With a name meaning ‘happiness’, the striking new restaurant Sachi, has just opened in Belgravia and is the newest addition to the six-floor Nordic-Japanese Pantechnicon, a place to eat, drink, shop and experience, in this upmarket district of London.
Opened in September 2020, Pantechnicon is the home of Nordic and Japanese creativity and craftsmanship, where guests can eat, drink, shop and explore. It houses two Japanese and Nordic design shops, the UK’s first Café Kitsuné, a roof garden bar and winter terrace, a Nordic bar and restaurant – Eldr (meaning ‘fire’ in Old Norse), and Sakaya – a micro-bar and bottle shop.
Sachi is a new Japanese restaurant on the lower ground floor of the building. It’s a space that aims to surprise and delight guests as they are taken on a journey across Japanese regional flavours using unique ingredients.
Menus Inspired by regional Japanese Cooking
Head Chef Collin Hudson (Dinings, Roka) and Pantechnicon’s Executive Chef Chris Golding (Nobu, Zuma, Dinings) have collaborated to create a menu based on the diverse regional cooking of Japan. Contemporary dishes have the local delicacies of Hokkaido, Osaka and Fukuoka woven into their design. All are crafted using seasonal, local ingredients like Sussex-grown Japanese Greens, organically reared Scottish trout and British-made wasabi. In keeping with Pantechnicon’s overarching theme, there are hints of Nordic flavours and ingredients interspersed. At the bar, a curated drinks list includes craft cocktails, rare Asian whiskeys and sakes from Pantechnicon’s in-house bottle shop, Sakaya.
Understated Design
Focusing on natural materials for its authentic furnishings (many of which have never been sent outside of Japan before), the aesthetic is practical and understated. Diners eat using Japanese handcrafted ceramics, cutlery, chopsticks, and wooden bowls all created in specialist workshops; Matsukan has been making chopsticks since 1922, Gato Mikio is a 100-year-old woodworking house and 1616/arita use 400-year-old techniques to make its ceramics. Staff uniform aprons come from the birthplace of Japanese denim, Kojima in Okayama Prefecture, along with indigo shirts handmade by Kyoya, a traditional dyehouse operating for over 100 years in Tohoku northern Japan.
Take a seat at the sushi chef’s table
Those who enjoy an element of theatre accompanying dinner will relish a seat at the sushi table. The eight-seater sushi bar acting as the chefs’ stage, is crafted from warm oak and bright burnished brass with a blue clay brick plinth. Watch on as line-caught fish – such as tuna akami, trout, sea bream and scallops – are prepared in front of your eyes. Hot dishes too are served table-side; pork belly and barley miso with mustard leaf and chicken, chili shio koji with baby peach, and seabass usuzukuri with lava salt and sea buckthorn, are just some of the mouthwatering combinations to be sampled.
Book a private vaulted booth in the Japanese garden
Offering a contrasting experience to the chef’s table, the venue’s charming Japanese Garden contains cosy hidden Noren-covered booths, ideal for a romantic alfresco meal. Or there’s the large open plan restaurant area, as well as a private dining room for extra exclusivity, incorporating a bar inspired by Tokyo’s secret speakeasies.
At Sachi you can be seen, or enjoy privacy. The choice is yours.
Sachi is open weekly from Wednesday to Sunday 5pm to Midnight (view menu here) and is included in our guide to the best restaurants in London.
Contact Details
Website: www.pantechnicon.com/sachi
Address: Sachi, 19 Motcomb Street, London, SW1X 8LB
