Top 10 Japanese Restaurants in London
Written by Jaillan Yehia
Nobu is London’s most celebrated Japanese Restaurant, but is it the best?
London has more global cuisine than anyone could hope to eat in a lifetime including a bewildering array of around 450 Japanese restaurants, but how can you find the most authentic Japanese restaurants in the capital if you don’t know your sushi from your sashimi?
In this guest post Japanophile and Japan Journeys expert James Greenfield reveals his top 10 Japanese restaurants in London for all budgets – from cheap eats through to, well, Nobu…
The Top 10 Japanese Restaurants in London are…*
1. Mitsukoshi Restaurant
Area: West End (Lower Regent St)
Best for: A Good value lunch (though more expensive for dinner)
2. Ten Ten Tei
Area: West End (Brewer Street)
Best for: Good set dinners
3. Tokyo Diner
Area: West End (Little Newport Street)
Best for: Value with a conscience – the restaurant uses only fish from sustainable sources and doesn’t serve tuna as it is over-fished.
4. Mai Food
Area: Earls Court (Kenway Road)
Best for: Its wide selection of small grilled dishes
5. Tsurukame
Also known as the Crane & Tortoise.
Area: Holborn (Gray’s Inn Road)
Best for: Enjoying Japanese food in a relaxed pub setting
6. Yoisho
Fitzrovia (Goodge Street)
Best for: An genuinely authentic setting aimed at ex-pat Japanese customers rather than Westerners and serving high quality but pricey sushi
7. Koya
Area: Soho (Frith Street)
Best for: Their specialty hand-made Giles Coren-approved udon noodles in a contemporary setting.
8. Atari-ya
Area: Ealing Common (Uxbridge Road)
Best for: The reasonably priced sushi – and there are outlets all over North London including Finchley Road, Golders Green, Swiss Cottage and Hendon, along with retail stores. The company started life as a specialist supplier and continues to supply many other restaurants, including, so we hear, Nobu.
9. Ittenbari
Area: Soho (Brewer Street)
Best for: Tasty, cheap ramen noodles
And finally…
10. Nobu
Area: Park Lane (Inside the Metropolitan Hotel)
Best for: Posing and celeb-spotting, as well as expensive Japanese fusion cuisine with a Michelin Star
*This is obviously a subjective – and by no means an exhaustive – list of just some of the great Japanese restaurants in the capital so please feel free to add your own recommendations (as well as places to avoid!) in the comments section below.
Good luck – and happy non nom nomming!
James in Japan
About the writer:
James previously lived in Tokyo for 4 years and now heads up the team at specialist Japan travel company Japan Journeys a respected and knowledgeable provider of holidays to Japan ranging from tours of the country’s highlights, to highly bespoke manga, bonsai and traditional craft tours.
Tags: Asia, food, Japan, Japanese food, London Eating, London Micro Breaks, Sushi
Trackback from your site.