Japanese Restaurants
Japanese Restaurants
London has well and truly fallen for Japanese food; you can find everything from sushi and ramen to kaiseki dining and omakase experiences in the city. Here’s our pick of the best Japanese restaurants in London.
Though your mind likely jumps to sushi or ramen when you think of Japanese food, the cuisine is actually really varied. London represents this variety rather well; you can now find yakitori bars and curry places, we have izakayas and kaseki restaurants, there are establishments that specialise in handrolls and udon noodles, the list goes on.
While not supposed to be a cheap eat, sushi is one of those things that can vary wildly in price. There are no-frills spots where you can get decent quality sushi and sashimi at an affordable price point, and there are also extremely high-end restaurants like Endo at the Rotunda and Sushi Kanesaka, where you can drop several hundred pounds on one dinner – and that’s just on the food alone. Then there are institutions like Sushi Tetsu, where scoring a reservation is a mission in itself.
There’s an art to a Japanese meal and you can experience the ritual of it at one of the city’s omakase and kaiseki restaurants. Omakase, which means ‘I leave it up to you’, sees chefs prepare and serve dishes made from the freshest ingredients available that day, just like a tasting menu. Kaiseki dining also follows a set format but tends to feature appetisers, sashimi, soup, a grilled dish, a main dish, rice and dessert, rather than being so heavy on sushi. It’s also super seasonal, something that’s reflected in the decor and tableware as well as the menu – Roketsu in Marylebone offers a fantastic authentic take on this style of dining.
Londoners love noodles, so it’s no surprise that the city is full of ramen joints. There are reliable chains like Tonkotsu, Bone Daddies and Kanada-Ya, as well as indie operators like Monohon, and, thanks to Koya, we’ve seen a growth in udon-focused restaurants too.
At its heart Koya is all about the udon noodles. You can choose from hot noodles in hot soup; cold noodles to dip into hot soup; and cold noodles with cold sauce to dip or to pour. Hot noodles and hot broth is the most popular and has the greatest number of options, and keep an eye out for the day’s specials when ordering – we’ve have spectacular bowls from there, like kedgeree-inspired number that had a thick curry soup, flakes of smoked haddock, and an egg. Koya’s menu of small plates are no after thought either. The tonkatsu (available at dinner only) here is exceptional, easily the best we’ve found in London and even rivalled many we’ve had in Japan. Other highlights were the crispy prawn heads (a regular special from Soho that have found a permanent home here) and the marinated mushrooms.
If you’re looking for authentic kaiseki dining in London, Roketsu in Marylebone is the place to do it. Kaiseki dining consists of multi-course meals (including appetisers, sashimi, soup, a grilled dish, a main dish, rice and dessert) that celebrate the seasons. Chef Daisuke Hayashi, one of the only masters of this style in the world, so you’re getting the real deal here. The menu changes regularly to reflect the ingredients at their peak seasonality, like red mullet sakura-mushi, spring vegetables with dashi jelly, and lamb sukiyaki with wild garlic leaf, appearing during the spring. The food is all presented on beautiful ceramics and served at the hinoki wood counter (the restaurant’s interior was actually built in Kyoto and shipped to London). The drinks menu has been assembled by Ryosuke Mashio, formerly the sommelier for Michelin-starred Umu, and features almost 70 types of sake and 450 wines.
Los Mochis in Notting Hill has Juno Omakase, and now Los Mochis in the City has Luna Omakase. Where its sister in W8 only has six seats and serves a Mexican-Japanese fusion omakase menu, Luna Omakase has 12 seats, set around a wooden counter (with the City skyline forming the backdrop), and offers Sosaku-style Edomae omakase, a modern take on traditional Edomae sushi. Whereas Juno is more experimental thanks to its use of Mexican flavours, Luna leans more traditionally Japanese, with Executive Head Chef Leonard Tanyag basing the 12-course menu around the best sustainable seafood available to him at the time. That means dishes will change but you can expect plates like Spanish bluefin tuna tartare with aged wasabi, caviar, and a sushi rice cracker, presented in a bowl that looks like a smoking piece of moon rock; bream nigiri lightly torched with a glowing piece of binchotan charcoal; onigiri with hamachi tartare, serrano chilli and fresh truffle; sweet potato loaded with caviar; a seared Hokkaido scallop on a sesame truffle sauce; and a buttery A5 wagyu sando with wasabi leaves.
