Caterer Middle East catches up with the winner of its Bar and Restaurant of the Year awards, Okku, to find out the secret behind its success

After leaving last year’s Caterer Middle East Awards ceremony with three awards, Okku Luxury Japanese Restaurant & Lounge, Dureturned to collect another four for it’s trophy cabinet.

Before the winners’ list was announced, I took a couple of hours out to visit the team and find out the secret behind its success.

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Tucked away on the first floor of the H Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road, the first thing that strikes me about the outlet is that it’s not actually that big – 78 seats – confirms founder Markus Thesleff; puzzling– considering Okku has just posted a 13% increase in food sales over the last eight months and is generating covers of between 350-400 each night.

“On a monthly basis we do around 10-12,000 guests,” says Thesleff. “On a night like tonight (Sunday, – their LOVE night) there is a two-week waiting list. On a regular night – and we’re not even into the full season yet – it’s a week (wait time) for a guaranteed table. We do ok,” he asserts.

More than “ok” springs to mind. The outlet has had to re-think its strategy based on demand. It’s certainly not at the lower end when it comes to pricing. A small plate of the popular spicy tuna on crispy rice would cost you AED98 (US $27); and a large plate of Yuzu-Saiykyo Miso Black Cod would set you back AED140 ($38). Sushi and sashimi start at AED35 ($10).

But it is still competitively priced compared to its rivals, insists Thesleff: “If you look at some of the reviews – with our competitors you wouldn’t get much change out of AED1000 ($272). With us, we come in at around AED350 ($95)per head. Our portions tend to be larger as well,” says Thesleff.

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