Last Updated on April 17, 2024

Free-flowing cocktails and Japanese food

Every Saturday M Threadneedle Street serves up their Tokyo Brunch, offering 90 minutes of free-flowing drinks and a seemingly never-ending procession of plates of Japanese-inspired food. Plus there’s a DJ and Nintendo-themed entertainment. I’d never been to a bottomless brunch before so I jumped at the chance to head to the City and find out if I was up to the challenge.

Our helpful waiter explained how things were going to work. We would have 90 minutes to have as many drinks as we liked. Thankfully, you can’t stockpile and go nuclear because you can’t order your next drink until you’ve almost finished the last one. There’s a good mix of Japanese-themed cocktails from which to choose – often variants on old favourites using Japanese ingredients – and several straightforward classics. There are eight cocktails in all, four mocktails plus free-flowing Prosecco for people who prefer wine, so there’s no need to get bored. Then again, if cocktails and Prosecco aren’t enough for you, you can upgrade to Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Champagne for an additional £70 per head.

We decided to go full-on Japanese for our first round of cocktails. I picked the Plum Highball as I like a tall drink and I like plums. This was a potent mix of Bulleit Bourbon, Akashi -Tai Shiraume Umeshu Plum Sake, Plum Tincture and Double Dutch Soda Water. The whisky was the dominant flavour but this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – I enjoyed this cool bubbly strong drink. 

My companion started with the Japanese Slipper – Midori, Cointreau, Lemon making for an eye-catching lurid green concoction. This had a good balance of sweet and sour and was very moreish fresh, summery drink – so much so that she couldn’t resist returning to the Slipper for her final cocktail. She said it was the sort of drink she could stay on all night.

The food menu is divided into starters, mains and desserts with a few options along the way. Our waiter told us to expect the food to arrive in six waves. First to come to the table were two excellent fried dishes to share, ideal for lining one’s stomach in circumstances like this. My companion immediately declared M’s Crispy Squid “perfect”, with its excellent texture – bite but no chew – and crunchy coating hot and spicy with Togarashi. It came served with Tonkatsu ketchup, which reminded us of brown sauce.

M Fried Chicken was equally good. It like a posh spicy fried chicken, with even more heat in the accompanying chunks of Gochujang apple and dotted with fried crispy kaffir lime leaves for a dash of extra flavour. This is exactly my sort of fried chicken.

Next up was the Dim Sum Selection with Ponzu dressing, which would turn out to be the least successful course of the day and also the one I’d least associate with Japanese cuisine. The fillings – Wagyu & Pork, Pork & Kimchi and Mushroom & Leeks – were juicy and well flavoured but the dumplings themselves were at the leathery end of the spectrum

By this point we were already worried about filling up too quickly. We each still had at least four more dishes to go and who knew how many more cocktails.

The Tokyo Brunch was immediately redeemed by the arrival of the Bao Buns. The buns themselves were light and fluffy with no sign of the stodginess that can be a problem. I chose the wagyu beef, which was like a very soft, melt in mouth beef burger coated in a delicious crunchy crumb. My companion enjoyed her deep-fried tofu bun too, brought to life by the addition of the hoisin sauce, pickles and crispy shallots.

The final starter of the day was two skewers of Yakitori served with yuzu and koshu mayo. My favourite was the lightly charred pork belly, while my friend was more taken with the celeriac. 

There are four mains on the menu, including a chicken and a mushroom ramen. I wanted to try something new so picked the Japanese Pancake, with okonomiyaki, yuzu kewpie mayonnaise, 
chilli, Hoisin sauce, shallots and spring onion. This was a savoury, umami, filling and satisfying dish. 

Meanwhile, my companion picked the Kimchi Fried Rice. This combo of sushi rice, fried egg and spicy kimchi made for excellent comfort food, Japanese style and great for mopping up excess alcohol.

We were still going strong when it came to the end of the meal and time for dessert. There are two to choose from. I had the White Chocolate Parfait with rhubarb, miso fudge and grapefruit gel. This was beautifully presented, dotted with colourful edible flowers. The white chocolate shell cracked open to reveal a cool, soft delicious centre – the slight saltiness of the miso mixing with the sweet of the white chocolate. My companion meanwhile tried the Japanese take on the Italian classic – the Matcha Tiramisu. She thought this 

The Matcha Tiramisu is a Tokyo take on the Italian classic. My companion pronounced this bright green confection of coffee, matcha cake, Japanese whiskey and cream quite delicious.

M Threadneedle Street is large, comfortable, smart and glossy restaurant. In keeping with the Tokyo theme there’s a profusion of realistic-looking pink cherry blossom. The DJ kept the music loud and upbeat – though I have to admit I recognised about 10 per cent if that. It was right on point for my much younger friend. 

I must have missed the memo about the Super Mario theme to the afternoon. The fact is I didn’t know who the costumed character was as he lumbered over and sat down opposite me while I was waiting for my companion to arrive. For one confusing moment, I thought she had come in fancy dress. Anyway, several cross-purpose conversations with the man in the blue suit and many cocktails later, Luigi and I made friends. For Nintendo fans looking for even more entertainment after brunch at M Threadneedle Street, there are bolt-on options including Yoshi. This offers one hour of Nintendo Switch gaming with 60 minutes of free-flowing cocktails for £45 per person. Alternatively, singing fans can bolt on an hour in a private karaoke room plus the bottomless drinks for the same price.

Our waiter politely warned us when our 90 minutes of bottomless drinking would shortly be up, giving us the chance to revisit the menu one last time. By this point I’d worked my way through the Plum Highball, Oriental Negroni and Porn Star Martini. I’d run out of steam on the alcohol front so picked an alcohol-free Yuzu Margarita. It tasted pretty authentic but that may have been through the haze of the previous three cocktails. The Designated Driver mocktail had revived my friend during “round three” and she couldn’t resist having a final Japanese Slipper. 

The Tokyo Brunch (£70 per person) is a great way to spend a fun Saturday afternoon in the City, trying out all sorts of flavours and drinks, both new and familiar. We left feeling pretty impressed by our fortitude, slightly merry but by no means drunk. 

The Tokyo Brunch is available every Saturday from 12pm to 3pm at:

M Threadneedle Street
Unit 2 & 3,
60 Threadneedle St,
London
EC2R 8HG