Prepare to be slightly surprised at this Instagrammable spot in Mayfair
There is a particular type of person one might associate with Sexy Fish, the Asian restaurant and bar in London’s Berkeley Square. And, let’s be brutally honest, it’s not me. Hell, I’m so diametrically the opposite of the implied Sexy Fish customer I’d be afraid that, if I met one, we’d either cancel one another out like matter and antimatter, or cause the end of the known universe.
It was with a little trepidation then that I visited Sexy Fish. Given that Mayfair hasn’t imploded in “The Great Sushi Blackhole of 2023” should give some indication that my fears may have been slightly unjustified. Or, indeed, that I was turned away for not being thin and beautiful. Or kicked out for not posting a selfie within regulation time…
I am, perhaps, being unfair. While Sexy Fish undoubtedly encourages such behaviour with its Instagrammable interior, impressive address and funkily uniformed personnel:
- a) they are not really responsible for the behaviour of whatever miniscule percentage of customers are pouting, iPhone-wielding fashionistas;
- b) you get those people everywhere right now;
- c) the food is actually good;
- d) the new Kuikku lunch menu is a bit of a bargain.
I enter the place whispering to myself to “keep an open mind… keep an open mind” so, of course, I’m sat just below where two models are in the middle of a photoshoot. Before my eyes can roll entirely back in my head, however, the utterly charming and very efficient staff step in to show that, first and foremost, Sexy Fish is still a restaurant. Menus are efficiently explained, cocktails are ordered and then begins the long-ish process of tackling the Kuikku lunch.
Sexy Fish
Perhaps unsurprisingly, “Kuikku” translates as “quick”, aptly named as it promises a three course/six dish relatively healthy lunch, for £38, served in no longer than 45 minutes. You start with a detox shot – fruity, gingery, very warming, you know the drill – and finish with a choice of pudding, either the healthy fruit option or the less healthy (but much more delicious) chocolate caramel bar. In between, you get to choose four dishes, from a pool of around 25 or so, split across six categories: Poseidon (“protein power”); Skinny Dip (“lean”); Barrier Reed (“immunity boosters” ho ho see what they did there); Pleasure Island (“pure indulgence”); Naked Lunch (“vegan”); and Kiss of Life (“longevity”).
Between the two of us, we pick our way through the likes of chicken kara age (with tonkatsu mayo); crispy tofu, with chilli and lime; miso eggplant; kimchi fried rice; sea bass crudo with pepper and apple; steamed sea bass with coriander and chilli; caramelised beef with yuzu koshu (an £8 supplement); and salmon teriyaki. There’s a couple of disappointments – the beef was a little underpowered, the kara age a little lacking in crispiness – but, for the most part, it’s a very good, very well cooked, well sourced lunch. The broth on the steamed sea bass should replace the detox shot, frankly, while the tofu (look, I’m as surprised as you) and the kimchi rice – the ordering of which got a nod of approval from our server – will form the basis of any return I make. Which may yet happen.
Hell, when you can easily drop £20+ in neighbouring sandwich shops for mayo, bread, and a piece of cake, £38 for a properly energising lunch such as this seems like very decent value. Admittedly cocktails – at around £20 a pop – do make that slightly less economic but, for the curious and abstemious, prepare to be slightly surprised.
Sexy Fish
Neil Davey was a guest of Sexy Fish. The Kuikku lunch menu is served from Monday to Friday (12pm-4pm) and priced from £38 per person. Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London W1J 6BR; sexyfish.com