SUSHI TETSU
Sushi Tetsu is a seven seat sushi bar and it’s the hardest restaurant to get into in London. With only two sittings a night, plus the fact that you have to ring at certain times on particular days to book, it’s very difficult to actually bag a reservation. Run by husband and wife Toru and Harumi Takahashi, it’s known for serving the best sushi in town though so it’s worth the hassle. Go for the omakase menu and just sit back and enjoy as Toru prepares and serves whatever is best that day.
Marugame Udon, the world’s largest udon noodle restaurant, has landed in London right near Liverpool Street. It’s a canteen-style set-up, so you work your way around the open kitchen where you can see the noodles being rolled, cut and cooked. You choose your dish – the menu includes the likes of kama age, beef nikutama with short rib & onsen egg, two pork tonkotsu with chashu & spicy miso pork, chicken katsu curry udon, kimchi yaki udon and salmon donburi – before hitting the tempura station, and the condiment station where you can pimp your noods with ginger, chillies, tempura batter and other toppings. And once you’ve slurped to your heart’s content, hit the unlimited vanilla and vegan matcha soft serve ice cream.
At lunchtime, Yuzu has a conveyor belt system so city workers can grab a quick lunch but at night the belt is covered up with heavy wooden boards and the menu expands to offer a full dinner experience. There’s some of the best sushi in London here, rom tuna nigiri to salmon & avo tobiko and yellowtail sashimi with ponzu jelly. Then there’s the small plates: fresh prawn gyoza; black cod with miso sauce; and pork belly with miso aubergine. Desserts are no less impressive and we love the lemongrass creme brûlée topped with raspberry coulis and the bonsai-tree shaped chocolate with pear.
If you’re looking for Japanese food, Japan House (aka the home of Japanese culture in the UK) is a pretty good place to start. Akira, on the first floor of the building, which is also home to a shop and gallery, from Executive Chef Shimizu Akira (also of Engawa) is all about showcasing the best in modern Japanese food, presentation and tableware. The space itself is very sleek, very minimalist, very Japanese, with wooden partitions separating the bar and restaurant, polished concrete floors and open kitchen and counter where you can watch the chefs working the robata grills and preparing sushi. There’s a pretty extensive a la carte menu to choose from but if you want to forgo all that agonising over what to order, there are also three- and five-course omakase sushi and robata set menus, which include a 15-piece bento box of sashimi, side dishes and vegetables plus daily special main courses.
Tanakatsu specialises in katsu (here you can get pork, chicken and prawns) and teriyaki as well as offering sushi and a few other sides – the tuna tataki with a truffle ponzu sauce is particularly great. The main event has to be that katsu though; both the pork katsu on rice with shredded cabbage and pickles, and the chicken katsu curry are spot on.
Sushi is very much the focus here – the clue’s in the name – with the most of the action centred around the long wooden sushi bar on the ground floor where you can see the chefs slicing, blowtorching and plating the fresh fish. The modern flavour combos like BBQ tuna with parmesan, razor clam ceviche with ginger and whisky jelly, and butterfish with a thin sliver of foie gras on each slice is what sets this place apart.
Located on the Clerkenwell side of Old Street, Monohon serves just six types of ramen, including three soup-less ones, one of which is served chilled. The Spicy Tonkotsu – creamy pork bone broth with thin noodles, bean sprouts, spring onions, slow cooked pork belly and spicy miso pork mince – is a winner and you can customise it to your liking, choosing level of spice, how hard you want your noodles and how big you want the bowl to be. Slurping = essential.
