Alba Omakase: a ten-seat sushi counter opens opposite Harrods
Knightsbridge has a new contender for the hardest seat to book. Since Monday 21 September, Alba on Brompton Road has been running a ten-seat omakase counter on its first floor, with a single sitting each evening at 7.30pm and a window looking straight across at Harrods. It is an unexpected move for a restaurant best known for Amalfi Coast cooking, but the thinking behind it is neat, and it gives the building a second reason to book.
From ricci di mare to uni
The idea starts with sea urchin. Fishermen on the Amalfi coast, and in Puglia and Sicily, know it as ricci di mare; in Japan it is uni. The counter builds on that overlap, using premium seafood sourced from southern Italy and from Japan, and treating the two traditions as close relations rather than opposites.
Guests choose between a nine-course and a twelve-course omakase, shaped each day around that morning's produce. Early reports point to Hokkaido uni, bluefin otoro, and Kristal and Beluga caviar, served as nigiri, sashimi and small raw courses passed across the counter. Prices had not been published at launch, so check when booking.
The chefs
The concept was devised by Alba's creative chef Dmytro Pak, who spent a year at UNI, the sushi restaurant in Paris. Day to day, the counter is run by head chef Takuya Kaneko, who has worked in sushi kitchens for two decades, eight of those years at Zuma just around the corner on Raphael Street. That local pedigree matters: Knightsbridge diners know exactly what good raw fish should taste like.
How it works
- Seats: ten, at one counter.
- Service: dinner only, one sitting at 7.30pm, no lunch and no second seating.
- Menus: nine or twelve courses.
- Without a booking: a separate Japanese à la carte menu runs daily in the main dining room, and walk-ins are accepted for that.
The single sitting is the key detail. Everyone starts together, which turns the evening into something closer to a performance than a meal, and it means the chef can pace the courses for the whole counter. It also means there is no slipping in late, so plan your journey with care.
Why it matters for Brompton Road
Omakase has spread across Mayfair and Marylebone over the past few years, but Knightsbridge has had relatively few counters of this kind. Alba has given itself a second identity without changing the room downstairs, which remains the place for lobster linguine and long Italian lunches. Read our full profile of Alba for the main restaurant.
It also suits the way people eat in this part of town. Hotel guests and visitors staying around Brompton Road often want one special dinner on a short trip, and a fixed sitting with a set progression of courses removes the guesswork. Locals, meanwhile, get a counter within walking distance rather than a taxi ride to Mayfair.
The London x London preview of the counter has more on the sourcing and the room.
Booking
Alba is at 70 Brompton Road, SW3 1ER, a minute from Knightsbridge station. With ten seats and one sitting, bookings are best made well ahead through the Alba reservations page. Arrive a few minutes before 7.30pm so the counter can start on time.
