We can't resist a new restaurant, particularly when it's super close to work and serving up a pan-Asian feast. Well that's the deal with UBA, the latest opening at Great Eastern Street's Hart Shoreditch hotel.
UBA's menu promises a 'sensory journey through the vibrant streets of Asia' - with such a vast spread of countries and cuisines to cover, the whole concept of 'pan-Asian' can sometimes go amiss and focus too much on one, so we were keen to see how UBA delivered.
Visiting on a fairly wuiet weeknight, we kicked off with a pretty fantastic Jasmine Pearl cocktail, with Roku gin, lemongrass, ginger cordial, jasmine and peach soda. Refreshingly light, turns out it's the perfect summer tipple. So far, so good.
The menu is split into small dishes, a raw section, robata teppanayaki large dishes, dim sum, hirata buns, ramen and sides, so there's plenty to choose from. Start with the rock shrimp tempura, with seaweed furikake and kimchi garlic mayo and a portion ofht eKorean crispy fried chicken - both super delicious and dangerously moreish. We loved the juicy beef rib tacos with avocado and crispy onion and the zingy yellowtail kingfish sashimi and shio kombu and smoked cherry wood ponzu was a really unique flavour.
The imperial miso black cod is an absolute must. Sweet and sticky with its chilli lime yuzu sauce, it just melts in the mouth. Angus beef gyoza were fantastic, with a tangy onion ponzu, tomato miso and charcoal veil, and the sushi was some of the best we've had in a long time - a favourite was the Cornish crab California royal maki with lobste miso and herbs. Perfection.
With a weekend brunch serving up okonomiyaki Japanese pancakes, Japanese waffles and souffle pancakes along with a 12pm-3pm weekday Express Lunch Menu, it's safe to say this is one spot we'll be returning to. The food was fantastic (a definite upgrade on the restaurant that previously accommodated the space...) and with such a rich menu, there's plenty more to get our teeth into.
UBA Shoreditch, 61, 67 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU
