Zuma

Address: 5 Raphael Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1DL, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 7584 1010
Website: view Zuma’s website
Style: Restaurant bar
Food: Set menu

Review

This modern pan-Asian restaurant and bar attracts more rich and pretty people in one night than the red carpet at a film premiere. The bar here is just as strong as the renowned modern Japanese cuisine on offer to diners.

Zuma occupies the former site of the Chicago Rib Shack and it's not just the clientele that has changed. More than 100 tonnes of Italian granite was specially quarried and imported to add a cave-like feel to the clean designer interior (the largest piece forms one corner of the bar).

The front area of the large open-plan restaurant houses the island bar and surrounding lounge. Asian influences are obvious - there's a range of sparkling, warm and still sakes available by the carafe and bottle, and some shochu. For a Japanese restaurant, it's by no means an exhaustive list of such drinks, but sake, shochu, plum wine and shiso leaves, as well as Japanese whiskies, flavour many of the Asian-influenced cocktails too.

Expect some very glamorous looking It-girls and well-heeled business types. Zuma is one of London's places to see and be seen.