The group behind Los Mochis has opened a Japanese restaurant and late bar on Upper Grosvenor Street, with a kitchen that cooks without gluten, nuts or celery and a DJ every night.
Most Japanese kitchens in London lean on soy sauce, tempura batter and wheat noodles, which leaves a guest with coeliac disease ordering around the menu. The new restaurant and late bar at 30 Upper Grosvenor Street in Mayfair says every dish it serves is gluten free and made without nuts or celery, with Coeliac UK approval. It comes from Thesleff Group, the London operator of Los Mochis, and opened this year.
Tempura and gyoza without wheat
Tempura, gyoza, karaage and onigiri all appear, as do sushi and a full robata section of skewers over the grill. The restaurant says soy and sesame are widely used.
A table that includes a guest with coeliac disease can share the whole menu, and nobody needs to order separately. Plates are designed to be shared and arrive as they are ready rather than in courses.
Leonard Tanyag at the robata
Executive chef Leonard Tanyag leads the kitchen, and the restaurant describes his menu as time-honoured Japanese technique seen through a modern London lens. MA/NA names precision, heat and rhythm as its three principles. Wagyu, octopus and free-range chicken thigh go over the robata, a truffle fried rice uses short-grain rice from Niigata Prefecture, and a dark chocolate fondant comes with wasabi ice cream.
The name is the restaurant’s own gloss on “mana”, the unseen life force: MA for the space between moments, NA for the energy within them. For each meal served, the restaurant says it provides another to someone in need, through the group’s partnerships with The Felix Project, StreetSmart and Magic Breakfast.
Amber light until half past one
Thesleff Group designed MA/NA as a room where cocktails move into dinner and back into drinks. The group names soft amber lighting inspired by Tokyo at night among its references, along with centrepiece art commissioned for the space. Beside the dining room there is a bar and lounge with a DJ every night. The kitchen serves until midnight and the doors stay open until 1.30am from Monday to Saturday, and until 12.30am on Sunday. The restaurant also opens for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays, and the dress code is smart elegant.
The bar keeps a list of rare sakes beside its premium spirits. The tasting menus offer a sake pairing that opens on Dassai 23, alongside a wine pairing and an alcohol-free one.
Eighteen at the table, three hundred standing
For a private occasion, MA/NA has a private dining room seating up to 18, and the whole venue takes standing parties of up to 300. Three group tasting menus, each designed to be shared among four, run from a lighter selection to one built around king crab, o-toro and a seasonal sushi platter, and each can take a wine or sake pairing.