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Hattie Lloyd 04/02/25


London’s Best Japanese Restaurants

There’s an excellent word in Japanese: kuchisabishii.

It translates, literally, to ‘mouth lonely’: that feeling you get when you start eating out of boredom rather than hunger.

And when the feeling strikes, London’s Japanese restaurants are primed and ready to deliver all manner of delicious treats directly to your lonesome gob. Craving sashimi? You have dozens of fantastic sushi restaurants ready to cater to your every whim. Celebrating? You can go for a total blow-out at one of London’s omakase spots (where the chef serves you their personal pick of the best dishes that day). And if you’re just after comfort food in its purest, most coddling form, there are ramen restaurants dotted across the capital.

But there’s so much more to Japanese cuisine than ramen and sushi – so what follows here is a list of London’s best Japanese restaurants that go beyond. We’re talking yakitori given a luxury setting; okonomiyaki prepared at your table; neo-izakayas and a basement kushikatsu bar.


NIJŪ | Mayfair

NIJŪ japanese restaurant

NIJŪ is a Japanese restaurant in Mayfair, from the third generation sushi master behind the Michelin-starred Endo at the Rotunda. And yes, there are many parts of that sentence that will have you rushing to give CPR to your wallet. But the pleasantly surprising fact is that, while yes you will be paying high-end Mayfair prices here, NIJŪ is not your typically stuffy, high-end Mayfair spot. That’s thanks to the restaurant’s chosen focus of katei ryōri, or home-style dining, which starts from the warm welcome at the door and extends through a varied menu of charcoal-grilled wagyu fillet (served over a traditional konro grill); rice bowls topped with truffled wild mushroom; beef hotpot; sweet soy-glazed trout; and more. And downstairs at Nipperkin, you’ll find an intimate drinking den that’ll help you relax even more.

Details: 20 Berkeley Street, London, W1J 8EE | Book a table at NIJŪ

 

Evernight | Battersea

evernight izakaya

Evernight is, to all intents and purposes, an izakaya. But this is no backstreet, beer-swilling, kanpai-rousing bar. Instead, it’s a Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning incarnation of the genre, led by Chase Lovecky (co-founder of The Clove Club, frequently listed as the best restaurant in London). Step into a sleek, double-height space lined with wood-panelling and giant paper lanterns; pull up a stool to dine elbow-to-elbow with your neighbours at long, communal tables; and tuck into an elevated menu of classic izakaya fare, like monkfish karaage with Okinawa sugar mayo and pigeon nanbanzuke with maitake (mushroom) tempura.

Details: Unit 1A, 3 Ravine Way, Embassy Gardens, SW11 7BH | Book Evernight

 

Kazu | Fitzrovia

Kazu best Japanese restaurants London

Kazu is named after the Japanese word for peace or harmony, but written another way it could also translate as ‘number’. And this Charlotte Street restaurant ticks both boxes by delivering a harmonious blend of over 100 classic Japanese dishes. If that sounds overwhelming, order the sushi moriawase to take out some of the decision-making while you focus on choosing between crowd-pleasers like soft-shell crab karaage; miso black cod; beef teriyaki and more.

Details: 64 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, Central London, W1T 4QD | Book Kazu

 

Ginza St James’s | St James’s

Ginza

With restaurants in London, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo, Ginza is like Japan’s unofficial food embassy. You won’t find the classics executed much better than in this sleek St James’s joint, all glossy granite counters and statement lantern lighting. The place offers both an omakase sushi counter and a dedicated robata counter, where you can enjoy coal-kissed dishes straight off the grill. Or, take a seat and take your pick from the elegant menu, from humble tofu (made in-house and served with marinated veg) to more luxurious dishes like Kobe beef and teppan-grilled foie gras.

Details: 15 Bury Street, London SW1Y 6AL | Book a table at Ginza St James’s

 

Urchin | Notting Hill

urchin Japanese restaurant

Urchin used to be the Izakaya at Dreams, a pop-up Japanese restaurant taking over an upmarket supermarket by night. And as it happens, this Urchin scrubs up extremely well. The menu is more ambitious than ever before, plating up seriously left-field, creative takes on classic Japanese dishes. Hankering for onigiri? Try it deep-fried, then served inside a whole tempura red mullet. You know what else you can cover with tempura? 5 day dry-aged quail, dressed with blood orange and red carrot salad. It’s a wild ride, made all the more vivid by the fact you’re huddled around a steel countertop with a handful of other diners. And the warming welcome sake goes down a treat, too.

