The Overview…
Miss Kasumi occupies a corner unit on Kew’s High Street. This place has really tried to cater for everyone, with its beautiful decor, variety of seating choices and vast menu options.
The Details…
The large unit is divided roughly in half by floor to ceiling glass windows, and it’s just wonderful. It allows staff to seat people in one of the smaller sections on quieter days, maintaining a lively atmosphere and helping them to be attentive with the service while keeping the other section available if diners want a quieter dining experience. On busier days it prevents the large seating area from becoming noisy and overcrowded and still gives it that air of intimacy and the ‘local restaurant’ feel (Also there’s the obvious advantage of being able to reserve a whole section for an event too). As well as this, when you arrive, you are taken over an adorable little bridge to your seats, which is so quintessentially Japanese you fall in love almost straight away.
The menu is huge, overwhelmingly so if you’re not a regular eater of Japanese food, but don’t worry they offer plenty of banquets for those who are unsure, and lots of menu advice if you just need a helping hand. We had NO CLUE what to order (mostly because we wanted everything) so we opted for a banquet. Honestly, while they might look expensive at first glance, there was SO MUCH food, you definitely won’t leave hungry, or disappointed.
The entree was fab from purely theatrics alone – but if you only order one thing from their menu make it the panko pork belly. The applewood smoked flavour is amazing. This dish is magical, and one of my favourite entrees I’ve ever eaten. Everything was plated beautifully throughout the night, but their entrees are particularly well thought out in terms of size. As you can see, everything is bitesized and offers the perfect little warm up to the rest of your meal. If you’re not opting for the banquet, I’d get the pulled pork each and 2-3 entrees to share to start you off. The mushroom pipe and beef tataki were my other two highlights from the dishes we tried.
Their sushi and sashimi options are so varied, and the fish was beautiful, high quality and fresh. The sashimi dish opposite was my favourite – great choice and range of fish and it looked amazing. We also loved the detail and care taken with the sushi rolls and felt they were well balanced in terms of flavours. I liked how for the banquet the sushi was brought out on small plates rather than as one larger platter as it didn’t feel so overwhelming.
We also tried the nori taco, wagyu, tempura and mushroom miso soup. I think that was all, honestly there was so much even I’m struggling to remember! The wagyu was excellent, cooked perfectly medium-rare and is a good change of pace from the sushi.
The tempura was light and crispy with a slightly sour, salty flavour. I didn’t try the prawns but I loved the battered veggies. It just added a wonderful texture, and lacked any hint of oil or grease, so well executed. I enjoyed the flavours of the taco but found it a little difficult to eat. It was great but unless you’re prepared to get a bit messy, give it a miss. For me it just didn’t really fit with the vibe of the restaurant and was far more a street food dish – couldn’t fault the taste though. The miso soup is a wonderful light option. Thoroughly soul warming and ideal as part of the banquet, it’s a nice extra if you just want something warm after your sushi banquet.
Couple all this with some fabulous service, tasty cocktails/mocktails if you’re driving (although to be honest, driving in Kew is horrible at dinner time, just get an Uber and have a drink), and you can see why Miss Kasumi should be on your must visit list. I even forgot to mention my super cute dessert which was the perfect finishing touch – or the fact we were there for 3 hours!!! They’re offering a Christmas lunch banquet as well giving you the perfect excuse to give it a try! (And then obviously, you’ll have to go back later in the year to try the non-Christmas menu).
Thanks so much for having us Miss Kasumi!