Innovative food, expertly-mixed cocktails, and goodies from both Japan and Scandinavia, what’s not to love at Belgravia-based Pantechnicon?! Well – throw the new Autumn-come-Winter menu at Sachi into the mix and you’ve got even more to shout about. We were lucky enough to try it this month – and try a couple of cocktails on the heated roof garden – and boy were both good.
The Roof Garden
Let’s start with the roof garden. Based on the top floor of the chic, Scandi-inspired building, it’s currently transformed into a Winter terrace – decked out with cosy sheepskin rugs, hanging plants, candles and lanterns. When we visited, it was absolutely chucking it down (good old Blighty weather, ey?!), so we were more than grateful for the table heaters and the covered roof keeping the rain out.
Now onto the cocktails. I started with a ‘wasabi margarita’ – a tangy concoction of blanco tequila, empirical ayuuk, 30&40 eau de eie, wasabi, pear, lime – and then followed it up with a ‘seaweed dirty martini’ – which incorporated nuet akvavit with Pantechichon’s very own sake.
Both were absolutely delicious, and accompanied by a handful of smoked dill almonds, they were just the aperitif I needed before heading downstairs for dinner. Other standouts on the menu include the ‘g&t by the sea’ and the ‘fig and champagne’ – a delightful mix of dry vermouth, billecart salmon brut champagne, fig, myrrh and hōjicha.
Sachi
Heading down to the ground floor now and to Sachi – a vibey restaurant which showcases regional Japanese cooking with some light touches of the Nordics. Set within the barrel-vaulted, lower-ground floor of Pantechnicon, it’s a warm and ambient spot that would work really well for a date – or if you’re looking to splash out with a mate or two.
We started with a delicious glass of sake, which was recommended to us by the in-house sommelier – who really knew his stuff might I add. Then followed an assortment of exquisite sharing dishes – from melt-in-the-mouth trout and sea bream akami and wagyu tataki with porcini ponzu, to a tuna, takuwan and buckwheat maki roll on the side of gedashi tofu, mushroom and black Autumn truffle dashi tempura.
Vegetables came in the form of edamame beans with yuzu kanzuri and seasonal vegetable tempura – all washed down with a lovely bottle of the pinot noir which certainly made us feel really rather fancy.
On top of the superb food, what really made the experience were the lovely staff, who were more than willing to talk us through the menu and help us decide what we would like. Special shoutout to Alesha, who really looked after us throughout the night and ensured we had everything we needed!
Overall it was a fantastic evening, and I can’t recommend paying Sachi, the Roof Garden and Pantechnicon as a whole if you’re in the Belgravia area and are looking to treat yourself to some of the best Japanese grub in town.