Japanese Restaurants in Chigwell
1. Ginza
Japanese restaurant in St James's
15 Bury St - SW1Y
With its counters for teppanyaki and sushi, this sizable St James’s basement (with 70 covers) offers a high-quality, traditional Japanese dining experience. All reports on the food say it can be of an exceptional standard, but even ardent fans can also find it “overpriced”.
2. SOLA
American restaurant in Soho
64 Dean Street - W1D
“Slightly unorthodox” but “exceptional” Californian food “made with super, luxury ingredients” and backed up by “an interesting and mainly Californian wine list” mean Victor Garvey’s acclaimed four-year-old is “the place to head for in Soho for an out-of-the-ordinary meal”; and some believe “it should have two stars from the tyre men”. (“Highlights included flambéed langoustines with a dashi broth and foie gras; and that rare thing, a grapefruit dessert with jelly, sorbet, consommé and meringue”). If there’s a reservation, it’s about the “small and cramped-feeling” space, which critics feel “for a VERY expensive meal has really no sense of occasion at all” (“it is essentially an unremarkable café in Soho with staff who might have been officiating at some kind of sacred ceremony in a High Temple!”).
3. Chotto Matte
Japanese restaurant in Soho
11-13 Frith St - W1
Kurt Zdesar’s “loud and dark” haunts promise a culinary journey from Tokyo to Lima with some “brill cocktails” thrown in. It’s “great fun” and the Nikkei food is an “interesting fusion” too, if also a pricey one. Since 2022, the London presence has doubled with the addition of a Marylebone branch to join the first Soho one. It also has six siblings in North America and a couple in the Middle East.
4. Wild Heart
Japanese restaurant in Westminster
20 Warwick Street - W1B
2023 Review: “Great name… even better food” say fans of this casual, Japanese-inspired dining experience within a Soho hotel, whose all-day dining possibilities (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and afternoon tea…) were conceived by star chef Garry Hollihead. Too limited feedback as yet, though, for a full rating of its mix of poke bowls, salads, sliders and main plates, complemented by an oriental cocktail list and sake menu.
5. Tonkotsu
Japanese restaurant in Walthamstow
Unit 4, 202 Hoe Street - E17
“Tasty, good-value noodles” in a “relaxed environment” make this 12-year-old London chain (14 branches, plus Brighton and Brum) “worth a visit”. The “ramen is deep and fabulous” if “limited in range (no fish-based dishes except prawn)”, and is augmented by “quite acceptable katsu curry”. Aficionados should head to the Haggerston branch to watch the noodles being made.
6. Tonkotsu
Japanese restaurant in Newham
Unit 1, Endeavour Square - E20
“Tasty, good-value noodles” in a “relaxed environment” make this 12-year-old London chain (14 branches, plus Brighton and Brum) “worth a visit”. The “ramen is deep and fabulous” if “limited in range (no fish-based dishes except prawn)”, and is augmented by “quite acceptable katsu curry”. Aficionados should head to the Haggerston branch to watch the noodles being made.
7. Tonkotsu
Japanese restaurant in Hackney
382 Mare St - E8
“Tasty, good-value noodles” in a “relaxed environment” make this 12-year-old London chain (14 branches, plus Brighton and Brum) “worth a visit”. The “ramen is deep and fabulous” if “limited in range (no fish-based dishes except prawn)”, and is augmented by “quite acceptable katsu curry”. Aficionados should head to the Haggerston branch to watch the noodles being made.
8. Angelina
Fusion restaurant in Hackney
56 Dalston Lane - E8
“Every time is a different experience thanks to the ever changing menu” at this “imaginative and wonderful” Dalston venture. “The food really is a mix of European and Japanese influences” and served in a tasting menu format (either the 10-course ‘kaiseki’ or 4-course ‘omakase’) that’s “excellent, without feeling too fussy, and great value for money”. The “dark and moody interior” creates a “pared-back but buzzy atmosphere, which makes this a perfect pick for a special dinner”.
9. Mio Yatai
Japanese restaurant in Hackney
129a Pritchard's Road - E2
2022 Review: In Hackney’s Broadway Market and next to the Regent’s Canal, this Japanese street food and ramen bar opened in December 2019. It’s smallish – 45 seats – mixing communal seating and some individual tables. Early reports suggest it’s an OK standby – not enough feedback for a more hearty endorsement at this stage.
10. Dotori
Korean restaurant in Finsbury Park
3a Stroud Green Rd - N4
2021 Review: “Brill sushi and mouth-numbingly spicy Korean hotpots” draw a bustling crowd of overseas students to this “unprepossessing” operation near Finsbury Park tube – once “the best-kept secret in town”. But word has spread about the “sensational Korean and Japanese food for £10-£20 a head” – “authentic and in huge portions”. Cash only and no booking.