Details: 126 Holland Park Avenue, London W11 4UE | Book Urchin

 

Ivan Ramen at The Ned | The City

The Ivan of Ivan Ramen is one of those chefs so dedicated to a single dish that he’s basically built his identity around it. He opened an acclaimed ramen restaurant in Tokyo. He’s done an episode of Chef’s Table. He’s basically the biggest name in noodles the West can boast, and he’s doing a two month popup at The Ned. Expect a quartet of bowls, including some tender Iberico pork collar tsukemen (served with a suckling pig broth); tori shoyu wonton men chicken; truffled vegetables shoyu; and some rich lobster manzamen with XO sauce, and some optional caviar to dollop on top.

Details: Ends 20th March | Kaia at The Ned, EC2R 8AJ | Book Ivan Ramen

 

Bar Kushi | Mayfair

Kushikatsu is a delicious but seriously underrepresented part of Japanese cuisine here in London. Also known as kushiage, it’s a noble art which takes skewers of fish, meat or veg, covers them in a panko crumb, then deep fries them. It’s tempura’s wholly decadent, artery-threatening cousin – and finally, London has a place devoted to the stuff. Bar Kushi is slung below the ramen restaurant Heddon Yokocho, where it takes on an altogether different persona with dark, moody walls; low-slung pendant lights and a roughly-hewn wooden dining counter encircling the open kitchen. It’s the perfect spot for mid-week drinks, when you can pop by for a whisky highball and a couple of skewers… and inevitably end up ordering a couple of fluffy hirata buns, piping hot takoyaki, and a casual half-bowl of ramen to go with them.

Details: Below 8 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BU | Book Bar Kushi

 

The Aubrey | Knightsbridge

the Aubrey Japanese restaurant London

On paper, The Aubrey sounds like a mythical beast. It’s a wood-panelled room decorated with over 250 pieces of ukiyo-e art, with all the verve and vibrancy of a night out in Tokyo. Its food menus offer everything from sushi and robata-grilled Iberico pork to Tokyo Eggs Royale and enormous soufflé pancakes for brunch. Meanwhile, the cocktails skew heavily towards Japanese flavours like shio koji, yuzu and wasabi. Piecing all of this together, dining at The Aubrey is as close as it gets to lifting the veil and discovering the floating world right here in London.

Details: Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA | Book The Aubrey

 

Koya | Soho, The City, Bethnal Green

koya soho

There’s no fuss or frills at Koya but there is always a steady rotation of dishes to satisfy any noodle craving. And not just any noodles, we’re talking house-made chubby, chewy udon that you can either dip, slurp or simply inhale.

Each of the three Koya restaurants has a slightly different concept. Koya Soho is the original; a sliver of a restaurant taking walk ins only, serving the signature English Breakfast Udon as well as atsu-atsu: hot noodles in a hot broth; and hiya-atsu: a hot broth with cold noodles on the side. Koya City in Bloomberg Arcade, is a roomy, wood-panelled joint where you can easily sink a few beers alongside izakaya-style small plates. And Koya Ko is the ‘little sister’ of the clan, where you can slurp fresh noodles, tachi-gui style (i.e. while standing), before heading into the throngs of Broadway Market.

Details: Koya has three locations; Koya Soho, Koya City and Koya Ko in Hackney | Book Koya

 

Sushi Kyu | Soho

Sushi Kyu has just 10 seats. They’re lined up along the L-shaped wooden counter of this intimate omakase spot, sitting on Soho’s Brewer Street. Behind that counter are a pair of chefs busily slicing, scorching, and assembling sushi – there are no distractions, no unnecessary flourishes, just a quiet, deliberate focus on the food. And that food takes the form of a wonderful 8-course omakase, from chefs who all trained at the considerably more glitzy (and considerably more expensive) Cubé in Mayfair.

Details: 30 Brewer St, W1F 0SS | Book Sushi Kyu

 

Abeno | Bloomsbury

Abeno Japanese restaurant Bloomsbury

Okonomiyaki – a Japanese savoury pancake made from a base of egg, dough and cabbage – is the order of play at Abeno. What sounds like the ultimate fridge-raid dinner has been evolving for over four centuries, with two distinct styles hailing from Hiroshima and Osaka.

At Abeno, they’re all about the latter, where the base gets fried up with onions, ginger and mouthfuls of tempura batter into one large pancake. It’s all whipped together before your very eyes on a central griddle, with your choice of topping. Alongside the signature dish, there’s also salads, yaki-soba and natto (aka the Japanese Marmite), as well as hotto ke–ki, or hotcakes, spooned with apple compote and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Details: 47 Museum Street, London WC1A 1LY | Book Abeno

 

Mu | Dalston

mu Japanese restaurant east London

Mu is something of a triple threat. It has a jam-packed list of natural wines, fantastic Japanese food and live music every night.