Roka can be pretty spenny but if you head to the Aldwych branch on a weekend and go for their Han Setto brunch you can try a huge selection of dishes without breaking the bank. Designed for sharing, the menu kicks off with a selection of pickles, edamame beans, and a bellini. The brunch continues with eight sharing dishes, brought out in no particular order, including a selection of sashimi, prawn tempura, beef gyoza, and salmon and avocado maki. AND if you think that’s brunch done, then think again as you also get the choice of a main course followed by the HUGE dessert platter which is Instagram heaven. A boat containing everything from a chocolate Buddha to panna cotta, fruit, truffles and a whole lot more. Add in unlimited wine, you know it makes sense.
The husband-and-wife team behind Roji, Tamas Naszai and Tomoko Hasegawa, have opened HIMI a “Neo-Izakaya” in Carnaby Street, offering a more casual a la carte menu of sushi and snacks. Don’t miss the Kabuki-Age, Yorkshire beef tartare with celeriac and wild capers, served on a crisp rice cracker; the Shojin tofu, which is made in-house and topped with enoki mushroom and shojin dashi; the fried chicken, served two ways: as chicken wing ‘lollipops’ dusted with sansho pepper and as boned-out nuggets with kombu mayo; and the Ebichili, red shrimps cooked on the charcoal robata grill and served with a pepper and squid ink sauce, along with their crispy deep fried heads. The sushi is also fantastic -the sea bass, tuna, and fatty trout nigiri especially – and is served with housemade pickled fennel rather than ginger. HIMI is an Izakaya after all, so drinks are a big part of the experience. There’s beers from Siren brewery on draft, a good wine selection, Japanese whisky, cocktails, and a great range of sake, including a couple of exclusives that you can’t get anywhere else in the UK.
A spin off from the original Hot Stone Sushi Bar on Chapel Market, the Fitzrovia Hot Stone is lead by Executive Chef Padam Raj Rai. Decked out in traditional minimalist style, with pale wooden paneling and a mural featuring artwork from 18h century painter Hokusai Katsushika, the restaurant certainly looks the part. You can sear A5 wagyu and black tiger prawns on the namesake hot stones, or dine on sushi and sashimi like yellowtail maki roll with mango salsa, seared butterfish with truffle spicy ponzu, and fatty tuna with red jalapeno. Hot Stone also serves certified Kobe beef (only nine restaurants in UK do so) so it’s somewhere to come for a blowout too.
Cubé does things a little differently, with a mix of very traditional Japanese dishes plus some European influences – the bulk of the menu is arranged into Hot and Cold tapas sections, with one dish mixing Udon noodles with black olive and truffle pesto for instance. The fatty tuna and eel sushi were two of our faves and defo go for the small cubes of pork belly, really soft and tender and seasoned with a great big whack of rosemary – we’d go back for this alone.
Japanese ramen specialist Kokura is one of our favourite cheap eats in London as it offers some of the best value ramen and katsu curry you can find in the capital. There’s a number of hot ramens on offer, ranging between £10.50 – £13 and they don’t shirk on quality though; the noodles are freshly made and the broth is rich and flavoursome. Kokura also does an amazing chicken katsu curry at £10.50! Take that Wagamama. For a quick bite in town that’s easy on the wallet, Kokura is a perfect choice.
GINZA ST JAMES
- Monday: 12:00 – 10:30 PM
- Tuesday: 12:00 – 10:30 PM
- Wednesday: 12:00 – 10:30 PM
- Thursday: 12:00 – 10:30 PM
- Friday: 12:00 – 10:30 PM
- Saturday: 12:00 – 10:30 PM
- Sunday: 12:00 – 10:30 PM
It’s very Japanese at Ginza St James with some private sushi rooms hidden behind wooden sliding doors and a big open kitchen with counter seats, and a robata grill and teppanyaki counter on display. The menu also leaves you spoilt for choice with dishes like spicy tuna tartare, lobster tempura, Chilean seabass with mustard miso, lamb chops with yuzu miso and aubergine, king prawns with ume and a range of sashimi and sushi rolls. If you’re feeling indecisive in the face of all those options, go for one of the set menus, which range from £60 – £125 per person, and come with optional wine and sake pairings.
