Although it wasn’t as entertaining as the truffled rice. “Time for me to be Michael Jackson,” our waiter says, before slipping on a white glove and shaving truffle with reckless abandon. If you eat anything here, ever, eat the rice. It’s full-bodied and rich, packed with butter, garlic, onion, chives and black sesame seeds, the latter toasted for texture. And zenmai, or royal fern, which is a wild vegetable from Japan’s mountainous regions. It’s quite rare and hard to harvest. But well worth the effort, delivering earthiness, astringency, a subtle bitterness.
MA/NA, Mayfair: Japanese-inspired restaurant full of rich mahogany and beautiful people