11. Tonkotsu East
Japanese restaurant in Haggerston
Arch 334, 1a Dunston St - E8
“Tasty, good-value noodles” in a “relaxed environment” make this 12-year-old London chain (14 branches, plus Brighton and Brum) “worth a visit”. The “ramen is deep and fabulous” if “limited in range (no fish-based dishes except prawn)”, and is augmented by “quite acceptable katsu curry”. Aficionados should head to the Haggerston branch to watch the noodles being made.
12. Sticks'n'Sushi
Japanese restaurant in Canary Wharf
1 Crossrail Place - E14
“Expensive, but high-quality yakitori skewers and sushi” are a “delicious and original offering that suit all ages”, and win little but praise for this “very consistent” chain, whose minimalist Scandi style reflects its origins in Copenhagen. Success continues to bring fast expansion, with recent openings in Westfield W12 (in December 2022) and Shoreditch (in March 2023) and more soon to follow in Richmond (October 2023) and Kingston (early 2024). Phew! Top Menu Tip – “truffle paste cauliflower side dish to die for (who knew?)”.
13. Roka
Japanese restaurant in Canary Wharf
Unit 4, Park Pavilion, 40 Canada Sq - E14
“The pan-Asian food is yummy… the black cod is exceptional” and the “buzzy” atmosphere is “stunning”, say fans of Arjun Waney and Rainer Becker’s svelte Japanese-inspired venues, where “you can either sit at the counter watching the kitchen (great if you’re just two), or at a table”; and where “a typical meal is sushi or sashimi as a starter then a robata (charcoal grill) dish for a main”. Its ratings slid this year, though. Never cheap, prices are becoming “sky high”; the cooking is “not as reliably good as it once was”; and there was the odd incident of “shocking” service.
14. Ippudo London
Japanese restaurant in Canary Wharf
1 Crossrail Pl - E14
2021 Review: “Top ramen with great broth and good combinations”, win fans for this genuinely Japanese chain (originating in Fukuoka), which has branches in Holborn, Embankment and Canary Wharf. Ratings, though, fall short of the top heights at the hands of those who feel its food is “not bad, but not memorable”. A fourth branch is to open in Fitzrovia in autumn 2019.
15. Issho-Ni
Japanese restaurant in Bethnal Green
185 Bethnal Green Road - E2
“Top-end sushi for a fair price” is the deal at this Bethnal Green izakaya from Claire Su, who delights her guests with “the freshest sushi and some great hot dishes too”. The weekday bento-box lunches are extremely good value, and the “unlimited brunch (starters, sashimi and maki rolls) on Saturdays is fantastic”. Top Menu Tip – “don’t get me started on the butter fish”.
16. Akari
Japanese restaurant in Islington
196 Essex Rd - N1
“Still a bit of a hidden gem, which is a real shame as this place should be packed” – this converted pub by Essex Road station is a longstanding fixture of the area. With its mix of sushi and other “enjoyable and very tasty” fare, fans say it serves “really wonderful izakaya dishes in a pretty chilled-out environment”; and that even if “it’s not as cheap as it once was, it’s still good value”.
17. Tonkotsu
Japanese restaurant in Shoreditch
New Inn Yard, 1 Anning Street - EC2A
“Tasty, good-value noodles” in a “relaxed environment” make this 12-year-old London chain (14 branches, plus Brighton and Brum) “worth a visit”. The “ramen is deep and fabulous” if “limited in range (no fish-based dishes except prawn)”, and is augmented by “quite acceptable katsu curry”. Aficionados should head to the Haggerston branch to watch the noodles being made.
18. Apothecary
Japanese restaurant in Shoreditch
36 Charlotte Road - EC2
2022 Review: On the sizable Shoreditch site that was Merchant’s Tavern (RIP), this mid-2021 newcomer is nowadays a 130-cover Japanese izakaya, with more of an emphasis on drinking (and DJs) than of old. It comes complete with open kitchen and robata counter, serving skewers, sushi and steamed buns to soak up the hot or cold sake, beers and cocktails.
19. Shoryu Ramen
Japanese restaurant in Shoreditch
45 Great Eastern Street - EC2A
“The ramen is excellent” at this West End-based group from the Japan Centre’s Tak Tokumine – although “the rest of the menu is not as good” and the venues tend to be “too cramped and/or noisy to be ideal”. A drive to expand via franchise operations has apparently stalled since the summer 2022 opening of a branch in Kensington High Street – a possible sign that “we may have passed peak noodle”.
20. Nobu Shoreditch
Japanese restaurant in Shoreditch
10-50 Willow St - EC2A
Despite its famous brand, this chic Shoreditch-fringe boutique hotel has struggled to make waves since its 2017 launch (no survey feedback this year), and in summer 2023 relaunched (re-relaunched?) its basement restaurant with adjoining sunken garden as a ‘destination bar’, complete with ‘world-renowned Nobu signature dishes, small plates and sushi’ and a regular DJ. As well as the wizard Nikkei bits, options include the ‘newly launched Monaka… a lightweight flat rice crispbread, branded with the Nobu logo and stuffed with fresh toppings’.
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