Chino Latino: Amazing Pan Asian

Really, really good Asian cuisine in London? Surely not!

I’m assured by a Japanese friend of mine that such a thing is highly unlikely, unless you want to pay about £200 a head for it. So imagine my surprise when I rocked up to this über-cool (so cool that I’m okay with calling it über-cool) eaterie and found the food to be out of this world.

I really need to get that in first, because I’m still buzzing off it a bit. It was properly orgasmic food, and I rarely feel that way about anything that doesn’t involve chocolate. Now that that’s off my chest, allow me to explain how I was brought to such heights of pleasure.

I’m not the world’s biggest sushi fan. Or, at least, I didn’t used to be until I tried the prawn tempura, sliced yellow tail with coriander chilli and yuzu soy and then the Tanuki roll with tuna, salmon, sea bass and avocado crispy tempura. I almost cried it was so good.

But then came the main course – char-grilled sirloin steak, served sizzling at the table over hot rocks with wasabi ponzu sauce, and the black cod, glazed with spicy miso. Both were exquisite with the tenderness of the meat made that much more sumptuous by the sauces oozing out. Isn’t it amazing how much room you can find in your stomach when there’s heavenly food to be had?

The dessert was really good, too, but I’ll speed through it because it wasn’t spectacularly Asian: little cakes and coconut cream and fruit. But the more pressing thing to mention has to be the cocktails, surely. The list is really innovative, with variations on classics as well as Chino Latino signature drinks. They were delicious. Oh, and strong. So be careful.

Pricey? Well, given that this is a spectacularly good restaurant located within a high-end hotel, it was never going to be cheap. The main courses are around the £20 mark, sushi rolls and starters around £10 and the cocktails around £8. Given that it’s around £45 a head, it’s not the cheapest night out but not catastrophically expensive either. On the other hand, if you’re desperate for a miniature sushi fix, there are bar bites at £4.50 per dish. Overall, Chino Latino is a microcosm of eating out in London. You can get absolutely knee-tremblingly good food but you’ll have to fork out.

Chino Latino
Riverbank Park Plaza
18 Albert Embankment
Lambeth
SE1 7TJ

Tel:  0207 769 2500