Blink and you might miss it. Dinings is located in a tiny Georgian townhouse on an obscure side street in Marylebone. Spacious, the venue is not. Rather, it is distinctly cramped and bereft of decoration, but the food is so supremely good that it is well worth a visit. Be advised, given space constraints, you do need to book in advance: upstairs there are just six seats at the sushi preparation counter, while downstairs (navigated via a very tight spiral staircase), around 30 covers can be accommodated. The concept of combining traditional Japanese food with modern European cuisine has become well-established in many dining capitals (think the spread of both the Zuma and Sushisamba franchises globally), but Dinings has been pioneering this approach for over decade. The freshest tuna and salmon may be combined here with the likes of caviar or foie-gras. The evening got off to a good start as I snacked on a bowl of padron peppers while I waited for my dining comrade to join me. This simple and commonplace dish is often executed poorly with the peppers either over- or under-cooked, but here, they were delivered perfectly with the shichimi pepper providing a marked kick. Traversing the menu can be complicated given the multiple sections comprising nibbles, tapas, sushi and sashimi. However, our server (who could be described as friendly and highly knowledgeadble even if somewhat too officious) mentioned that the kitchen would be happy to prepare us a selection of dishes showing the best of what Dinings has to offer. This is a great way to the spectrum of the chefs’ skills. even if this is perhaps not the best value way of doing things. Not a single dish disappointed. We particularly loved the ‘tar-tar’ chips (pictured), a Dinings special, which comprise mini tacos filled with the likes of tuna and jalapeno mayo or salmon with chilli miso. Elsewhere, I could go to heaven happy knowing I had tried the eel sushi with foie-gras and sweet soy – it was such a perfect flavour combination, rich and savoury but with a brilliant moment of counterpoint sweetness too. Full plaudits to Dinings. Many are clearly already in the know regarding this venue; I am pleased now to count myself among this privileged group.
PS: if you have not seen, a thank you to Feedspot for including my blog in its top-ten UK restaurant blogs: https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_restaurant_review_blogs/