Aki’s new Autumn menu: seasonal Japanese dishes and flavours
There is one evening each year when the weather turns, you reach for a coat you had forgotten about, and the dinner you want changes with it. Not lighter, not louder: warmer, deeper, a little richer. Japan has a name for that appetite, shokuyoku no aki, the autumn of appetite, and our new autumn menu is written for exactly that evening.
Here at Aki, this autumn brings new seasonal dishes and flavours, like chargrilled octopus with satsuma, duck breast cooked tobanyaki-style with sansho and an A5 Miyazaki fillet. Around them, the season’s citrus, mushrooms and miso run through the rest of the menu, which is what makes it a true Japanese autumn menu.
Autumn menu · Aki, Marylebone
Aki’s new autumn menu: three new dishes and the season behind them
Our new autumn menu launched this autumn, with three new dishes and a pantry built around the season: satsuma, sudachi, shiitake and miso.
- New this autumn: Chargrilled Octopus, Duck Breast Tobanyaki and A5 Miyazaki Fillet
- The autumn pantry: satsuma, sudachi, yuzu, shiitake and miso running through the menu
- The Signature Menu: nine courses, with wine pairings available
- The full menu: everything on offer is on our menu
- Where: 1 Cavendish Square, Marylebone, London W1G 0LA, minutes from Oxford Circus and Bond Street
The autumn of appetite: why Aki’s menu turns with the season
In Japan, autumn is the best eating season of the year. Shokuyoku no aki describes the weeks when rice is harvested, mushrooms appear and citrus ripens, and cooks build menus around the principle of shun: the short window when an ingredient is at its peak.
That is the sensibility behind our autumn menu. It does not chase a theme. It follows what tastes best as the evenings cool, and it leans on the ingredients Japan reaches for at this time of year.
What is new on Aki’s autumn menu
Three dishes arrive this autumn.
Small dishes · Chargrilled
Chargrilled Octopus
New item, built around satsuma
Octopus, chargrilled and served with satsuma and aji amarillo and a shiso salsa. The satsuma is the season in the dish: satsuma mandarins come into season from October, and their sweet, bright citrus meets the fruity heat of aji amarillo, a Peruvian chilli central to Nikkei cooking, the Japanese-Peruvian cuisine.
Shiso, a leaf Japanese cooks use like a herb, adds a green, minty freshness. The plate lands somewhere between smoky, sweet and sharp.
Large dishes · Tobanyaki
Duck Breast Tobanyaki
New to the large dishes, cooked tobanyaki-style
Tobanyaki is the Japanese technique of cooking on a ceramic plate, which holds its heat long after it leaves the fire. Here it is applied to duck breast, served with apricot, a duck jus and sansho.
Duck is a cold-season ingredient in Japan, best known in kamo nabe, the duck hot pot of winter, when ducks are at their fattest. Sansho, the Japanese pepper, is not hot: it brings a citrusy tingle that lifts rich meat, and the apricot adds a fruit-sweet note to the jus.
Wagyu · Miyazaki
A5 Miyazaki Fillet
New to our wagyu beef list, at the top of the A5 scale
A5 is the highest grade in Japan’s beef grading system: the A refers to yield and the 5 to quality, judged on marbling, colour, texture and fat. Miyazaki beef is Japanese Black cattle raised in Miyazaki Prefecture, in Kyushu, and it has won the top prize at Japan’s national wagyu competition more than once.
The fillet is the most tender cut, served with pickled white asparagus, black garlic miso and an onion apple wafu, a Japanese-style dressing whose sharp sweetness cuts through the richness.
The autumn pantry: where the season shows on the menu
The new dishes are the headline. The season runs deeper than that, through the dressings, sauces and sides of the whole menu.
Satsuma · Citrus
The autumn citrus
Satsuma mandarins, known in Japan as mikan, come into season from October. Here at Aki they brighten the Chargrilled Octopus and the Tenderstem Broccoli, where a satsuma yuzu wafu dressing and wasabi furikake turn a simple vegetable into a side worth ordering.
Sudachi · Yuzu
The citrus that carries the season
Sudachi, a small green Japanese citrus, peaks in October and November, and yuzu ripens from green to yellow as autumn turns to winter. Sudachi lifts the ginger miso sauce on the Crispy Skin Salmon, while yuzu runs through the Chilean Sea Bass, the Rock Shrimp Tempura and the Lumina Lamb Rack.
Mushrooms · Shiitake
The autumn forest
Shiitake has two seasons in Japan, spring and autumn, and the autumn crop is when it is at its thickest and meatiest. It appears in the shiitake sesame dressing on the Spinach Salad and alongside the Australian Senku Denver Cut, while mini morels and a morel ankake sauce come with the B3 Japanese Cross Breed Sirloin.
Miso · Warmth
Miso, slow and deep
As the evenings cool, the menu leans on miso. The Caramelised Black Cod is marinated in vegetable miso and served with aji amarillo zuke, the Black Ginger Baby Chicken comes with aged barley miso, onsen egg and truffle oil, and the Miso Soup of myoga, mitsuba and egg tofu is the quietest way to begin.
