Japanese
As well as slinging out the baos in Covent Garden, Flesh & Buns brings the same Japanese izakaya feel to Fitzrovia with its second site. It’s got a large bar, a spacious dining room and seating around the open kitchen, and it’s pretty swish thanks to lots of dark wood and mood lighting, with an entire wall of those gold waving good luck cats thrown in for a bit of fun. The Fitzrovia Flesh & Buns has branched out menu-wise from the original with a Nikkei Peruvian twist, so you also have a selection of ceviches and tiraditos alongside the sushi and sashimi – the yellowtail tiradito with pickled kumquat and tiger’s milk is a must – as well as dishes cooked using their wood smoker, like the chilli miso brisket. The Peruvian influence extends to the cocktail list, with tables being equipped with Press for Pisco buttons. They’re not quite as glam as the buttons in Bob Bob Ricard but it’s still a lot of fun especially when the bartender wheels his trolley to your table and shakes up a round of pisco sours.
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.
Sticks ‘n’ Sushi was born in Denmark over 25 years ago and has expanded across London and the UK in recent years. It’s a pretty simple concept; there are loads of sushi and sashimi options for those who love raw fish and plenty of yakitori – that’s the sticks half – to please those who don’t. And when we say there’s lots of choice, we really mean it. The menu is a photobook featuring pics of every single dish (and we’re talking properly slick, styled images and not those terrible photos you find at fast food places) and everything looks amazing, so you will have trouble choosing. You can always order one of the platter options but you can never go wrong with the salmon tataki, ebi bites, spicy tuna maki, tsukune chilli sticks and butter soft black cod & miso sticks. Sticks ‘n’ Sushi is easy to love – it’s consistently good with a great range and won’t break the bank either, and that’s a winner in our books.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Black Roe Poke Bar & Grill has a menu inspired not only by Hawaii – the home of poke – but also by Japan and Southeast Asia. The menu is divided into three parts and as they’re all small sharing plates you can order a good amount from each without overdoing it. From the poke, go for the super fresh and zesty marinated chopped ahi tuna and yellowtail; from the appetisers, the confit duck leg salad with rocket, pine nuts, pomegranate, diced pineapple is a must; and from the mains the Cajun-style blackened seabass is a definite winner. Take our advice and grab the table in front of the open kitchen right by the window as you walk in – that’s where the action’s at.
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.
When Alan Yau founded Wagamama back in 1992 it was a bit of a game changer, with its cool minimal design and strange exotic dishes. Now we all know our soba from our udon and even though you can find it all over the place, from shopping centres to airports, it still dishes up reliably tasty Japanese grub in super quick time. From chicken katsu curry to firecracker prawns, Wagamama should have a place in every Londoner’s heart.
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.
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.
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.
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.
