Fitzrovia, Japanese Restaurant Guide

Back in the day (in 2004), Arjun Waney & Rainer Becker’s successful Japanese fusion-favourite on Charlotte Street helped forge new expectations for fashionable dining out – with its slick combination of sushi, sashimi and robata-grilled items – and “it’s still a winner, even if we have now seen it all before”. Over the years four London siblings have been added, alongside another nine in the eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf. A particular hit with business diners, some reporters visit several times a year, and say “it’s always an enjoyable experience, with delicious options like the black cod, crab gyoza and fillet beef”.

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”.

“Sit at the counter, preferably with a lychee martini, and watch the delicious sushi being made” at this modern outfit just north of Oxford Circus from the Chisou group, where a long wooden bar dominates the room (there’s a basement with banquettes for larger groups and private parties). Ceviches and seafood carpaccios are served alongside a wide sushi selection, plus hot dishes and lunchtime sets with miso soup. To drink there’s wine, sake, shochu, Japanese draught beer and tea.

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.

Another grand Victorian bank now put to arguably better use – this Japanese-inspired restaurant and cocktail bar is open from autumn 2025 in a Grade II listed building on Cavendish Square, behind Oxford Circus, following a reported £15million refurb by its Maltese owners. The original Aki was launched in Valletta in 2020 and offers a contemporary take on classic Japanese dishes.