Dai Chi in City of London, Westminster

Was here just night with a friend. Overall was really good. Lovely vibe. Nice background music. Great service. Lovely decor in there. It was the first night of a new menu. Had .8 dish tasting menu at £59 a head. (Could have had 6 dishes for £42) Clearly a lot of thought in the menu. The only reason I am deducting a star is because a good few of the early dishes we got had various types of batter on them. For me, I score batter on food as a negative. Fine for the local chippy. Not so much for a fancy restaurant. I wouldn’t mind it in a couple of the dishes - but was there a little too much. In saying that - it wasn’t chip shop batter either. And they also change the menu every week - so definitely worry revisiting. All in all a really enjoyable experience and one I would certainly recommend.

Quite disappointed with the food for the price we paid. Firstly at the time of booking, there were two options for menus, one costing at £42 and the other at £62 (or something along those lines as the website has since changed). Upon arrival, there was only one option for a £68 menu. I appreciate that menus could change but it would have been courteous to have been informed about this. Regardless, they have an extremely strict cancellation policy where it is a non-refundable deposit and will only allow us to move the date of reservation once; so even if we were informed about the changes of the menu and we had decided not to go ahead, we would have lost £10 deposit per person. Secondly the courses were minuscule (see pictures. The meals look sizeable as pictures are zoomed in but imagine each dish being eaten in one mouthful. In some picture there are three portions because there were three of us) and supposedly Japanese inspired. The 'kushikatsu' style of fried food on skewers at the beginning of the meal was I guess the only Japanese inspired dish but after that, there was nothing Japanese related. The 'omakase' format is what they're trying to follow but is certainly a world away from what omakase is. This just felt like false advertising to us, there was nothing else in the menu that was Japanese related/inspired. The fourth dish was sourdough bread with a bit of butter. Usually at restaurants, bread is served as a starter. Considering we paid £68 for the meal, being served bread as a course felt like an absolute rip-off (seriously? Bread?? What's it got to do with Japan?) Another dish was called 'okonomiyaki', we thought this was the traditional Japanese savoury pancake but it was a tiny cube (tiny - the size of a mint!) of something covered in seaweed that tasted nothing like okonomiyaki. The wood pigeon was the size of my thumb and was quite chewy and the dessert of the madeleine and pate de fruits were each the size of a Werther's Original. Service was great and the atmosphere was good. However, overall I was very disappointed with the food especially how much we paid: I cannot justify the price I paid for what it was. I've had both omakase and kaseki meals before (in Japan also) and I'm very aware of the concepts/prices/portions and have in the past, been happy to pay high prices for the 'experience' and the quality of food. However this meal was a car crash, not to mention that my friend also found a bit of fluff in one of her dishes. I suggest the management take a look at the menu served tonight and make some dramatic changes. What a disappointment. I do not recommend the restaurant: I felt ripped off, mis-informed and left the restaurant hangry. From reading the positive reviews, it seems as if we were at a completely different restaurant. Avoid at all cost.

A balance of flavors, a veritable panoply of tastes only begins to describe the fixed menu from this wonderful boutique restaurant. The eight course menu is like a tapas array of small plates, all of which are unique and very different in character. I was skeptical when I first looked at the menu but after the first course, I was totally onboard. There is also a nice selection of wines and other drinks to choose from. There is no other restaurant in London that compares.

I was really lucky to be able to celebrate my birthday at a restaurant as special as Dai Chi. Everything at Dai Chi contributes to a truly unique and enjoyable experience. The food is unlike anywhere else. The creativity of the team behind this restaurant manifests itself in every stage of the Omakase set menu. A Kushikatsu restaurant, these deep fried skewers are a social food, perfect for enjoying with friends. Instead of a large dish limiting conversation, the skewers facilitate a social environment. You eat, you talk, you drink. I could not have predicted such a brilliant style of dinner for a birthday. Yet do not be mistaken by these little skewers, one by one they fill you up without you noticing. In fact, all my guests were surprised that following the mains comes the Kabayaki! The Italian twist is such a simple yet genius idea; combining two of the greatest cuisines. It naturally piques the interest of all and quickly dismisses any cynicism one could have that such a fusion could be achieved while maintaining the individual cuisines’ flavours. The quality of the ingredients is unmissable and the way the flavours are balanced so perfectly, like in the Shiso, Umeboshi & Cucumber or in the Duck, Negi & Ginger, is truly remarkable. Few times have I been blown away by my first bite like I was with the Hamachi, Truffle Soy and Furikake. The service is wonderful. Amar, one of the owners, knows everything about every ingredient he has on his menu. As he would introduce each dish you could see his passion for what he is doing with his restaurant. We had the privilege of being served by Martin, who is incredibly kind and helpful like the rest of the team. My guests were particularly happy with his sake recommendation - all claimed it was the best sake they had ever tasted. Indeed, the drinks at Dai Chi are all lovely and the sake’s excellence is only matched by the uniqueness of their signature cocktails. The decor is very stylish, the Japanese and Italian influences are ever-present; the dark minimalism of Japanese bars balanced by the elegant furniture and the statement piece Italian marble tables. The private room at the back is even more beautiful. Immediately I was wowed and my guests could not believe I had found such a gem. A gem that as much as I want to keep a secret, deserves the attention of all foodies.