UBA Shoreditch review: Beautifully presented pan-Asian food

On the face of it this looks like a dessert that should be enjoyed by a six-year-old, not a man in his thirties after a long day of work.

There are little flowers dotted about the cloud, which give the appearance of purple birds flying in a pink sky.

But a plum sauce in a little teapot accompanies the dish, and when it is poured onto the cloud it evaporates, unveiling what lies underneath, a delicately light vanilla tofu cheesecake.

It’s all very theatrical and sums up what has come before during our evening here at UBA. Everything – from the building itself to the food – is beautifully presented, and thankfully the food is delicious too.

The tofu cheesecake, surrounded by candifloss (Image: UBA)

The pan-Asian restaurant is on Shoreditch’s bustling Great Eastern Street, part of the Hart Shoreditch hotel, but a trip to the spa-like toilets is the only time you will feel like you are in a hotel.

The restaurant is spacious, and the Oriental décor is note-perfect with lots of red, lanterns and painted plates adorning the walls.

There’s a clubby atmosphere created by the house music pumping through the busy space, but there is enough room between the tables to mean we don’t find ourselves listening in on everyone else’s conversations.

The note-perfect interior (Image: UBA)

There is a huge drink selection boasting many different varieties of sake, Japanese whiskey and liqueurs, as well as a wide range of bespoke cocktails.

I’m not normally one for cocktails, but it’s clear a huge amount of thought has gone into them. The ‘Harmony’ satisfies my sweet tooth with lychee, strawberry and yuzu.

And the aromatic ‘Blushing Gheisha’ managed to evoke images of Tokyo and cherry blossom with its mixture of umeshu, lychee, vanilla and lemon.

The impressive cocktails (Image: Robin Murray)

When it comes to the food, there is such an abundance of options that we rely heavily on our attentive waitress for guidance and decide on six small plates to share between the three of us and one main dish each, which turns out to be just right.

From the raw selection we try the crab California maki rolls, which have an extra kick of spice, while beef Hirata buns, prawn and chicken shu mai and a glazed aubergine all go down delightfully well too.

The rock shrimp style tempura with kimchi garlic mayo is also highly recommended, but a dish that lives in the memory is the Korean crispy fried chicken. The sticky sauce isn’t too sweet, and the chicken has the perfect amount of crunch. I’ve had crispy fried chicken many times, but never as good as this.

There are so many tempting smaller dishes that you could base your whole meal around them, but the traditionalist in us shines through and we try the baby chicken, salmon belly and lamb cutlets from the larger plates menu.

Again, the presentation is as good as the taste, with the flaky salmon falling apart with the smallest prompt and the lamb and chicken tender despite their charred appearance, which only adds to the flavour.

Miso caramel glazed aubergine and Cornish crab California royale maki (Image: Robin Murray)

Onto dessert and the cheesecake takes centre-stage, but the matcha tiramisu also delights with its surprisingly huge portion and the mascarpone is fluffy and light.  

But the intriguingly named Japanese Chocolate Forest Floor has found a space next to the fried chicken in my mind and doesn’t look keen on leaving anytime soon.

It’s like a deconstructed gateau, with little branches of chocolate, cherries and a plum ice cream surrounding an indulgently-thick chocolate mousse – think a Gu pot on steroids.

It’s a fitting end to a wonderful meal in which all the dishes were sophisticated and immaculately flavoured, leaving us feeling very satisfied.