Japanese restaurants in London
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Tsunami
The food at this celebrated restaurant exhibits the style and taste you'd expect from an ex-Nobu chef. The sushi is exquisite, but it's the more unusual dishes, like ebi prawns wrapped in Greek pastry and butternut squash, and especially the mint-tea duck with pear and sweet honey miso, that will really bowl you over.
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Tokyo Diner
Everyday Japanese food at everyday prices is what Tokyo Diner's all about, and you can't ask for fairer than that. The waiters are all Japanese; they are discreet and graceful in their service, and very knowledgeable about the food. The miso is ordinary but the Japanese-style curry is tops, as are the noodle dishes.
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C
Fujiyama
This deceptively small Japanese place behind Dogstar, with its welcoming dark-red interior and communal benches, has a large choice of bento (meal) boxes, noodles, tempura, miso soups and sushi and sashimi on its lengthy menu.
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Nobu
You’ll have to book a month in advance to eat here (or resign yourself to eating at 6pm or 10pm if you book just a few days before), but you’ll get to chew and view the greatest celebrity restaurant magnet in town. Nobu has been lobbied for years to stop serving bluefin tuna, an endangered species, but it’s been to no avail. Instead, you’ll find a one-liner asking you to ‘ask your server for an alternative’. Whatever your stance, the Japanese food at Nobu is divine (the scallops are the biggest you’ll ever see), if pricey. The decor is rather understated and the service discreet and efficient.
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Ubon
Ubon gets as many rave reviews as its big sister, Nobu, which is of course its name spelt backward. While customers argue over whether you really get value for money here (set lunch is a snip at around £21 to around £31), the selling point has to be the breathtaking Thames views from every corner, including the fabulous sushi bar. The restaurant has its own dedicated entrance next to the Four Seasons hotel and its own lift.
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Matsuri
This high-quality and very authentic Japanese restaurant on the fringe of the City can sometimes feel a little sterile, although the quality of the food is extremely high. With a sushi counter and stylish dining room on the ground floor and a large teppanyaki (hotplate) room in the basement where the meals are prepared in all seriousness by celebrated chef Hiroshi Sudo, there’s plenty of choice.
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Abeno
This understated Japanese restaurant specialises in okonomiyaki, a savoury pancake from Osaka. The pancakes consist of cabbage, egg and flour combined with the ingredients of your choice (there are more than two dozen varieties, including anything from sliced meats and vegetables to egg, noodles and cheese) and they’re cooked on the hotplate at your table. You’ll also find the more traditional teppan-yaki and yakisoba dishes. All come beautifully presented.
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Jin Kichi
A disproportionate number of London's Japanese residents live in Hampstead, and a disproportionate number of them eat at this slightly shabby and cramped little place. It's a particularly good bet for sumiyaki(char-grilled meats) with sets at around £9 and around £11, though they do standard stuff like sushi, sashimi and tempura. Be sure to book.
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Chosan
This understated traditional little Japanese restaurant turns out excellent sushi and sashimi, as well as tempura and kushiage (deep-fried meat or vegetable skewers) which you can pair nicely with a glass of junmai daiginjo (a kind of highly refined ‘pure rice’ sake).
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Sakura
This very authentic Japanese restaurant has something for everyone throughout the day – from sushi and sashimi (£2 to £5) to tempura, sukiyaki and a host of sets (£9 to £24).
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Itsu
Board the sushi train at this fun Japanese restaurant close to South Ken tube. The colour-coded sushi plates cover all the bases (prices are calculated from the empty plates at the end of the meal), and there’s a sleek upstairs bar where you can wait for a seat to come free.
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Roka
This stunner of a Japanese restaurant mixes casual dining (wooden benches) with savoury titbits from the robatayaki (grill) kitchen in the centre. It has modern decor, the dominating materials being grey steel and glass.
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Zuma
A modern-day take on the traditional Japanese izakaya (‘a place to stay and drink sake’), where drinking and eating go together in relaxed unison, Zuma oozes style and sophistication. Traditional Japanese materials – wood and stone – combine with modern pronunciation for a highly contemporary feel. The private kotatsu room is the place for large dinner groups, or dine alongside the open-plan kitchen at the sushi counter. Ultimately it’s the sushi, sashimi and robata dishes, all excellent and outstandingly presented, that steal the show. With more than 40 different types of sake at the bar, drinkers will find themselves in capable hands.
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City Miyama
This rather soulless Japanese basement restaurant serves some of the finest sushi in the City, which comes in both 'traditional' and 'new' styles. Set lunches, representing the best deals, are from around £13 to £25.
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Japan Centre
Part supermarket, part bookshop, part café, part restaurant and part sushi bar, Japan Centre offers the full Tokyo experience. Come for fast sushi, slurpy ramen noodles and cute Japanese homewares.
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Asakusa
This somewhat scruffy but clean place has cheap sushi for £1.10 to £1.40 per piece, along with more elaborate set menus (£6 to £10).
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Kulu Kulu
This simple, bustling place just off Piccadilly Circus is one of the best and most affordable conveyor-belt Japanese places in London. The offering is pretty standard (tuna and salmon maki rolls, prawn tempura, teriyaki chicken etc) but it’s all really tasty and fresh. At busy times, you’re only allowed to sit in for 45 minutes.
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Abeno Too
This restaurant specialises in soba (noodles) and okonomi-yaki (Japanese-style pancakes), which are cooked in front of you on a hotplate. Sit at the bar or by the window and feast.
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