Endo at the Rotunda (*) – London, England

'Tradition and innovation'. This is Endo Kazutoshi's mantra, one that was impressed upon him by his mother when he set out on his own, outside of the family business; tradition, because – being a third-generation sushi master – it is important to remember where one came from and continue family practices in the art of sushi-making. Innovation, because being a copy is not enough. Part of the latter is to embrace conviviality; rather than not communicate with guests, keeping them at arm's length in the way that his forefathers did, Endo embraces the spirit of 'Omotenashi': empathy towards one's guests.

Chef Endo's path to the Rotunda (located in the Helios building of the formerly BBC Television Centre in White City) came by way of an apprenticeship to Akitoshi Ohno in Nagoya, before heading to Spain to work at the Japanese Embassy, and thereafter ending up in London at Zuma. In 2019, Endo opened Endo at the Rotunda, and less than a year later the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star, which it has held ever since. In the summer of last year, Endo at the Rotunda underwent a renovation, installing a huge Hinoki wood counter designed by Kengo Kuma (which also decreased the number of covers per service to 10). Though the reduction in covers isn't monumental, it certainly doesn't make getting a reservation at one of the toughest places in London to get into any easier. But that's the nature of the beast (and it still is a metric fucktonne easier to get into than Japanese counterparts).

Endo at the Rotunda offers a currently 19-course omakase dining experience that is sensual and pleasing at almost every turn, as well as dealing in its fair share of surprises (two of which are pictured). As I've mentioned pictures: I did not take many of this visit as I think it somewhat goes against the spirit of attending a sushi omakase. However, there are a few here of the otsumami that I thought were particularly pleasing.

Rather than go chronologically, there were five dishes that stood out during my visit this past week: The oyster, the scallop, the pigeon, the chutoro and the otoro (binchotan). The oyster nigiri consisted of Irish oysters glazed with a sweet soy sauce (tsume), dusted with yuzu zest, and set atop very lightly-vinegared shari. This was a deliciously sweet and umami mouthful, the oyster melting in the mouth. This was followed by the texturally contrapuntal scallop from Orkney, which was somehwhat firm but incredibly moist. Topped with Kaluga caviar, this was a chewy, buttery delight. The pigeon came next, which was cooked to pink perfection, the pigeon consommé providing a sweetness that played well with the pigeon marinade of shio-koji. The chutoro (which, as well as the otoro used for the nigiri, comes from Spain, this being the last service until January where Endo would have Spanish Bluefin) was as lovely a piece of nigiri as you're like to find in London, where again a homemade soy sauce was used in addition to a dusting of yuzu zest. The final knockout bite came towards the end of the meal: the otoro nigiri, the otoro being seared over binchotan (which Endo sources from Japan), and set atop shari that was somewhat more heavily vinegared than previous nigiri. This worked really well with the otoro, which had caremelized slightly over the white charcoal.

Other dishes were very good but did not hit quite the same 'sit back and luxuriate' heights. These included first the Business Card, consisting of a mixture of chutoro and otoro (coming from Portuguese Bluefin), wrapped in crispy nori (two varieties, one of which comes from Tokyo bay) and topped with N25 Kaluga caviar (chosen to enhance the tuna's creaminess, and not particularly for salinity). In addition, the Gloucestershire Egg 'carbonara' was a lot of fun, where otoro was mixed with egg yolk, enoki mushrooms, cordyceps mushrooms, Australian truffles and the world-class cress that can only be found in Acton Town. Creamy but texturally varied due to the mushrooms and crispy kale, the second iteration came when – after only a little bit of the sauce remained – some sushi rice was added for a final decadent (and slightly dessert-like) mouthful. The cold udon noodles with spider crab from Devon were deliciously refreshing, while the A5 Wagyu from Miyazaki prefecture was a fitting end to the savoury courses; melt-in-the-mouth tender, it really could have been left alone, but with the asparagus and potato mousse, it was a condensed main course in and of itself.

All that is good and great now accounted for, the only dish that didn't do much for me was the pea and dashi soup. Though beautiful, this felt quite muted, and didn't have the freshness that one would hope for (perhaps a cold soup would bring the sweetness of the pea out more). Despite this, a meal at Endo (and with Endo) is a real treat. There is plenty of accomplished cooking on display here, not just in the high-quality nigiri (at least by London's standards), but also the otsumami that by-and-large can stand fully on their own two feet. If you can't get into Sushi Tetsu, try Endo at the Rotunda. If you can't get into Endo at the Rotunda, try Sushi Tetsu. But really, try both.

Courses:

1. Business Card
2. Mr. Tanaka-san Tuna
3. Surinagashi
4. Madai
5. Lobster
6. Summer Sweet Corn
7. Oyster
8. Scallop
9. Pigeon
10. Chutoro
11. Mackerel
12. Gloucestershire Egg
13. Sea Trout
14. Langoustine
15. Gotoh Udon
16. Sardine
17. Binchotan
18. Miyazaki Wagyu
19. Sake Lees from Cambridge