The best places to eat Japanese food in London
We point you in the direction of some of London's best Japanese food
Not so very long ago Japanese food was classed as a highly exotic cuisine but oh what a small world we now live in... Today, small plates of conveyer-belted sashimi whizz past at outlets on every London street corner and sushi is available in the chilled counter at every local supermarket.
... but perhaps a plastic box filled with tasteless rice and dried up cucumber isn't the best example of this delicious cuisine?
So if you're looking for fresh, ingredients, immaculate presentation and precise flavours, then take a look at our suggestions below.
Owned and operated by husband and wife team, Harumi and Toru Takahashi, Sushi Tetsu is a tiny restaurant in the heart of Clerkenwell. With space for only seven at the bar, bookings must be made well in advance. The best way to enjoy the likes of fresh sea urchin, yellow-fin tuna and black bream is to leave yourself in the master’s capable hands by booking 1.5 or 2 hours of service. Expensive but worth every penny.
Opening up ultra-rich ramen to London has made Bone Daddies a popular restaurant. Affordable, hip and lip-smackingly good, the diner-style restaurant has a ‘no booking’ policy so expect a few queues.
Shoryu Ramen
9 Lower Regent Street SW1Y 4LR
Japanese
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Creating Tonkotsu ramen, Hakata style, Shoryu Ramen is a stand out restaurant among the new breed of Japanese noodle soup joints. Its locations on Regent Street and in <a href="http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant-17791.php">Soho</a> offer relatively informal settings at which to eat the highest quality ramen. Guided by a Hakata-born executive chef, Shoryu Ramen’s food is more than worthy of making our list of the top Japanese restaurants in London.
How many times have you walked past Tokyo Diner and not given it a second thought? If you’ve never been then the answer to that is too many times. This inexpensive restaurant serves traditional, authentic Japanese cuisine with an emphasis on curries. And they give free tea.
Tonkotsu runs with London’s recent obsession with ramen. An attractive corridor of a restaurant, Tonkotsu offers some of the most consistent broth around. Prepared from stocks that stew for around 24 hours, the complexity of the ramen here is of another level.
Dinings is an unusual Japanese venue, housed in an easy to miss building in Marylebone. The concept is an adventurous service that offers what could be regarded as Japanese tapas. Small plates, which are painstakingly prepared, offer a fusion of Japanese izakaya food and modern European cuisine. Try the fatty tuna with jalapeno and wasabi.
Yashin Sushi
1A Argyll Road W8 7DB
Japanese
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The inhabitants of Kensington and Chelsea loved Yashin Sushi so much that they demanded another outlet be opened up for them. That’s right, bunching in West London with a location in High Street Kensington and another in <a href="http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant-17798.php">South Kensington</a> recently opened, Yashin Sushi are looking to erect a monopoly on designer Japanese food. Lucky Kensington. Reassuringly expensive and stylish to boot (it’s based on the open kitchen style of sushi), the chefs prefer that you not use soy sauce and allow them to add wasabi where they deem it necessary. Good looking out for our taste buds chefs!
Miyama
38 Clarges Street W1J 7EN
Miyama have locations in Mayfair and <a href="http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant-698.php">The City</a> and serve a range of sushi and traditional Japanese cuisines. The five-course dinner menu is always good value. At a cost of £38.00 you can sample the exquisite sushi, scallops, grilled salted sea bass and tempura. The restaurants are open kitchen, which means you get to see the spectacle that goes with sushi preparation. Excellent sushi, reasonably priced makes Miyama one of London’s most popular Japanese restaurants.
Nobu
19 Old Park Lane W1K 1LB
No list of London’s Japanese restaurants could be complete without a mention of Nobu could it? Celeb spotting aside, it is one of the most famous names on the culinary scene. Where else could you find the signature dish of black cod in miso? Located on Old Park Lane Nobu is expensive, exclusive and innovative. It is an occasion.
