Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, let’s get the name of this restaurant out of the way. Moi is pronounced ‘moy’ - you’re welcome!
Now, it’s hard to impress Londoners. When it comes to the city’s dining scene, not only are they overwhelmed by choice, but they’ve seen and done it all before – street food, insta-friendly afternoon teas, steak and smokehouses, pizza joints, fine dining on white linen, even 3D printed food.
We think, however, they won’t fail to be impressed by boutique restaurant group, MAD’s Soho opening on Wardour Street.
Sure, restaurants are ten-a-penny in this vibrant corner of London, but none can match the serene, stripped back nature of Moi, which feels something of an antidote to its high-concept or influencer-led neighbours.
 | Moi's interiors are earthy, soothing, serpentine and tactile. |
The Japanese-British fusion eatery’s (bravely) fully open kitchen is manned by head chef Nick Tannett who seeks to surprise and delight customers with a menu that seamlessly entwines seasonal, carefully sourced ingredients from the UK, with Asian technique, craftsmanship, seasonings and condiments.
As for the 150-seater restaurant itself? It's a quiet masterpiece that doesn’t shout ‘look at me!’ but rather cossets diners with comforting, earthy tones, cursive, serpentine features, and tactile finishing touches.
Parts of it, including the sweeping, architectural staircase leading to a sushi and omakase bar and 40-cover Listening Room inspired by the dens of Tokyo and Shinjuku, appear as though they’ve been carved from the desert.
It's a striking, simple, soothing aesthetic.
Oh, as for the toilets. Some of the sexiest in Soho, for sure.
 | A sweeping, architectural staircase leads to the ground floor dining spaces. |
Service is attentive and efficient (we’re not sure how they topped up our water jug without us noticing), from the offering of a warm cloth to wipe away Tube grime, to handbag holders (always welcome) and tiny fruity tea cups to open up the palate on arrival. This is proper hospitality.
A special mention has to be given to drinks leader Dino Koletsas, who has sourced interesting low intervention wines, conjured an intriguing, playful cocktail menu, and tasted more sakes than he cares to count – all available at room temperature, chilled or warm, and with London sake brewer Kanpai having an exclusive variety on tap.
There truly is a sake for everyone, from savoury and herbaceous, to fruity and floral. It's worth talking to the team to see what would pair with your dishes, if only so you can experience the unexpected burst of joy (small pleasures) that comes from selecting your own sake glass to use for the duration, from a ‘treasure chest’.
While perusing the menu, we sipped on Them Apples – a curious combination of house carbonated green tea, whisky, tomato liqueur and marigold, which really delivers the freshness and bright crisp taste of apple, without actually containing any orchard fruit. It’s wizardry, I tell you!
 | Cocktails at Moi are intriguing, as is the lengthy sake list. |
Dino’s non-alcoholic mocktails are just as covetable, and include Vibrancy (pineapple, steamed green tea and sansho), and a high ball we didn’t catch the name of, that delivered the taste of peated whisky by mingling de-acified vinegars with in-house carbonated black tea. In a climate where more and more of us are choosing to drink mindfully, it’s refreshing to come across a place that doesn’t just mix a load of fruit juice with ice and soda, but that has put time and care into delivering non-alcoholic mixed drinks with longer sip times and greater complexity.
Shall we tuck into the menu now? Split into raw, snacks, skewers, sharers and desserts, the concept, rather like a Japanese izakaya bar, is to order several things, devouring them together as they land.
We began with slippery Porthilly oysters – their salinity balanced by sake and doll-sized pearls of finger lime. That’s definitely a way to open up the senses.
Do order the house pickles as well. I don’t think anyone does pickled vegetables quite so well as the Japanese, who manage to coax out the very essence of each raw ingredient, while bringing vibrant, exciting flavours to their pickling liquors that drill into the very heart of every bite.
The yuzu scented cucumbers, and almost pineappley sweet carrots were so moreish.
Next up, and following on from the bracing but aromatic sharpness of the pickles – whipped cod’s roe. Forget that insipid pink stuff you find at the supermarket. This was the real deal. The texture of freshly whisked double cream and pooled with chilli crisp, to be swooped up with bouncy, warm buns, it was actually nirvana in bowl. We greedily ordered more buns to lap it up, because this smoky concoction would have been criminal to waste.
 | Tartare of rib tip with black garlic and cep. |
Alongside a plate of what we think is some of the best sushi in the city (brilliantly seasoned, precision cut, and fleshy) arrived my choice of sake glass (peacock green) filled with Kanpai’s White Koji. Oh wow. Who knew sake could taste simultaneously of candyfloss and nectarine? Just lovely. Sorry, back to the sushi. If you don’t go for a selection, our picks are the mackerel, deeply coloured chutoro, and akami tuna.
Surprise came in the form of the restaurant’s own silken tofu. If, like me, you’ve been turned off by heinous versions of the super-healthy ingredient, I implore you to head to Moi where you will firmly be turned on again (so to speak).
As yielding and soft as just-set panna cotta, Nick’s silken tofu was expertly dressed with slightly bitter, nutty toasted buckwheat, sweet soy, toasted sesame, and spicy greens, each mouthful being somehow both cooling and warm.
Another vegetarian dish to hit the mark, alongside a more savoury sake (Sora) from Kanpai, was my stand out tomato plate of the year so far. A delicate smoked tomato cream, hiding underneath a sticky sweet dressing and tranches of heirloom tomato – the flesh almost the texture of cured salmon.
There were similar nods of appreciation for charred hispi cabbage with shiitake mushrooms, charred leeks with wild garlic capers (which almost brought the taste of smoky bacon to the party), and a salad of pickled currants, leaves, and cutesy cucamelons.
Meat and fish more your thing? You won’t go home disappointed. Order the prawns with chilli and black pepper kombu butter, squeezing the creamy head all over them before going in greedily with your fingers,
Admire the knife skills that have gone into cutting flavoursome aged rib tip into bite-sized tartare pieces, run through with black garlic, cep and beef fat, finished with soy yolk and Quaver-like crisp fashioned from potato juice.
And discover a newfound love for beef tongue beyond luncheon slices, as Nick and the team cut it thinly, skewering it with peppers and grilling to create gnarly, caramelised edges - that's the good stuff. Pops of marigold flower bring a welcome tangerine note that cuts through the richness.
We fell head over heels for the Longhorn beef short rib, cooked for two days and dished up with glossy tare sauce, daikon radish and Roscoff onions, and for a kind of take on an English breakfast in skewer form – chicken leg and blood sausage smooshed together into a stickily glazed meatball with cured egg yolk.
 | Moi's vegetarian dishes are incredibly thoughtful and filled with flavour. |
If there’s room for dessert (make room, it’s worth it) a must order is the Japanese shaved ice – if only because the kitchen has invested in a special machine to do the job. Flavoured (on this occasion with English raspberries) it’s shaved, layered with condensed milk and agave syrup, and crowned with a whirl of burnt meringue. Think of it as the most insane, adult slush puppy you’ve ever had.
We also devoted space in our rapidly full tummies for rich chocolate mousse with tonka bean, cacao nibs and Jersey milk ice cream. The choice of chocolate here is clever, its fruitiness ensuring the mousse never becomes ‘too much’. We polished off every iota.
Whether you live or work in the city, or are planning a day trip, if Japanese/Asian food is your ‘thing’, Moi should be high up on your agenda.
Find out more, here.
