Last Updated on March 16, 2026
Experience transcendent dining made with care at Luna Omakase
5.0 out of 5.0 starsTucked away inside a Mexican nightclub, be transported and worship at the altar of Japanese fine dining.
Omakase can be a mixed bag. ‘Leave it up to the chef’ is not always the best idea, after all the customer is always right in matters of taste. Not so at Luna Omakase, where each dish was so artfully balanced as to approach the sublime.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves, some background. Luna was created by Leo Tanyag who as executive chef formulated the philosophy behind the experience. And experience it is, not only is this omakase, it is also a highly intimate chef’s table experience, there is one curved bar in the low-lit wood panelled dining room where all guests eat facing the chefs.
Tanyag combines three Japanese styles in his offer in order to create a highly polished result. Edomae: the traditional method of sushi making from the Edo period in Japan, Sosaku: a spirit of innovation and Omotenashi: the culture of hospitality. It was this hospitality that we experienced as soon as we entered the building. One of the many developments surrounding Liverpool street station, we were first whisked up to the 9th floor, where we enjoyed a Henriot champagne, clean and toasty with mandarin notes, on Los Mochis’ covered balcony bar.
While we sipped our champagne, we perused the wine and sake list which totals 450 labels. We were recommended to go with the sake pairing for the meal at £105 per person. We were then led to the dining room itself.
Yes, Luna is located in a single room down a corridor attached to Los Mochis, a club, bar restaurant complete with DJ later in the evening. Luckily none of that excitement can penetrate once you enter the cocoon of this omakase in the sky, surrounded by subtly illuminated, specially commissioned paintings by Mexican artist Oms Rocha. The creation of this work was even documented in a specially commissioned documentary short.
Once we enter the room, we were introduced to the team of highly experienced staff, chefs and the sommelier and given lemongrass scented hand towels because, of course, some of the food we would be eating was intended for us to eat with our hands. The restaurant has multiple guiding principles including the aforementioned edomae, sosaku and omotenashi. It is gluten and nut free and finds ingenious solutions to replace these elements in the meal. When a seafood free option is clearly out of the question for this intimate sushi experience, it is canny to include those with other intolerances like this at least.
The key words the food we were told was guided by were balance, contrast and harmony. Certainly, it was balance that shone through in many of the dishes, not relying on one flavour or another to dominate a dish but encouraging multiple bring the dish to an exquisite dimension. The deftness at which this was achieved I feel is the most impressive element of the experience.
Along with the omakase, edomae, sosaku, omotenashi, gluten and nut free, balance, contrast and harmony, the menu is also influenced by the phases of the moon. Hence the name of the restaurant, Luna, the artwork on the walls, the 12 seats, the 12 dishes and the 12-minute short documentary. Clearly Tanyag is not afraid of a little bit of symbolism.
It was a waning gibbous when we visited according to my almanac which traditionally is seen as an emotional and sensitive time of the month. We were told that vibrant flavours like citrus yuzu and cucumber would be used in the menu to reflect this. I would be curious whether those ingredients are unique to the waning gibbous as Japanese food without any citrus or cucumber would be a sad thing. I will simply have to go back and check when the moon starts to wane.
Our first sake was Masumi ‘origarami’ from a sake house founded in Nagano in 1662, with a light body, the process to make this is more similar to a champagne, although there is no double filtration however, there is a second fermentation in bottle with no sugar added before first fermentation.
Our first taste was of the house pickles, ginger and cucumber which was to act as a palate cleanser and thanks to the spirit of omotenashi were refilled when I wasn’t looking. If I had realised sooner that they would be refilled, I wouldn’t have rationed myself to one bite in between each course as the cucumber especially was expertly seasoned, a little chewy with the cast of a long bath in soy sauce.
We were then given a tour of the ingredients we would be enjoying throughout the meal, the seafood of which had been sourced that morning at Billingsgate market after it had been imported from across the world. We were also introduced to the process of making sushi, here, made with kitokomatchi brand rice, mixed while hot with aged red rice vinegar in a cedarwood box.
Our first course had travelled the furthest to meet us: Australian amberjack crudo: bright, fresh and buttery with ginger, shiso, wasabi and orange ponzu. The balance here between the orange ponzu and the amberjack was a clear mission statement at the confidence in which flavours would be presented.
Next was Luna’s signature dish which is popular as an Instagram post, Spanish bluefin ‘otoro’ (fatty tuna) served in a tin inside a stone filled with liquid nitrogen. Above the tuna, which is mixed with a yuzu truffle soy is a sustainable Italian Ars Italica Oscietra caviar. All of this is accompanied by the classic mother of pearl spoon ready to spread the caviar across rice crackers and fresh wasabi served in a wicker basket.
