New Japanese Wagyu restaurant and late-night cocktail bar opening at Xscape in Milton Keynes

The UK's first Kobe and Wagyu restaurant outside London is to open in MK in the middle of next month.

The Kobe Steakhouse & Cocktail Lounge is being launched in the Xscape building by the Marcu family, who created the successful award-winning restaurants French Affaire and Greek Affaire in Stony Stratford.

And they promise the new venture will be "something very special".

The restaurant will specialise in the Japanese delicacy of Kobe, a variety of Wagyu beef from a highly prized strain of cattle called Tajima-Gyu, which are raised to strict standards in Hyogo.

But in the evenings the premises will transform into a "vibrant" cocktail bar as Kobe partners with club brand UltraVegas ,who will be curating and providing music on Friday and Saturday nights.

Marc Carter, founder of UltraVegas, said: “We’re extremely excited to be partnering with Kobe to offer this exquisite dining experience in Milton Keynes.

The music will be a fantastic backdrop for the diners throughout the early evening and then as Kobe transitions into a cocktail lounge, guests will be able to enjoy the very best of soulful funky house with a heavy sprinkling of disco, plus club classics mixed with Nu disco, Nu groove, digital soul and house beats – all played by the crème de la crème of the UltraVegas family of DJs and producers.

“We want to make Kobe Steakhouse & Cocktail Lounge THE place to be and a real destination restaurant and believe that we have all of the elements in place to achieve this. We are all getting very excited for the launch!”

The Marcu family says the interior design of the new venue will be "stunning" , with a colour palette of deep greens and touches of gold, lush foliage adorning the walls, velvet banquettes and spectacular chandeliers. There will also a private dining space as well as a comfortable cocktail lounge area and bar.

Razvan Marcu said: “There are only 10 certified and registered restaurants in the UK selling Kobe and Wagyu beef and we will be the only one outside of London, so this really is a first for the MK food scene.

"When we were approached by the Xscape with the opportunity to launch a new food business there we knew it had to be something special. As a family we are all real foodies and often dine at the top Kobe restaurants in London, so when we learned that there wasn’t any outside of the capital, we just knew that we had to do this. We will be offering a truly upmarket dining experience for our guests.”