Just opened
Ozu, London
Authentic Japanese dining on London's South Bank. Decor is based on Tokyo and Paris of the 1940s and 1950s and aims to provide a retreat where diners can sample food prepared by Japanese master chefs.
Opens: 30 September
Owner: Benjamin Bel
Head chef: Ogita Jun
Food: Ranges from sushi to lesser-known traditional Japanese dishes. The sashimi includes toro (tuna - £6.20) and tai (sea bream - £5.60). If you want a bowl of sushi, there is sake ikura don (raw salmon and roe - £14), or you can try the buta shog yaki (sliced pork with ginger sauce - £9). Traditional kamado cooking is also on offer: the kani, snow crabmeat cooked in a special broth and quail egg, is £7.20.
Capacity: 70 (up to 100 for private functions)
Average spend: £30 (including drinks)
Address: County Hall Riverside Building, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7PB
Tel: 020 7928 7766
Drakes hotel, Brighton Two Georgian houses were stripped, knocked through and given an Oriental tweak to create this luxury seafront hotel. All 20 bedrooms have DVD and CD players and LCD televisions. The staircase coils around a 12m chandelier, which hangs the full length of the building.
Opens: 20 September
Owner: Neil Waugh
General manager: Julia Clark
Head chef: Ben McKellar
Facilities: Call in advance to have your bubble bath run, your Chardonnay chilled or to make sure Vivaldi is playing on your room's surround-sound speakers when you arrive. A warm pastry and the papers are left outside the door every morning and there is a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce to pick up regular guests from the station.
Cost: £95 to £310 per night, or from £3,000 for exclusive use of the hotel
Bedrooms: 20, more than half with sea view
Architect: Michael Phillips
Designer: Tim Shepherd
Address: 43-44 Marine Parade, Brighton BN2 1PE
Tel: 01273 696934
Radisson SAS hotel, Belfast Swedish-based Radisson SAS has opened a new £14m Scandinavian-style hotel close to Belfast city centre. When checking in, guests can choose between two different styles of room: cool, calm and Nordic or more vibrant and urban.
Opened: 8 September
General manager: Stuart Grant
Facilities: All rooms have broadband internet access, a minibar and in-house films. One of the eight suites is the city's largest one-bedroom suite. There are five meeting rooms, and food is Mediterranean and Italian.
Bedrooms: 120, plus eight suites
Cost: £99-£395 per night
Address: The Gasworks, 3 Cromac Place, Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 2JB
Tel: 028 9043 4065
Fiesta, London This new restaurant claims to be a South American sm"rg†sbord in north-west London. The site's 1,500sq ft is divided into two floors and a beer garden, where diners can eat and drink to the sound of samba drums. Inside the colours are hot and spicy, with ponchos, barrels and timber beams adding to the ambiance.
Opened: 31 July
Owner and head chef: Tony Farsh
Food: A Mexican buffet of tapas, chilli con carne and enchiladas. Diners help themselves, eating what they can for £6.50. Sangria sells by the jug for £15 and there are the usual Hispanic beers that need a lime in the top. If you want the lime inside your tipple, try a caipirinha cocktail for £3.80.
Capacity: 80 inside, 50 outside
Average spend: £10-£12
Address: 98 West End Lane, London NW6
Tel: 020 7328 3308