The new additions to Aki’s menu, at a glance
Everything that is new this autumn, on one card.
The Signature Menu: nine courses, one evening
If you would rather leave the ordering to us, the Signature Menu is £99 per person across nine courses, with wine pairings at £40 or £59. The same autumn ingredients run through it, from the satsuma dressing on the Tenderstem Broccoli to the morels with the Australian Senku Denver Cut.
Autumn menu · Marylebone
A new menu for the first cold evenings.
Octopus, duck, A5 Miyazaki and the season’s satsuma, sudachi and shiitake. Reserve your table at Aki.
Autumn tastes different at Aki: come and try the new menu in Marylebone
Here at Aki, we are dedicated to Japanese cooking done properly, and that means letting the calendar decide what goes on the plate. When the evenings cool, citrus turns to satsuma and sudachi, mushrooms deepen and richer cuts earn their place.
The surprise is how much the small things change a dish: a satsuma beside charred octopus, a pinch of sansho against rich duck, a shiitake dressing on a simple salad. Individually they are quiet. Together, they are the whole season.
So come and taste it. Browse the menu, choose your own route, or leave it to the nine courses of the Signature Menu. Bringing a group? See group dining at Aki or private dining in central London. And for the story of the season in our room, read The Autumn of Aki.
Reserve your table
Taste the new autumn menu at Aki.
Chargrilled octopus, tobanyaki duck, A5 Miyazaki fillet and the season in every dish, in Marylebone.
Aki is a contemporary Japanese restaurant at 1 Cavendish Square, Marylebone, London W1G 0LA, minutes from Oxford Circus and Bond Street, and listed in the Michelin Guide. The Signature Menu is £99 per person, with wine pairings at £40 and £59. Reserve a table at Aki.
Aki’s autumn menu: your questions answered
Everything to know about the new autumn menu at Aki in Marylebone.
What is on Aki’s new autumn menu?
Three new dishes arrive this autumn: the Chargrilled Octopus with satsuma aji amarillo and shiso salsa, the Duck Breast Tobanyaki with apricot, duck jus and sansho, and the A5 Miyazaki Fillet with pickled white asparagus, black garlic miso and onion apple wafu. The season also runs through the rest of the menu in satsuma, sudachi, yuzu, shiitake and miso. See the full menu.
When did Aki’s new autumn menu launch?
It launched this autumn, and the new dishes are on the menu now.
What is tobanyaki?
Tobanyaki is a Japanese technique of cooking on a ceramic plate, which holds its heat for a long time. Aki’s Duck Breast Tobanyaki is served with apricot, duck jus and sansho.
What does A5 wagyu mean?
A5 is the highest grade in Japan’s beef grading system. The letter A refers to yield and the number 5 to quality, judged on marbling, colour, texture and fat. It describes a grade, not a region or a brand.
What is Miyazaki beef, and how is it different from Kobe?
Miyazaki beef is wagyu from Japanese Black cattle raised in Miyazaki Prefecture, in Kyushu. Kobe beef is Tajima-gyu raised in Hyogo Prefecture and certified under its own standards. Both are on our Wagyu menu, the A5 Miyazaki Fillet and the Kobe Sirloin, and you can read about our certified Kobe beef.
What is sansho?
Sansho is a Japanese pepper. It is not hot: it leaves a citrusy, tingling sensation on the lips and tongue, which is why it pairs so well with rich meat and fish. At Aki it appears in the Duck Breast Tobanyaki and in the avocado sansho puree on the Crispy Skin Salmon.
What is satsuma, and why is it in season?
Satsuma is a sweet, seedless mandarin that Japan calls mikan. It comes into season from October and runs through to January. At Aki it appears in the Chargrilled Octopus and in the satsuma yuzu wafu dressing on the Tenderstem Broccoli.
Is there a tasting menu?
Yes. The Signature Menu is nine courses at £99 per person, with wine pairings at £40 or £59. It includes the Australian Senku Denver Cut, the Caramelised Black Cod and the Tenderstem Broccoli with satsuma yuzu wafu dressing.
Is matsutake on the menu?
No. Matsutake, Japan’s prized autumn mushroom, is not on the menu. Our mushrooms are shiitake, in the Spinach Salad dressing and with the Australian Senku Denver Cut, and mini morels with the B3 Japanese Cross Breed Sirloin.
What is shokuyoku no aki?
Shokuyoku no aki (食欲の秋) means “the autumn of appetite.” It is the Japanese phrase for the fact that autumn is considered the best eating season of the year, when rice is harvested, mushrooms emerge and citrus ripens.
What is shun in Japanese cooking?
Shun (旬) is the short window when an ingredient hits its peak: most flavourful, most abundant, and best eaten now. Japanese menus are deliberately built and rotated around shun, and a chef’s reputation rests on knowing what each week of the season should taste like.
Where is Aki, and do I need to book?
Aki is at 1 Cavendish Square, Marylebone, London W1G 0LA, minutes from Oxford Circus and Bond Street. Booking is recommended. Reserve through our booking page.
