Senkai is London's first sustainably sourced modern Japanese-inspired restaurant and the newest addition to The Ignite Group. Its menu is built around its main feature: a counter-top dining raw-bar, which serves seafood platters, tiradito and tataki dishes, ceviches and tartars, whilst the à la carte menu also offers a wide selection of dishes grilled on the robata. Senkai is divided into four distinct areas - a 125-cover dining room, two private dining areas seating up to 30 guests, the 20-seat counter-top dining bar and a cocktail lounge accommodating up to 50 guests.
The Interiors were created by Christopher Prain with furniture and lighting design supplied by Conran Contracts. Christopher developed an Japanese-inspired design drawing on natural elements and textures such as bronze walls, woven flooring, candle and subliminal lighting, oriental flowers and handmade timber furniture with minimal lines. Changes in materials and colours mark the transition from lounge, to restaurant, to private dining rooms, with a rich palette of colour and texture to create a warm, inviting feel throughout the day and at night.
The lounge features an open bar where mixologists interact directly with guests as they make the drinks. Furniture includes veneer sofas and Tosai lounge chairs (made on the Hokkaido island of Japan) and striking Moooi Random LED Floor Lights, which throw wonderful patterns across the walls and ceilings throughout the day. The walls are bronze, with a feature De Gournay hand-painted Japanese wallpaper.
In the main body of the restaurant, bespoke solid sycamore tables created by Benchmark are paired with Magis-Flower chairs designed by Pierre Paulin. The main focus of the room is the marble bar for elegant bar top dining, with a centre-piece seafood display. Layers of natural figured sycamore infused with light, run along the back wall of the restaurant area creating one of the more prominent of the subliminal lighting features of the restaurant. Parallel to this are a succession of arched windows that allow light to spill in to the restaurant, semi-screened by troughs of Asian grass. Eye-catching lights have also been sourced from Miguel Mila (the classic TMM 1961 floor light) and the Tripode from Santa & Cole.