This is indulgence in the extreme and highly delicious naturally, caviar plus toro plus truffle sounds like the sort of ingredients list that would come from a restaurant that allows you to pick the weight of gold leaf on your burger, but these ingredients here are employed with a slight of hand that does not overpower, it instead allows each ingredient to both shine individually but also highlight the qualities of the others. The fattiness of the otoro is cut by the vibrance of the yuzu which is tempered by the minerality of the caviar.
Our next sake was a Toko ‘Fukuro-tsuru’ ultralux, from a house founded 1597 in Yamagata, in fact it is the 3rd oldest sake house in Japan. This was 25% abv, smooth and milky, with tropical fruit notes.
We then started our nigiri, which was made in front of us by the team of diligent and focussed chefs. We were instructed to eat them with out fingers, hence the hand towels, upside down, so our tongues touched the seafood first. Our first was a Danish king crab leg nigiri which was cold and sweet with the rice coming after perfectly balanced sour and salty.
Next was our most local dish a Cornwall Sea Trout flamed nigiri, an enormous torch was used to release the trout’s fat making it smoky, topped with trout roe and yuzu pearls.
Our next dish was also seared, this time a French sea bream nigiri with yuzu salt, it was seared with a block of binchtan Japanese oak charcoal, which is non bitter and gets up to 500°C.
Our next drink was also from Toko: ‘Genshu dawanosato’, at 60% abv, it was more similar to spirit, with an umami nose, it was recommended to go with more complex dishes.
For instance, taco maki with soybean paper and jalapeno salsa Verde, this was a vegetarian dish, the salsa verde was almost like a green goddess dressing, this was one of a few dishes influenced by Mexican food. We were handed the dish directly with instructions to eat it immediately.
Our next sushi was a Yellowtail onigiri with flying fish roe with a single sail of Umbrian black winter truffle, spring onions and jalapeno adding a warm spice to the dish.
Another Mexican inspired dish was a dehydrated sweet potato taquito filled with more Oscietra caviar and topped gusano seasoning salt derived from the worm you used to get in the bottom of tequila bottles. The salt was earthy, salty and the sweet potato shell perfectly crisp.
A hokkaido scallop came next, this was fresh and needless to say, cooked to perfection with tahini, dehydrated miso and syrupy sweet balsamic figs.
Our final sake was a Chiebijin from Oita, with vanilla notes, it uses less polished grains for more body, it was nutty and sweeter perfect for the fattier dishes to come.
This accompanied more toro, this time cold smoked and cut like jamon, served on a crescent moon plate. It was salty and meaty and, on that plate, could easily have been two expertly sliced squares of pork. Of course, in the mouth the cool and saline texture of the tuna mixed with the smoke was inimitable.
A hand roll was then handed to us with freshwater eel encased in a freshly roasted crispy nori seaweed sheet and filled with asparagus and that waning gibbous cucumber and with gochujang on top instead of the traditionally gluten ridden unagi sauce.
The first real meat was some proper A5 Wagyu in sando. These Japanese sandwiches have recently taken the world by storm, being popular as travel food back there as well as heightened versions with pricey ingredients being served at top restaurants. Tapioca bread, instead of the traditional milk bread, was indistinguishable from its glutenous cousin. The sandwich was filled with Japanese mustard, barbecue sauce and a wasabi leaf and after all, the seared beef. So tender, there really is nothing else like it.
More A5 Wagyu completed our savoury dishes. A nigiri with the wagyu cooked on hot salt, which of course was meaty and salty with shallot ponzu cutting through.
Desserts were next. For me I would have been happy with more as I have a second stomach for desserts. But for those without my unique biology, the food as far, although varied, was in quantities that meant the promise of dessert did not require a groan and unclasp of one’s belt.
Blood orange and chamomile granita was first, a palate cleanser, like snow and shaved in front of you. Naturally it was cooling and acidic but also smooth and relaxing, the chamomile was doing its job.
After this, two petit fours a chocolate bonbon and zingy pate de fruit.
Finally came a punchy fresh wasabi ice cream on top of a towering miso caramel souffle. This dish, which I think speaks for the experience and the philosophy of it overall. That being delicate and with impossibly light touch, created with expertise and deft care as a masterclass in the handling and sourcing of ingredients. But most of all, a balance of flavours that highlights and uplifts each element more than usual. For instance, this souffle was saltier than most and because of it, the caramel and the wasabi in the ice cream were able to speak for themselves more on the tongue than they would have done otherwise.
Now, the elephant in the room is the price, at £230 per person including service if you add on the £109 sake pairing, you could afford to fly to Japan and back and have money to spare. Of course, if you did that, you wouldn’t be in London to enjoy transcendant food on offer at Luna.
Website: https://www.luna-omakase.com/
Book: Opentable
Luna Omakase
9th Floor, 100 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 2AT
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