Machiya is the new joint from the people behind Kanada-Ya, consistently rated as one of London’s best ramens. Machiya is on Panton Street, just two doors down from the second Kanada location, and although it retains the cool minimal Japanese-style interiors, there’s not a bowl of ramen in sight.
One of our main reasons for wanting to come down was to try Machiya’s grilled eel dish, one of our favourite discoveries on our recent Japan trip. It was excellent at Machiya, certainly one of the best we’ve had in London so far, although we reckon it could have done with some more of the sweet sticky sauce.
Another top recommendation from us is the tonkatsu, which is properly covered in panko and is absolutely huge, especially when you think it only costs £9 – an absolute bargain. The miso soup was also one of the best we’ve had in London and the tsukune, grilled chicken skewers, is a great snack to get things going.
Drinks wise, there’s a great list of sakes too – check out the Dassai, which isn’t cheap but one of our absolute faves – and some interesting cocktails too. Machiya is a great spot for authentic and affordable Japanese food in London. We’ll be back soon for a tonkatsu and a cheeky glass of Dassai.
5 Panton St, London
machi-ya.co.uk