As you already know from previous posts (
here,
here, and
here), I’m a pretty huge fan of
Sake no Hana. It’s right opposite my club so really handy to just park and walk across the road, and they do really delicious Japanese food in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, thus it’s a great place to go with friends.
Last week Dan and I went along to try the
Sake no Hana bar’s limited edition
Sakura bar. Sakura is the celebration of spring and the Japanese cherry blossom season, and Sake no Hana have taken inspiration from the ancient Japanese custom of enjoying the passing beauty of the ‘Sakura’ cherry blossom by feasting on sake and sushi under the trees, and turned their bar into a beautiful cherry blossom garden!
We started with the beautiful Violet Risshun cocktail, which was the most fun cocktail I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and one of the tastiest, too! If you look at the photo at the top of this post it shows three different glasses, and the cocktail is basically three-in-one. The carafe contains Jinzu Gin,
green chartreuse, grapefruit and lemon juice, shiso syrup and Burlesque bitters, while the jug contains Belsazar rose vermouth, maraschino cherry, cranberry and lemon juice.
The idea is to have a small glass of each, and then you combine the two to create another cocktail – tada! Three in one! Both were delicious individually, and I actually think I preferred them individually rather than mixed together. All of them tasted really sweet which I loved as I’m not a huge fan of bitter cocktails.
While we were tasting our cocktails the spinach with cassava and white miso soup arrived. This soup is my favourite soup of all time, Sake no Hana serve it with almost every set and special menu they do, and I love it.
After the miso soup we moved on to the ‘picnic box’, which consisted of various sashimi and sushi. I love the idea of having a
picnic box under the cherry blossom trees, and the gentle, floral scent of Floris Cherry Blossom really brought to life the faux cherry blossoms that surrounded us (my hair kept catching in them, much to our amusement). The sashimi was just perfection, and the sushi was also the usual high standard you get at Sake no Hana. It was quite hard to photograph through
the box in a confined space though!
Last but not least was the dessert, a Sakura Cotton Cheesecake. As you all know I’m a dessert girl, but this dessert was something else. The cheesecake tasted more cakey than a normal cheesecake, but it was delicious – incredibly light, it melted in the mouth and the fresh cherries, cream cheese and cherry sorbet it came with were the perfect accompaniments.
After our dessert two cherry blossom macarons arrived. These were tasty, however they were slightly undercooked and a little too soft and chewy. A very small flaw in an otherwise perfect meal.
The bar was really breathtaking, and I didn’t realize the flowers were faux until the very end when I touched one! It was designed by renowned florist Veevers Carter to capture the essence and ethos of the Japanese cherry blossom season, aka Sakura, and it really makes the bar come alive in such a magical way.
We really loved Sake no Hana’s Sakura experience, the food was just enough to fill us up but not leave us feeling bloated and heavy, and the cherry blossom bar was just stunning. As always the staff were really helpful with the menu and asked if we had any
allergies before the food was presented to us.
 |
| Press Photo |
Visit their website to find out more about
Sakura at Sake no Hana and book a table – you’ll have to be quick though as it’s only running until 20th June 2015!
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*Our meal was complimentary, but all views are, as always, my own honest opinion.
Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
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We started with the beautiful Violet Risshun cocktail, which was the most fun cocktail I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and one of the tastiest, too! If you look at the photo at the top of this post it shows three different glasses, and the cocktail is basically three-in-one. The carafe contains Jinzu Gin, green chartreuse, grapefruit and lemon juice, shiso syrup and Burlesque bitters, while the jug contains Belsazar rose vermouth, maraschino cherry, cranberry and lemon juice.
It all looks so pretty! Need to find a friend to go with me now!
Sandra x
cakeandwhisky.wordpress.com
It's so pretty! Find someone to go and then GO – it's so worth it!
C x
I LOVE Sake no Hana! Aaaah I can't believe how pretty it looks with cherry blossom arch and flowery bar. I'd be there in a flash is I wasn't stuck in Shoreditch! Keep the beautiful photos coming 😉 x
Jasiminne | Posh, Broke, & Bored
Sameeee! It's one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in London!
C x
Ahhhhh I really need to get down to Sake no Hana, this looks beautiful! The food looks wonderful – I love how cute the little picnic box is – and those flowers are stunning! Can't believe they're fake, the look so real!
Lauren xx | The Lifestyle Diaries
You should!! It's fantastic food and such gorgeous surroundings!
C x
Aren't the blooms just so pretty (though the meal sounds scrummy as well!)
So so pretty!
C x
How delectable, and all under cherry blooms!
That picnic box looks so adorable, and even though the macarons were underdone, they still looked picture pretty as a picture. In fact, the whole ambience and decor of Sake No Hana looks pretty wonderful. It's a restaurant I'm just going to have to visit some day soon!
Polly xx
Follow Your Sunshine
It was so cute! Everything was so beautifully presented!
C x
This looks amazing. Not just the food, but the actual restaurant looks magical with all those blossomy flowers. Putting it on the list!
Yes, it was gorgeous! Definitely one to visit!
C x
I'm going on Monday and am even more excited now after seeing your pics! It all looks so pretty.
Eeek I hope you enjoy it!!
C x
This place looks so beautiful let alone the food. Ideal for cocktails and sushi I think. Definitely going to check it out. Thanks for sharing 🙂 Lots of love, Andrea xxx
http://www.andreaspassions.com
It's so gorgeous, I loved it! Definitely do – let me know what you think of it 🙂
C x
Those cherry blossom macaroons are magnificent – I walk past Sake no Hana almost every day and admire their cherry blossom outside. Looks like a fantastic evening
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
This place looks amazing – gorgeous photos!
Oh my this place looks wonderful! I've always wanted to try Japanese food, it looks delicious! x
http://www.sheintheknow.co.uk