Sushi Samba is an incredibly impressive restaurant occupying the 38th and 39th floors of Heron Tower, making it one of London’s highest restaurants.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a host at the bottom of the tower, before taking the glass fronted lift to the restaurant itself. This journey is not for the faint hearted. The lift will most certainly be enjoyable for those who do not have a problem with heights; however, if you do, I might suggest that you close your eyes until you reach the top. If you do close your eyes, you won’t be disappointed with the view that will greet you at the top.
“This restaurant certainly has the wow factor.”
The restaurant offers panoramic 360-degree views of London with floor-to-ceiling windows. And the view is not the only impressive visual of this restaurant. They have really pulled the stops out on this restaurant, with a distinct feature being the hundreds of light bulbs suspended from the ceiling. This restaurant certainly has the wow factor.
One of the other notable parts of our visit, and one of my favourite things we experienced was the friendly staff. Everyone who works at Sushi Samba seems to genuinely love being there and their passion shone through when it came to describing cocktails and signature dishes from the menu.
We were pleased to accept the menu recommendations, and ordered the miso soup and the rock shrimp tempura to start along with the edamame beans with sea salt and lime. We were definitely impressed with the flavours and presentation and were excited for our main courses...
...and we were not disappointed! We ordered the wagyu beef to share for our main courses and we were very happy we did as it was the clear highlight of our evening. The beef was served to the table with three hot stones, allowing you to cook the meat to your liking. It was a novel and fun experience and a great talking point. The flavours were also impeccable and the beef was served with some delicious dipping sauces and vegetables. We also opted for a side of coconut rice, which complemented the meal excellently.
For desert, we went for the mango mousse with a sweet potato biscuit, passion fruit, mango-lime coriander sauce and a kiwi-mojito sorbet; and the assorted mocha (soft Japanese rice cakes filled with ice cream). The flavours in the deserts were unusual, yet delicious.
We also sampled some cocktails during our visit, which included the following...
A Chucumber - Hendrick's gin, plum wine and Maraschino liqueur, shaken with freshly pressed cucumber water, lime, sugar and plum bitters
A Samba Ramble - a take on the classic 'Bramble'. Tanqueray gin, lemon and homemade star anise syrup
A Nina Fresa - Ketel One vodka, strawberry, grapefruit and guava shaken with rhubarb bitters, lime and sugar
A Shisho Fine - Ketel One vodka infused with Shiso leaves, housemaid Thai basil syrup, apple and lime, served over ice with a bleed of crème de cassis
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Sushi Samba, and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. The restaurant holds a special atmosphere and the view is breathtaking - if you can tear your eyes away from the beautifully presented food, that is.