Miyako

The ANdAZ Hotel - a young, trendy arm of the Hyatt group, occupying a Victorian red-brick edifice dating from 1884 - has various dining and drinking options, including Miyako. Despite its EC2 location, the only evidence of an economic downturn at this minimalist, bento box-sized Japanese is the half-empty dining room (in better times, it would have been crammed with City workers), as little else shows sympathy for tightening budgets. Yet although prices are high, we reckoned the quality of sushi and sashimi was only a notch abovethat ofhigh street chains. Spicy tuna maki was short on spice, rice and tuna; and we consumed the tempura hand-roll in two bites, with no audible crunch. The grilled mackerel bento box (these are available to take away too) offered more satisfaction with its nicely charred chunks of plump fish,refreshing soba noodlesand fresh salmon sashimi. But whatever pleasure that this set meal offered was quickly wiped out when we received the bill, which charged us £2 each for some unremarkable green tea. We left still feeling hungry.