Juno, hidden above Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant Los Mochis in Notting Hill, is the smallest omakase experience in London and also the first one in the world to be gluten and nut free. Run by Los Mochis Executive Chef Leonard Tanyag (ex-OKKU and Zuma) and Head Sushi Chef Han (ex-Nobu and Roka), Juno mirrors the downstairs restaurant by incorporating Mexican flavours, particularly through inventive seasonings made in-house. As omakase means ‘I leave it up to you’, the chefs base the 15 courses around the freshest fish they have available to them at the time. The first burst of dishes is where you can really see and taste the Mexican influences, like madai (red bream) on a lime aioli and finished with a Oaxacan-inspired chicatana (that’s flying ant) and arbol chilli seasonin, and kinmedai (snapper) and cucumber as aguachile with grasshopper seasoning. Then it’s onto the nigiri section, which includes the likes of sweet Hokkaido scallop with yuzu salt; super creamy botan ebi (prawn) with green perilla salt; and an A5 wagyu nigiri, seasoned with a salt made from agave worm and seared using molten bone marrow. If you’re looking for a blowout meal, and you wanna try an omakase unlike any other in town, it’s well worth nabbing one of the seats at Juno.
Tonkotsu is the best of the ramen wave that swept London back in 2013 and testament to that, they’re still going strong and opening new sites all the time. The signature Tonkotsu ramen, with its thick creamy broth, fresh noodles (made in house), and slices of pork is a thing of beauty and has got us through many a day and night. One to come back to time and time again.
Kanada-Ya, one of our fave ramen joints, has grown from a small central London shop to five locations across the city. Many of them feature open kitchens, allowing you to catch all the action, and they all serve up the signature tonkotsu ramen alongside bowls like gekikara (with pork & corn fed chicken bone broth, beansprouts, chashu pork belly, spicy ‘tan-tan’ minced pork, spring onion, wood ear fungus and yuzu-shoyu) and truffle (with pork & corn fed chicken bone broth, chashu pork loin, spring onion, porcini truffle paste, white truffle oil and yuzu-shoyu). You can supplement your ramen with small plates or swap it completely for dishes like katsu curry, but really, the noodles are where it’s at.
Machiya is run by the same people behind Kanada-Ya although there’s not a bowl of ramen in sight. Order the tsukune, grilled chicken skewers, to snack on before you get stuck into their grilled eel, which is one of the best in London, and their huge tonkatsu. Add a glass of Dassai sake and you are good to go.
Japanese restaurant Taka, which also has a spot on Shepherd Market in Mayfair, has expanded and taken over the old Providores site in Marylebone for restaurant number two. A larger space means a larger menu, and this one has a large Japanese tapas section alongside robata dishes, sushi and a very interesting cocktail menu – if sake isn’t your poison, these are definitely worth a punt. Many of those on the first side appear familiar but come with their own little Taka twist, like wild fennel salt on the edamame, the addition of fermented plantain on the miso glazed aubergine (giving an already great dish extra depth) and smoked daikon tartare serviced with the fired chicken wings, like a Japanese version of buffalo wings with blue cheese sauce. Then there are dishes we’ve never seen before like the mochi flatbread. And then there’s the dishes that have been doing the rounds on the ‘gram like that wagyu sando – spenny but delicious.
Jugemu is one of those places that you’d walk right by without noticing if you weren’t looking for it. Inside it’s very authentic: tiny, with just a few stools around the counter and a couple of tables and the day’s sushi menu is scrawled on oblong bits of paper and hung up over one wall. The food is fantastic. Ordering is done via tick box menus and it’s a good idea to order quite a bit as dishes are all on the small side. Our faves are the prawn dumplings, the takoyaki – chunks of octopus fried in balls of batter – the duck teriyaki, and the eel omelette. You’re gonna want to save room for plenty of sushi too.
Robata bills itself as an izakaya, serving a Japanese menu of raw fish, snacks, grilled skewers and bigger dishes cooked on the robata. It’s a small joint but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in flavour. Each dish is an assault on the senses – salty, spicy, sour, creamy, zesty – flavours that will knock out your taste buds, and all that alongside a decent sake selection. It’s naughty, saucy food but if like us you’re a fan of ponzu, yuzu, spicy mayo and chilli then you won’t be disappointed.
