Cherry Blossom Season at Mei Ume

If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that I’m a big fan of flowers…. and another thing I’m a fan of is Asian food. Mei Ume at Four Seasons Hotel Ten Trinity Square is currently ticking all my boxes as the Asian Fusion restaurant celebrates Hanami, the tradition of welcoming cherry blossom season. The tradition is celebrated in Japan from the end of March to the beginning of May with outdoor parties and dinner under the blossom trees. 
These parties have been the inspiration for the beautiful displays in the restaurant at the entrance and trailing across the bar and seating booths. 
There’s nothing quite like gently falling under a floral spell as you enjoy your dinner!
I first tried Mei Ume, the Asian fusion restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Ten Trinity Square nearly two years ago for a girls dinner with Lauren and we absolutely loved it. This time I returned with Mr S, who was visiting the hotel for the first time. Like me, he’s a fan of the Four Seasons brand and was immediately very impressed by the gorgeous Rotunda entrance of the historic building (the former Port of London Authority) and equally impressed by the beautiful decor at Mei Ume. The restaurant was a little quiet when we arrived at 7pm but soon filled up and had a really lovely atmosphere that made for a relaxed date night.

As well as the usual Chinese and Japanese a la carte menu Head Chef Tony Truong has created a seasonal menu to reflect this transient season. The cherry blossom menu isn’t a set fixed priced menu so guests can easily combine choices from a la carte menu for their dinner.
The team behind the bar have created a floral cherry blossom cocktail that is a combination of  Sipsmith gin, Lychee and Yuzu juice, it’s a great way to kick off the dinner. 
From the blossom menu was ordered a beautifully prepared seared tuna and spinach salad in Japanese Wapo dressing, a delicious crisp and hearty king prawn tempura with spicy mayo and pan-fried Wagyu beef gyoza. The big fat gyoza were my favourite thing of the night but they are not a permanent fixture on the menu so make sure you hurry down and try them while you can!

We ordered dim sum from the a la carte menu and it came a mixture of pork, prawn and mushroom. These were enjoyable but a little dense and not the best I’ve had. Duck spring rolls from the a la carte menu delighted Mr S and but I thought there was a little too much hoisin sauce (I know this would be welcomed by some!) but I did really enjoy the delicate presentation.

The teriyaki chicken with seasonal vegetable was our pick of main courses from the cherry blossom menu and it was really good! I don’t like overly sweet main courses which can be a risk with teriyaki but this was just right. From the a la carte menu, we pick the steamed Chilean seabass with ginger and spring onion in soy sauce which was a really perfect light option.

The cherry blossom menu dessert is SnowFlake matcha cake with salted caramel ice cream – which is great from matcha fans but I know it’s quite a divisive flavour!
And we also ordered different flavoured mochi (chocolate, mango and yuzu) which came with a delicious chocolate dipping sauce too.

Mr S and I had a really fab time at Mei Ume and we were really impressed by the gorgeous decor, but like real cherry blossoms, the installation and the menu is fleeting so get down to Ten Trinity square before the 22nd of April to try it!

Mei Ume
Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square
10 Trinity Square
London
EC3N 4AJ

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