Places To Eat In London: Kaia’s Bottomless Sushi Brunch at The Ned

During one of my Sunday scrolls through Instagram I spied posts from the launch of Kaia‘s (the Pan-Asian restaurant that is just one of the great places to eat at The Ned, Soho House’s banking district hotel) bottomless sushi brunch. It seemed like an excellent way to spend a Sunday morning, £45 for as much food as you can eat in two hours (though no one seemed to be rushing us along) and a Bloody Mary. I instantly Whatsapped my sushi loving friend Kelly, we both decided this looked like a ‘very good thing’ and made a reservation.

There is a lot of very good sushi, always being freshly made in front of you. On my first round I took one of everything that looked good, so I could always go back later and pile up on my favourites! Everything was fresh, flavourful and really great quality; while the little bowls of sashimi were good, as were the nigiri, I’d recommend you load up on the salmon and avocado maki rolls, and the spicy tuna maki which were really, really excellent.

While everyone calls it a bottomless sushi brunch, there is also loads more, really tasty looking Asian food from fried rice and noodles to roasted meats, dumplings and tempura. A few things that were really tasty, and are worth making a beeline for on the buffet: the bao buns, which I stuffed with delicious miso pork belly and slow cooked aubergine before loading up with sriracha and finely chopped spring onions, and the hot little squares of okonomiyaki, which is a traditional Japanese cabbage pancake (you can find my recipe over at BBC Food!)

The only let downs for me were the poke bowls (they looked really pretty, but did not have much of a flavour hit as they were not really served with any sauce past the soy sauce for the table) and the green papaya salad which was a bit flavourless. However, there was so much other great food on offer, you don’t feel like you’re missing out when one dish in your selection is less than perfect – you can always go back for more without feeling bad!

In the middle of the buffet there is also a massive dessert table, which we hit up after we did not think we could manage any more sushi or fluffy stuffed bao. This was very hit and miss; the yuzu buns were a bit soggy and flavourless, as were the chocolate cones, but the mango rice pudding and fruit salad made a nice, light, end to the meal. If I were to do it again I would have gone for another round of savoury, but that is up to personal taste!

Be sure to book in advance as The Ned gets pretty packed for Sunday morning brunches! Also, if sushi is not so much your thing but you like the idea of a bottomless brunch where it is the food that is unlimited not the booze (J and I did one of those in the spring and it was dangerous!) they also do a feasting brunch where for £65 you have two hours to eat off their other incredible buffet loaded with cold meats and cheeses, full roast dinners with loads of different roast meats, and a massive raw bar that includes freshly shucked oysters and whole lobsters (!!)

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