Food & Drink Awards 2023 | 35 Rika Moon is a contemporary Japanese restaurant that specialises in curating dishes made from high-quality ingredients, sourced from around the world, and served direct from the restaurant’s artisan producers. The establishment caters for its neighbouring Notting Hill community and is committed to providing fantastic food and unparalleled service to all of its customers. Never content to settle, Rika Moon consistently experiments with new ingredients, and meticulously sources the best flavour combinations to bring innovative new concepts and dishes to its star-studded menu. We have the pleasure of speaking with Executive Chef Paul Greening, who has had a multi-award-winning career spanning more than two decades across the Asian food scene. Best Japanese Fusion Restaurant 2023 - London Rika Moon is aware that only restaurants which break new ground and keep pushing boundaries will be able to stay ahead of the curve, and to this end, the team take appropriate measures to remain one step ahead of everybody else in the game. Establishments that are unable to reinvent themselves may face closure, with Paul himself knowing a lot of restaurants in London that are facing closure due to rising costs, such as rent, wages, and supply. Perhaps the key element to Rika Moon’s sustained success is its staff, a team of passionate individuals driven by success and able to provide the best possible experiences for new and returning customers alike. The kitchen staff is brimming with dedicated professionals, with Paul bringing his acclaimed, stylised, and experimental take on Japanese food to the restaurant, working closely with the rest of the team in order to develop a menu that is delicious, satisfying, and equal parts unique and exciting. In regard to the future of the establishment, the Rika Moon team has been working tirelessly on developments to continue to streamline the restaurant experience, including planning for the restaurant to host large events in the array of space it has at its disposal. With its great location in the centre of Notting Hill to boot, the team have come up with an amazing event menu and is in the process of working on implementing ramen into its lunches that Paul promises will “blow people away”. Ultimately, Rika Moon is consistently inspired by a love of food, friends, and family, and to this end, the luxury service it provides is not cold and hostile like other restaurants of its calibre, and is instead family-owned, dog-friendly, warm, and welcoming. This one-of-a-kind-atmosphere is complemented by a similarly distinctive menu that houses some of the best Japanese fusion, sushi, cocktails, gyoza, robata, tempura, and yakitori in London, and thus, is more than deserving of this award. Contact: Paul Greening Company: Rika Moon Web Address: https://rikamoon.com/ ika Moon has been created as a place for like-minded food lovers to connect and enjoy a range of cultures. A combination of the Persian and Japanese words for “loved” and “pear blossom” respectively, Rika Moon offers an unrivalled dining experience comprising of Japanese fusion cuisine and extravagant cocktails, complemented by a chic interior, open-plan sushi counter, and theatric bar. What separates Rika Moon from other locations in London’s is an unbridled passion for innovation and creating fresh new dishes that satisfy its ever-growing customer base. Just this year, the restaurant has partnered with a fine soya source provider from Japan, and the expert team of chefs are now implementing sauce into their dishes that is 38 years old, with only 120 bottles ever produced. Through this, the business has been able to invent unique and amazing products that live up to the high standards its customers have come to expect. Paul and the team have crafted an exquisite sashimi soya that is blended with this more than 30-year-old sauce, combined with a 20-year-old mirin and well-aged Katsuobushi, with the results producing a new sauce that all of the restaurant’s sushi is brushed with to guarantee a unique and delicate flavour. In the same vein, the business is currently exploring new techniques in order to marry wagyu beef and seafood, with this plan still in the pipeline until it can be perfected. R
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