It’s rare for a new restaurant to open without some sort of gimmick these days. After all, you have to stand out to survive in a city like London.
When I heard about ‘Europe’s first sushi monorail’, my gimmick alarm bells started ringing. Food arriving on a train seems very Yo! Sushi 2.0, and I’m not a fan of food sitting on a conveyor belt – especially raw fish.
But Chuo’s food doesn’t sit out and parade around the restaurant. Instead, the discrete rails whirr to life only when food is ready, and bring out freshly made dishes to whomever has ordered them.
READ MORE: ‘I used a cat calming diffuser after a traumatic vet visit and it’s perfect for Bonfire Night’
The restaurant, in a quiet Shoreditch side street, is unassuming in its decor. High tables, ordering screens for takeaways, and floor-to-ceiling windows are the extent of what they’ve placed within Chuo.
As I sat down to lunch on a very quiet Thursday, the owner promptly came over to go through the ordering system in detail and provided me with Wi-Fi, water, and soy sauce – all the essentials. Like in most new establishments, you order via a QR code.
But at Chuo, there’s no need to decide who orders what and pass the phone around throughout the meal. Instead, the code automatically opens a tab for your table number, letting you continuously order small plates until you’re bursting.
My first round included a salmon and avocado maki, seared tuna, and fried miso aubergine. A subtle hum alerted me to their impending arrival, and only five minutes after I’d unlocked my phone, a sleek miniature train parked up next to me carrying even sleeker plates of food.
The dishes’ immaculate presentation halted me in my tracks. As the train slid away, I took a moment to admire the art before me; three simple pieces of maki, a small plate of seared tuna adorned with microherbs and sauces, and a heaving mound of fried aubergine decorated with spring onion.
The maki were outstanding, the rice still warm and the salmon fresher than the fish in the sea. The sauces accompanying the seared tuna elevated the fish to another level, but the true hero was the aubergine.
Crispy in places and moist in others, its miso glaze coated every piece with deep umami and irresistible sweetness. The only reason I didn’t cry when I’d gobbled it all up was that I could order more dishes.
As I waited for two more, I slid my plates into the letterbox-style slot by my table. If only dishes disappeared that quickly at home. Quick as a flash, the train reappeared carrying two more plates: tuna nigiri and ‘ikura gunkan’, little sushi parcels filled with salmon roe.
I’ll be honest, I ordered nigiri to try and catch Chuo out. It’s the simplest of sushi dishes; just rice and fish, with no elements to hide behind and no way of embellishing without tarnishing.
One bite and I could’ve died happy on the spot. The sushi rice, still slightly warm and beautifully cooked, held a fine slice of incredibly tender tuna holding onto a slightly smoky flavour that elevated the bite-sized delight to godly levels of deliciousness.
The ikura gunkan achieved the same explosion of flavours. As each egg exploded in my mouth, new sensations unlocked new levels of happiness, filling me with childish delight that can only be brought forth by impeccable food.
For those five plates and a lifetime of satisfaction, I paid £27. And I forgot all about the trains by the time I’d taken my first bite. They’re not a gimmick, but merely an efficient way of getting out food.
I left Chuo wishing to go back in time and do it all over again. It will, from now on, be the place I bring everyone I want to impress. Because Chuo is seriously impressive, and long may they prosper.
Find Chuo at 20 Paul Street, EC2A 4JH.
Our What’s On newsletter, Going Out Out, features everything from the most exciting events to the new bars and restaurants in London. You can sign up HERE.
