter didn't seem happy despite the fact our food hadn't even arrived yet. Agree with others that it is a rather formal atmosphere but the staff are polite if not overkeen to extend themselves. They let us walk out w/o our doggy bag of sushi.

My biggest gripe is that everything arrived in single file with about 20-30mins between each 'course'. Which meant we polished off a (large) plate of endamame beans... before being served a salmon skin salad... then 20-30mins later our mains arrived. I'd also ordered a couple of soft shelled crab rolls to kick start the sushi part of our meal, but we had to wait another 30mins for them so by that time we felt 'full'. Also everything was super salty, and not having anything to counter (e.g. rice to go with the salty salmon salad), meant we were drinking water like it was going out of fashion. Oh and our green tea mugs smelled fishy (clearly no segregation in the dishwasher).

Disappointing experience really considering how pricey it is. I'll try Nobu next time...
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Niron Gil
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Thursday, March 06, 2008

If you go here for one reason and one reason alone, let it be the black cod... It's not just a dish, but an experience that will stick in the memory for a long time! As other diners have commented, Ubon is pricey and it's better to leave it as a rare treat, or when someone else is picking up the tab! The setting is too formal for a date and too sterile for a big outing with friends, but it would be a good place to celebrate after thrashing out a big deal at work...

The sushi is fresh, quirky and lovingly-made... I would particularly recommend any of the soft-shell crab dishes too. The view from the restaurant is pretty and we had no complaints about the service, but it's not the easiest place to find... In summary, I'd say you have to try it at least once a year.
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Tehmina
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I ate at Ubon last Saturday night and I was very impressed! We had the chef's tasting menu, which was a culinary journey beginning with sashimi, followed by exquisite ceviche, lobster, seabass broth, rack of lamb, complete with oriental vegetables. The attention to detail in the dishes was remarkable, eachone looks like a piece of art, quickly destroyed by chopsticks! Lastly green tea mousse with coconut icecream finished off the evening. Georgeous view of the Thames in a contemporary setting.
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Jemma
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, December 03, 2007