Flesh and Buns, London W1: restaurant review

Who's cooking?

Five years after first launching in Covent Garden, Ross Shonhan (also owner of ramen bar chain Bone Daddies) has opened up a second restaurant in Fitzrovia. Check out our round up of the best Covent Garden restaurants here.

What's the vibe?

Less intimate than its basement-situated sister, the new Fitzrovia site makes up for it with more space and individual tables, a softly earthy palette, wooden screens and statement pendant lamps.

What's the food like?

While Flesh & Buns’s trademark bao buns still make an appearance, the menu focusses on nikkei (Peruvian-Japanese fusion) cuisine – from tiger prawn toban with aji amarillo (a Peruvian chilli), ponzu butter and shiso, to fish and seafood tiraditos (a cross between Peruvian ceviche and Japanese sashimi). There’s also new dishes created using Ross’s new wood smoker – including chilli miso brisket and bath chap with butternut squash kimchi.

Portions are generous. Korean-fried chicken wings come slathered in a fiery, tangy sauce while smoked pork ribs are two huge, succulent bronzed slabs glazed in aji amarillo honey. A ceviche of sea bass with cherry tomato, pickled kumquat and rocoto tiger’s milk (the citrussy curing marinade in a ceviche) is delicate and spicy all at once. Pillowy bao buns with duck leg, the skin super crispy, with a tangy plum sauce and beetroot pickle, also hit the mark. Click here for bao bun recipes.

And the drinks?

Look out for an extensive selection of Japanese whisky, sake and pisco. The highlight, however, has to be the ‘Press for pisco’ buttons on each table – which summon a waiter who will mix up a pisco sour in front of you.

fleshandbuns.com

Photographs by Charlie McKay

Words by Hannah Guinness