I think, before reviewing any more restaurants I should make something of an admission; I am a vegetarian. Yes, it's true, I go to most restaurants and have to order... Risotto. Or some flaky pastried goats cheese concoction. I hate, no. Loathe, goats cheese. As a cheese it lacks flavour, has the consistency of something that should be used to insulate walls and as the primary ingredient to a dish has all the charm of Bernard Manning doing stand up on a beach, dressed in ski wear.So I choose carefully- although sometimes I have no choice; Last week I was at dinner hosted by MPW at one of his restaurants. I was met with an enormous waxy ball of mozzarella, sitting atop a bed of unhappy rocket, followed by a risotto that was better described as bowl of 'salty rice soup'. In these situations I take myself to a little corner somewhere at the back of my brain and think of how things would've been during rationing.So! Japanese is a surprising refuge for a vegetarian- being a country where such a concept literally does not exist and they feed their cows beer, massage them every day for years and then take them for a brief jaunt down to the local abattoir.A friend of mine who spent a length of time in Tokyo, home of canned knickers and talking toilets, who now lives in London, has been educating me on the hidden gems of Japanese cuisine. The wonders of Kikuchi and DonZoko were certainly not lost on me and I have since dedicated myself to finding more such places; Inaho in Hereford Road, Sushi-Say in Willesden and Ukai (vegetarian sushi no less!) have all been introductions of mine to my learned friend and whilst mainly good, none of which have really earned the respect that the 2 former restaurants deserve.So it was with great smugness I brought my good friend to Sumosan on Albemarle Street; a well-sized, sophisticated Japanese restaurant with pleasing sounding starters (Sea Bream Carpaccio with Sweet Shrimps), convincing sushi menu with everything from Hokki Clam to Uni. The tuna belly was wonderfully meaty and almost fatty, a real gem. I had a mixture of vegetarian Teppan Yaki and tofu Sashimi salad, which was although slightly overdressed, felt fresh, was well presented and the tofu was the silkiest and creamiest I'd tasted in a long time. My companions Chicken Yakitori should probably being avoided, having little or no flavour and edged towards dry. Over a couple of hours we picked our way through a few dishes and on the whole it was genuinely very good. What was truly spectacular about this place was the Sake- We (not knowingly, NEVER knowingly) doubled our bill trying out Sakes and the waitress really knew what she was talking about; tell her your Sake needs and need no longer! The bill was large, but not astronomical; particularly considering we merrily and blurrily worked our way through 2 litres of Sake.I have as yet however, failed to beat my friends' recommendations…
