Restaurant review: LUNA Omakase

LUNA Omakase’s intimate and personable dining experience is quietly doing wonderful things in Liverpool Street, writes Tristan O’Hana

If you’re keeping up with what Thesleff Group is up to in London, chances are your eyes and expectations have been focused on Sale e Pepe at the start of this year. The new concept, inspired by the Italian coastal dining, recently opened its doors within The Langham hotel this month, marking a new chapter for the iconic Knightsbridge restaurant brand that first opened in the capital in 1974. 

For Markus Thesleff, founder of the group, Sale e Pepe would have taken up a lot of time and attention too – a partnership with somewhere like The Langham will do that. Yet, as Sale e Pepe was being polished and marketed, a conscious PR focus was also being shifted onto LUNA Omakase, the group’s 12-course dining experience housed within its Los Mochis site in the City. Unlike Sale e Pepe, this little 12-seater dining room tucked away on the ninth floor of 100 Liverpool Street is not really somewhere that’s talked about that often. Hence the PR push, perhaps? Actually, the main reason releases were being sent out about LUNA was that from February, the only omakase restaurant in the City of London introduced a second nightly sitting, apparently in response to sell-out demand. With the unique chef’s counter boasting a waiting list that stretches months in advance, it has now doubled its nightly availability (6pm and 8.30pm slots) to give guests more opportunity to experience the concept. 

That same PR push led to the Dine Out team being invited to experience LUNA’s sōsaku-style edomae omakase during the tail-end of 2026’s wet winter. If, like me, you’re not too sure what ‘sōsaku-style edomae omakase’ means, it’s essentially a Japanese dining experience where the chef curates a personalised, multi-course meal for the guests. Omakase, I’m told, translates as ‘I leave it to you’. ‘You’ in this instance is executive chef Leonard Tanyag, who last month set before me a seasonal 12-course menu inspired by the phases of the moon. And, you know what? When it comes to my future 12-course menus inspired by the moon, this one will take some beating.

Over to you, chef

Stepping into the petite dining room of LUNA Omakase immediately transports those lucky enough to dine there into a world far removed from the chaotic bustle of the London streets below. As you’d expect, the welcome from the masterful team of Japanese chefs is modest, peaceful, respectful, gentle. The tone, assisted by the art and interiors of the set-up, which features 12 circular paintings reflecting the moon’s eternal phases, is set from the moment you take your seat. It’s not theatrical; it’s too calm for that. But, my word, it’s an experience. 

With Tanyag at the helm, the menu unfolds across 12 meticulously composed courses, guided by seasonality, sourcing and technique. Meticulous really is the word, for while Tanyag is front and centre, producing room-silencing dishes such as his childhood-inspired Hamachi Yaki Onigiri, his team of three chefs also step up to the plate, each taking it in turns to lead on a dish and present its story, ingredients and flavours to the 12 diners that sit wide-eyed before them. For a young chef, as a couple of them are, it’s one thing to have 12 faces (and phones) looming down on top of you as you cook, but on top of that, the team have to narrate and present each dish with the utmost precision. Each one of them did a flawless job. What’s more, they encourage diners to get their phones out, frequently giving guests a heads-up that an aesthetically impressive method or dish is on the way, “so make sure you get it on Instagram” – these are chefs-come-marketeers. 

Rare treats

“LUNA is about precision, sourcing and respect for ingredients,” Tanyag tells us on the night. “Every course is built around exceptional fish and produce, treated with restraint and intention. The counter is personal, the cooking is meticulous and the aim is always to give guests something they simply can’t experience anywhere else.”

I mean, yeah, that’s pretty much what it did, what it does. Jumping ahead a little, at the end of the feast, the chefs asked each diner in turn what their favourite dish was. The majority of us ill-informed westerners offered something along the lines of “your childhood snack”, meaning the aforementioned Hamachi Yaki Onigiri, a thing of beauty that Tanyag’s mother would prepare for him when he got home from school, should his grades be high enough. When you break this exceptional dish down, it lists as grilled sushi rice, Yellowtail tartare, spicy sesame aioli, Tobiko (flying fish roe), spring onion, serrano pepper and fresh truffle. Now, I don’t know what you ate when you got home from school, but I can recall the likes of Mini Cheddars and the odd-crisp sandwich. Where did it all go so wrong?

For me, the other standout dishes were the Kampachi Crudo (amberjack, orange ponzu, garlic, ginger, kizami wasabi, dehydrated red shiso and Espelette), the Smoked Toro Carpaccio and the bang-on-trend Wagyu A5 Sando. But, honestly, everything produced by the wonderful people at LUNA Omakase needs to be tried, enjoyed and remembered. I’ll be back at the next full moon. 

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