Arguably the best culinary theatre in the world, and with plenty of Michelin-starred restaurants, London certainly isn't afraid to push boundaries when it comes to food. With an eye for creation and armed with the best ingredients available, the city's many chefs have fused together recipes from across the globe. Potent yet serene, spicy yet sweet, the juxtapositions of their flavours have often been the fuel behind some of London's most unique restaurants. To help experience it all, here are the best fusion restaurants in the capital.
Asia De Cuba
Sitting comfortably just a stone's throw from Covent Garden, the chefs at Asia De Cuba use a range of Oriental ingredients and spices to create a selection of Cuban dishes, all created using home-style Caribbean techniques and recipes. The potent heat of the Asian spices and seasonings clash violently with the carefully crafted textures of traditional Cuban seafood and meat dishes. We'd fully recommend trying the Crispy Octopus Al Ajillo, composed of vegetable escabeche, sweet lychee, garlic chips and piping hot, chilli octopus.
The Crispy Octopus Al Ajillo at Asia De Cuba produces an explosion of flavour as soon as it touches the tongue.
Mommi
A favourite eatery among South London's hungry populace, Mommi infuses the South America's vibrant flavours with the hot spice of the Far East. Although a Japo-Latin collaboration is pretty hard to find in everyday life, the chef's at this South London fusion restaurant use their years of experience to delicately balance the complex web of flavours on the palate. A favourite of ours is the chicken teriyaki, seasoned with lemon zest and served with spring onion, quinoa lime Picante and Quinoa crumbs.
Traditional chicken teriyaki, seasoned with lemon vest, spring onion and a splash of South American zeal.
Cinnamon Kitchen
As part of a proud restaurant group that prides itself on opening unique restaurants in London, Cinnamon Kitchen has unquestionably established itself at the very top of the city's ever-adapting food market, infusing the most flavoursome Indian recipes with a selection of hearty British culinary traditions. Using spices from across the Subcontinent alongside ingredients sourced in the British Isles, the chefs twist and turn things out of shape, taking the tastes we'd associate with a classic British family meal and placing them under the hot Indian sun through their arsenal of exotic spices. Forget the British Raj, this is more like the Indian King!
Effortlessly marrying eye-watering spice with flaky pastry, we'd nudge you in the direction of the Keralan seafood pie.
Crazy Bear Fitzrovia
Specialising primarily in light dishes and seasoned seafood, Crazy Bear in Fitzrovia offers a remarkable palate experience, twisting and twirling the sweet and bitter tastes of Japan with the heat of Thailand. The freshly-made range of sushi is always hard to resist, but of real note is the array of rare meat on offer. Sourced from Crazy Bear's own farm in Oxfordshire, the chefs season and sauté only the finest cuts and intertwine them with a number of complex yet wonderfully refreshing flavour combinations. Perfect for anyone hoping to take a leap, let alone a step, outside of their comfort zone, you'd do well to find a better alternative restaurant in London.
Drenched in Japanese Sake and Miso, the Grilled Black Cod will transport you to the sun-baked streets of the South Pacific.
Cha Chaan Teng
A culinary phenomenon in Hong Kong, Cha Chaan Teng has continued to thrive after arriving in London. With its distinctive Hong Kong cafe couture vibes, the venue offers London's inquisitive crowds an easy-going space that's simultaneously heavy with culturally rich air. The menu perfectly complements this, fusing together contrasting flavours of both East and West in an effort to add a new edge to your thinking of comfort food. Alongside the range of exotic Bao burgers, guests can expect to find traditional Chinese recipes and small plates, laced with peanut-butter or perhaps topped with perfectly seasoned fried egg.
Sitting comfortably in Holborn, no dish is complete at Cha Chaan Teng without a splash of Western influence.