If you like your sushi and don’t mind paying for the good stuff (like dropping £50 on a lunch) then Sumi is well worth checking out. Sumi is in fact, the ‘casual’ sibling to Michelin-starred Endo at The Rotunda, where the 20-course omakase menu will set you back £195 per head. At Sumi, which has taken on the old Andina site on Westbourne Grove, Endo Kazutoshi has created a slightly more ‘everyday’ menu – a tight selection of nigiri, sashimi, and temaki sushi, as well as a few snacks and larger dishes such as wagyu steak. If you want to keep it slightly respectable, however, take our tip and ignore the larger plates altogether and concentrate on the excellent snacks and sushi. It ain’t cheap, but you won’t regret coming here if you want to eat some of the best sushi in London.
Temaki, London’s first authentic hand roll bar, is overseen by restaurateur A.M Dupee and chef Shaulan Steenson, who has gained experience at some of Japan’s most coveted sushi joints as well as at London’s best Japanese restaurants. The rolls are available individually or in sets and are rolled to order before being handed over the counter. If you order a set – we think this is the best and easiest way – they all start with the akami tuna in honour of the first roll Shaulan had when working in Japan. The unagi (BBQ eel), otoro tuna with spring onion and crab with egg yolk & white soy are also excellent. It’s a handroll bar so naturally these are the main attraction but you definitely don’t want to skip the small plates, especially the monkfish karaage. The quality of sushi at Temaki is right up there with the best in the city, with the added bonus of not costing a bomb and the informal and friendly atmosphere make it great for solo dining.
Angelo Sato first opened Humble Chicken in Soho in 2021 with a focus on yakitori and ‘comb-to-tail’ chicken cookery, and he won us over with tasty skewers, inventive small plates and quick poured pints of Asahi Super Dry. Instead of resting on his laurels, Angelo overhauled the concept (the look of the restaurant hasn’t changed, so it’s still counter dining) and has turned the yakitori-centric offering into a broader Japanese eight-course tasting menu that takes inspo from his heritage, as well as his time spent in top kitchens like Eleven Madison Park and Restaurant Story. He’s showcasing some serious cooking without taking himself too seriously, with playful nods like chicken chopstick holders and piggy face bao buns and top-tier dishes like oysters with citrus kosho beurre blanc and burnt chicken fat; shokupan with chicken liver pate, fermented red cabbage and miso sesame butter; Wagyu Angus short rib served with pickled daikon, yakiniku sauce, barley miso and lettuce leaves; and chicken achilles yakitori with charcoal fat, daikon and kosho.
The five-storey Japanese/Nordic emporium Pantechnicon (home to Cafe Kitsune and Nordic spot Eldr) also has Japanese restaurant Sachi on the lower ground floor of the building. It’s a suitably slick dining room with lots of hidden cosy booths, a bar area and chef’s sushi counter, meaning that even though it’s low on daylight it feels like somewhere you can happily spend a few hours. Pantechnicon’s Exec Chef Chris Golding (ex-Nobu, Dinings and Zuma) and Sachi Head Chef Collin Hudson (ex-Dinings and Roka) have taken inspiration from regional Japanese cooking for their menu whilst making use of seasonal ingredients produced in the UK. Across the menu there’s Cornish line-caught fish and Scottish hand-picked shellfish as well as British meat from premium heritage breeds and organic Japanese greens grown in Sussex. The sushi selection is top notch, including our favourite ‘otoro’, the prized fatty tuna cut, which is always a must order in our book. There’s much more than just sushi of course, with the hot dish section featuring dumplings, tempura, tobanyaki and if you’re feeling flush there’s also an excellent wagyu A4 grade sirloin served with beetroot and miso that is well worth the price. The quality of the ingredients is plain to see and it’s definitely worth splashing out on for a special occasion.
If you find yourself in central craving a proper good ramen, Leicester Square has just the place for you. 70s-inspired ramen bar Panton Yokocho has all the retro feels from neon signs to the Japanese pop soundtrack. They’re serving up regional ramen from across Japan, which includes the classic Tonkotsu, the Sapporo Miso and many of their own London creations including the Vegan Napoli, with grilled tomato, mushroom and vegan cheese. Perfect for a casual lunch or for a few after-work Asahis, these guys are serving up all the noodles as well as epic side and plenty of desserts to satisfy that sweet tooth.
