So our first visit to Chotto Matte was a love/hate relationship. Yes, you will mingle with the hip, the trendy and of course the glamorous at this London Soho restaurant, and you will eat superb food – Chotto Matte combines the best of Japanese and Peruvian cuisine – but at a price (and we don’t just mean the bill).
The positives: the food was simply amazing…the balance of flavours in all the dishes we sampled could not be faulted. Too many standout dishes to name them all (we tried about 12 dishes between the three of us – shame our fourth had to cancel as we could have easily added another 4 or 5 dishes to the collection), so we have a few photos of our favourites throughout this blog. But we do have to mention the Scallop Truffle Ceviche (droolicious), the Pork Belly (mouth-watering), the Beef Fillet Tataki (sublime) and last but definitely not least the Tuna Sashimi Toastaditas (exquisite)!
The negatives (there were a few): the restaurant is busy, and we mean BUSY. Be prepared to feel a little tightly packed in with your chair constantly being bumped by other guests or staff. Bring your hearing aid as the music drowns out any chance of having a decent conversation with your fellow guests (or you can just yell at each other and hope the table next to you isn’t listening…what are we saying, there is no way the other table could hear you regardless).
We had a lovely waitress who was literally running between tables, and it was hard to work out who were allowed to take orders, who only delivered food, who only topped up drinks and actually what on earth the floor managers were doing walking around with ear pieces pointing a lot as the beautiful maître d’s paraded past with a new batch of diners. Our main grip was that we couldn’t get the staffs attention when it came to drink top-ups (leave the drinks near the table versus hiding them on the other side of the room!). We were contemplating not paying the ‘discretionary’ service charge but felt that our waitress should not be punished for what has to be an issue around bad management. Oh, and why bring out a bowl of rice at the end of the meal when all the other dishes have been consumed?
It is worth noting that a tweet about the lack of service did get a reply, they apologised and offered us some drinks next time we visit. We want to rush back for more amazing food but we’re not sure we are quite ready yet for the mayhem that awaits – we are proposing a few shots before entering the premises next time (hip flask in jacket pocket for compulsory top-ups).
Bookings essential with the usual 2 hour table allowance.
11-13 Frith Street, London W1D 4RB
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