But let’s focus on the food for a second. The menu is concise but there are big hitters like pork tonkatsu, crispy cabbage & pickles; smoked salmon teriyaki, juntoro & parsnip crisps and beef bavette with soy & kaffir lime, all of which are given some TLC on the robata grill. If you’re going with a larger group, the set menu is generous on the snacks with fried aubergine & white miso, salmon tartare with crispy sushi rice and wayward (but welcome) Taiwanese fried chicken & hot sauce. There’s also a neat selection of cocktails to get your toes tapping to the sounds of musical performers and of course, plenty of natural wines to sip on.

Details: 432-434 Kingsland Rd, London E8 4AA | Book Mu

 

Sho Foo Doh | Forest Gate

sho foo doh best okonomiyaki London

The original Sho Foo Doh opened in 1939; a confectionery shop in Hiroshima. Now, almost a century later, the owners’ grandson Fumio Tanga has relocated to London, where he’s been serving up truly authentic renditions of the city’s famous okonomiyaki for over a decade. His pop-ups have taken him all over the city, but currently you’ll find him in residence at Pretty Decent Beer Co’s Forest Gate taproom where his hearty creations – slathered in mayo and that mysteriously moreish okonomi brown sauce – make excellent drinking buddies.

Details: 340 Sheridan Road, Forest Gate, E7 9EF | Email [email protected] to book

 

Jin Kichi | Hampstead

jin kichi best Japanese restaurants

In Japan, restaurants tend to be specialised. It doesn’t matter if it’s the most elaborate kaiseki tasting menu or a tray of takoyaki hawked in the marketplace – chefs find their groove, and stick with it. Jin Kichi is something of a glorious contradiction. Hampstead’s bustling Japanese restaurant nods the broader-reaching menus of the backstreet izakaya with a frankly staggering array of dishes, perfect for when you’re craving Japanese, but you want it all. There’s gyoza, noodles, sushi, skewers and more – and it’s all absolutely delicious.

Details: 73 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 6UG | Book Jin Kichi

 

Umu | Mayfair

umu Japanese restaurant London

Well, we had to include one really, really fancy spot. Umu has held a Michelin Star for 20 years, and that’s thanks in no small part to the previous executive chef Yoshinori Ishii, who was so dedicated to sourcing top-quality ingredients he personally trained a fleet of Cornish fishermen in the humane dispatch method of ike jime. Now with executive chef Ryo Komatsu at the helm, Umu continues to knock it out of the park with finely sliced usuzukuri sashimi; top-grade Japanese wagyu; and perfectly grilled fresh fish. And for a really special occasion? The seasonal kaiseki tasting menu has to be one of the best in London.

Details: 14 – 16 Bruton Place, London W1J 6LX | Book Umu

 

Aragawa | Mayfair

Okay, first thing’s first – Aragawa is expensive. Like, crazy expensive. But eating the steak they serve there is one of life’s legitimately sublime experiences. So, swings and roundabouts. They specialise in Tajima-gyu, a rare, meticulously bred variety of Wagyu that undergoes an almost religious selection process. Only a handful of cattle make the cut, and by the time it reaches your plate, it has been nurtured, massaged, and fed an elite diet for years. The result is bovine gold, a steak that barely requires a knife, its marbling dissolving into a near-buttery texture with a depth of flavour that makes other cuts seem like boot leather…

Details: 38 Clarges St, W1J 7EN | Book Aragawa

 

Okan | Brixton, Southbank

okan Japanese restaurant London

For a bona fide, hyper-authentic, everything-but-the-hand-towel Japanese dining experience, head to Okan. This trio of restaurants in Brixton and the Southbank is like a portal direct to Osaka, where the welcome is warm, and the kitchen – packed in right next to the tables – is even hotter. Come here for the city’s speciality, okonomiyaki, but stay for the donburi rice bowls, the omu yakisoba, and the hearty bowl of curry rice. It’s comfort food at it’s very best, served up with a cold pint of Asahi.

Details: Book Okan

 

Junsei | Marylebone

junsei yakitori restaurant London

Saying Junsei does yakitori is a bit like saying the Michelin starred HUMO does BBQ. The humble chicken skewer is treated with an earnest reverence at this striking Marylebone restaurant, which wraps a wooden counter around the binchōtan charcoal grills for front row seats to the action.

Skewers run the gamut from the familiar to the adventurous (read: chicken wing to aorta), as well as venturing into not-chicken territory with courgette, shiitake mushrooms, and potatoes (served with wagyu aioli). Add in sides like braised ramen with miso duck ragu and poached lobster on shokupan toast, and you’ll never see yakitori as a casual meal out again.

Details: 132 Seymour Place, London W1H 1NS | Book Junsei

 


Love Japanese food? Check out the best Japanese cafés & bakeries in London