As I walked down Cromwell Road towards my destination with the traffic thundering past me on a warm, dusty spring evening in Kensington my mind was working overtime trying to imagine what to expect from Umami – a newly opened Asian themed eatery.
What I found a few minutes later was a scene of peace and tranquillity at Umami, which translated is popularly referred to as 'savoriness' one of the five basic tastes. It can also mean a pleasant savoury taste, of which there were plenty to enjoy at this South Kensington haunt.
When I first discovered that Umami was attached to the Crowne Plazza Hotel I was left feeling a little cold as some of my least pleasurable eating experiences have been at restaurants affiliated to hotel chains.
However, I got a warm surprise and by the time I walked out the restaurant door several hours later my taste buds were still tingling from some memorable dishes from a creative and authentic menu with influences from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, put together by experienced head chef Darren Kutty.
First impressions are always important when you enter a restaurant and the light and airy Asian influenced design, which is the work of Roy Kirby of the renowned Design Coalition Partnership, is impressive although you do have to get over the fact that it is not completely separated from the hotel lobby area.
Apparently the team worked closely with a feng shui master who was hand-picked by the restaurant's Singaporean owners and the innovative design works well with various shades of a brown colour theme running throughout.
The lighting is modern and well positioned and there is a mixture of browny-orange leather seating with the spacious window booths, one of which we were lucky enough to get, the star attraction. The dark brown 'lacquered' effect tables and light marble flooring helps give a spacious and authentic feel to the restaurant.
Food at Umami is served in two sizes, to taste or to share, and the well priced dishes were expertly explained to us by a charming Thai waitress.
On her recommendation we went for three taste size starters, including the chef's signature dish of Tempura lychee – stuffed lychees with minced prawn and chicken in a light batter (£3). They arrived on a plate looking beautiful and delicate with each bite delivering great flavours and a lovely sweet and sour after-taste.
Our other two starters also lived up to their splendid presentation. Thai calamari (£5) was a delicate and fragrant fresh dish of squid tossed with sweet basil and soft peppercorn and leaves while the Pendan chicken (£4), delivered chunky pieces of char-grilled chicken marinated in mild, but tongue tingling, Thai spices from the northern region.
With a glass of light and refreshing Pinot Grigio Rosato del Veneto, Collezione Marchesini appropriately poured I chose for mains the Sotong Sumbat (£14) a Malayasian dish of baby squid with special minced chicken and slow cooked in a clay pot, which I had my eye on since first looking at the menu. It was a well seasoned dish and for someone who loves squid really hit the spot. The filling was flavoursome and the sauce subtle and spicy with a hint of coconut coming through to further whet the taste buds.
My partner Fiona, went for the Gang Kiew Wang Gai (£9) a Thai green curry with chicken, pea aubergine and baby corn. Her first words were 'this is fabulous' and her enjoyment continued to the very last spoonful as the perfect amount of chilli heat in the sauce was enough to make you reach for a tissue, but not so much that you sweat.
Add the crunch of horse chestnuts and bamboo and this was a Thai curry up there with the best she had experienced for a long time. We had accompaniments of steamed fragrant rice (£3) and tasty crunchy spicy stir-fried asparagus with yellow bean.
I finished the evening with Kuih Dada (£5) Malaysian coconut and palm sugar filled crepes – which was a bit too sweet and dry for my palette – and would have been enlivened by either of Fiona's scoops of chilli and lime sorbet ice creams (£5).
It was hard to find fault with the evening from the attentive and professional service, led by restaurant manager Chandril Sood, to the authenticity and flavours of the expertly presented and cooked dishes which come in at highly reasonable prices for this part of London.
In a competitive market and area Umami has made a promising start if it wants to really stand out from the crowd and attract local business and not just rely on hotel guests for its main custom – now it has to continue to deliver on all fronts and not fall in to the trap of becoming 'just another' hotel restaurant.