Aqua Kyoto has had a bit of a makeover, with a new marble clad sushi and robata counter on one side of the room with an architectural mirrored lighting installation behind the banquettes on the other. You can’t go to a restaurant that has a sushi counter and not partake, and Aqua Kyoto has plenty of options on this front. There are sushi and sashimi platters if you’d rather let the chefs choose, otherwise we can defo recommend the tuna and spicy tobiko rolls with avocado and chilli mayo, and the lobster tempura rolls with jalapeno and this insane lobster miso topping. Similarly, you won’t want to miss the wagyu. The F1 wagyu sirloin, which comes with foie gras miso and black garlic teriayki, is as indulgent as it sounds and the buttery meat literally melts in your mouth. If you don’t want to drop a load of dollar on a steak, the wagyu gyoza are also great. There’s no denying that Aqua Kyoto is spenny (so it’s one to save for when the parents are in town) or you can opt for the £29 set menu, which won’t bankrupt you.
Sushi on Jones started life in Bowery Market in NYC in 2016 (with two more branches in the city to its name) and it’s now come across the pond to London, taking up a spot in the Goods Way development in King’s Cross. The premise of Sushi on Jones is simple; it’s a nigiri omakase experience featuring 12 pieces of sushi chosen by the chef, served over 45 minutes, so it’s very much an in-and-out job rather than somewhere for a long, languid dinner. The menu changes depending on what’s in season and what head chef Mattia has selected, and if you’re sat at the counter, you can watch everything being expertly prepped and get an explanation of what each piece of sushi is. It’s £48 for the omakase, and you have the option to order some extras after the main menu has been served. We can’t say you feel full like you would after a regular dinner following the twelve pieces, but the quality of the sushi is outstanding so it’s something sushi fans should have on their radar.
Mayfair to Hampstead might not be the most obvious route for a restaurant group’s expansion (you’d expect it to be the other way around) – but that’s what the team behind Taku Mayfair has done with INÉ. The restaurant opened in Hampstead at the end of last year, bringing Japanese fine dining to the North London neighbourhood. Looks-wise, it’s very Japanese inside – extremely minimalist with lots of natural wood and booth seating behind an eight-seater omakase counter. Omakase is served at particular times throughout the day and is £100 for 15 courses, otherwise, there’s an a la carte and an INÉ special menu to choose from. Whichever route you go down, you’re getting a blend of the Edomae style showcased at the Michelin-starred Taku and more contemporary influences. The sushi here is top quality, particularly the sashimi selection, the botan ebi nigiri and the tuna nigiri set, and the octopus karaage, hamachi carpaccio and wagyu katsu sando shouldn’t be missed.
Japanese restaurant group Kanpai Classic, which was founded in Taipei two decades ago and now has numerous sites in Taiwan and China, has opened its first UK location in Soho. Kanpai Classic is about two things; wagyu beef and yakiniku (that’s cooking bitesize pieces of food over a charcoal flame), so if you don’t eat red meat, this is one to swerve. But for carnivores, a veritable feast awaits. Company founder Soji Hiraide has made it his mission to bring the finest wagyu to his customers and showcase a wider range of cuts, so you’re getting meat here that you won’t find anywhere else in the UK. Executive chef Masatada Ogata and head chef Nicolo Bolognesi, formerly of Nobu Hotel Portman Square, launched the restaurant with a 14-course omakase menu, though there’s now both a shorter set menu and a la carte options available. If you like wagyu you’ll pretty much love everything but the beef tongue, an unbelievably buttery slice of tri-tip brushed with yakiniku sauce, rib finger brushed in spicy miso and served in a lettuce wrap, and a richly marbled A5 steak, almost half fat to meat, with rock salt and proper wasabi are particular highlights. And with exclusive sakes from Japan’s Masuizumi Brewery on offer, the drinks list is pretty spesh too.