Fitzrovia, Japanese Restaurant Guide

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.

“I keep going back to Roka, and have never had a bad meal there” – so say fans of Arjun Waney & Rainer Becker’s slick Japanese-inspired venues, which are celebrating their 20th year in 2024. “Despite increasing competition, it remains a good choice, with sound cooking and good-value sushi, sashimi and robata dishes”; and despite perennial complaints that they are “way overpriced for tiny portions”, quality has held up well. All that said, service is more often “amateurish” and “erratic” than it once was; and long-term fans have a point when they say the general performance is “not as good as it used to be” – the 2024 openings will be in Bahrain, Germany and Greece and there is growing impression of ‘the same old, same old’ in its original home market.

Noisy izakayas in Fitzrovia and Covent Garden from the Bone Daddies group, “serving a good range from the stickier and more crowd-pleasing end of Japanese cuisine”, along with “tasty pan-Asian small plates including their signature bao buns”. Top Menu Tips – “great yakitori, lovely beef-fat chips”.

“Excellent, artful sushi”, plus carpaccios, steamed dumplings, salads and ceviches – all washed down with a good selection of sake and Japanese draft beer – are the draw at this modern spot near Oxford Circus from the high-quality Chisou group. The interior, dominated by a long sushi counter, is “somewhat drab” for those with more exuberant tastes.

2022 Review: “Exceptional food every time” and “high-quality and attentive service” inspire early reporters who have visited both of Padam Raj Rai’s duo of ambitious ishiyaki (hence the name), where the serving of certified Kobe beef is a highlight (only eight restaurants in the UK offer it). Also on the menu: top-quality sushi and sashimi and 48-hours marinated black cod. Islington’s Chapel Market branch launched first in August 2020, with a 14-course omakase chef’s table experience (for up to 4 people). Later in 2020, the branch closed and rebranded itself ‘Omakase at Hot Stone’, opening for just 2-3 days per week for 6 people at a time for an ‘Omakase’ (chef’s choice) experience. Despite the travails of the pandemic, in May 2021 Padam opened a second 50-cover sibling in Fitzrovia. The interior of the new branch boasts traditional wooden panelling, accent tiling and artwork by Japanese Edo-period ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai.

2024 Review: From the team behind Islington’s Hot Stone, this February 2023 newcomer is a re-imagining of their Fitzrovia site, which previously traded as Rai and with a not-completely-dissimilar format. The cuisine is ‘contemporary Japanese’ in style, with sushi, sashimi and Kagoshima wagyu beef, chosen omakase-style for each diner and served in a presentation box.