Soseki doesn't live up to its name

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There are lots of meal deals out there. I was enraged to find one offering 50 per cent off the £50 Haiku menu at Soseki, valid until 31 March, after having paid the very full price. At a price of £25 the "kaiseki-kappo" Haiku meal, served on the omakase principle of the chef preparing what he considers best that day, would have been more or less acceptable for some of the dishes, particularly the silky chawan mushi — not actually the ragged, clunky sushi — and the undeniably beguiling surroundings.

On the first floor of a modern featureless building with intimate views of the Gherkin, the interior of Soseki unfolds as a happy colourful revelation culminating in some private rooms on stilts like Japanese tree houses. Four of us were given one of these — there was not much competition in terms of other customers.

We tried the three different set-price menus, which range from £45-£60. Menus with accompanying wines are priced from £65-100.

We wanted to drink sake and discovered that the cheaper bottles had all "sold out". Our protests brought a £10 reduction on the bottle we were obliged to select.

The attributes you hope for in Japanese food — delicacy, artistry, history, soulfulness, precision, strangeness, umami — were in short supply. Tempura left grease marks on the paper it was served on and a fish casserole featured fatty, seemingly meaty stock. Almost the best item was the appetiser of black potato, lotus root and a mound of duck prepared along the lines of French rillettes.

A major theme of the late novelist Natsume Soseki, after whom the restaurant is named, is that of ordinary people fighting economic hardship. About the two years he spent in London he wrote: "Among English gentlemen I lived in misery like a poor dog that has strayed among a pack of wolves." He would definitely have sought out the 50 per cent off deal.

Soseki
20 Bury Street, EC3A 5AA