Japanese Restaurants in Epsom
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. 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.
4. Koji
Japanese restaurant in Fulham
58 New King’s Rd - SW6
“You could be in the West End” at this “exceptional local restaurant” by Parsons Green, “serving contemporary Japanese cuisine” – “the ambience is glamorous and cool, the service friendly and efficient, and the food excellent, fresh and tasty”. It also has an “elegant and classic cocktail bar”.
5. 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.
6. The Dining Room, Beaverbrook
Japanese restaurant in Leatherhead
Reigate Road - KT22
“The very, very best of Japanese cuisine” is found in the unlikely setting of a luxurious Surrey Hills mansion once owned by press baron Lord Beaverbrook, where Wojciech Popow, founder of the Polish Association of Sushi Chefs, presides over a “wonderful Japanese tasting menu” that delivers “an unforgettable feast”. Through the summer guests can dine in the heated basket of a stationary hot-air balloon in the formal Italian garden, on prized cuts of o-toro tuna and Kobe and wagyu beef cooked on their own yakiniku grill – a “great and expensive experience” (£245 per person).
7. Hoshi
Japanese restaurant in Raynes Park
54 Durham Road - SW20
This “relaxed local Japanese” in Raynes Park “opened recently on the site of (confusingly similarly named) Hashi”. Reports suggest “the quality of the food is better”, with “authentic, skillfully prepared dishes” including “good fresh sushi”.
8. Takahashi
Japanese restaurant in Wimbledon
228 Merton Road - SW19
“The omakase experience borders on the sublime” – “it’s food as art” – at this “hidden gem” of a Japanese restaurant, tucked away in an unpromising shopping parade near South Wimbledon tube for almost a decade now. Former Nobu chef Taka and his wife Yuko preside over a “very personalised food offering”, with their “delightful and kind service”.
9. Sticks'n'Sushi
Japanese restaurant in Wimbledon Town
58 Wimbledon Hill Rd - SW19
“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?)”.
10. Umi
Japanese restaurant in Twickenham
30 York Street - TW1
This “well-established Twickenham no-frills Japanese restaurant” has an “unchanging menu that never fails to deliver” – “it’s so difficult to get a table and you know why when you eat there: high-quality food at sensible prices”. “Bobby on front of house is great – he knows his locals and welcomes everyone like an old friend”. “The food is fantastic too – we always leave feeling we have had a feast”.
11. Matsuba
Japanese restaurant in Richmond
10 Red Lion St - TW9
2022 Review: This “lovely little Japanese restaurant with a very decent range” is a “very welcome option in Richmond”. Run by a Korean family, it has provided “sterling service” for 17 years.
12. Taro
Japanese restaurant in Wandsworth
193 Balham High Road - SW12
“Well produced, tasty morsels of delight” including “ace lunchtime bento boxes” are served at these “pared down” Japanese canteens, which provide “good value for money for what is generally an expensive cuisine”. Founder Mr Taro is not one for fast food: he conceived the idea of opening an ‘everyday dining room’ on a visit to London in 1979 and launched it in Soho 20 years later. Two decades on he is in expansion mode, and in February 2023 opened a sixth branch in a former Manze Pie & Mash shop in Walthamstow, with a Grade II listed interior now restored to its previous glory.
13. Kibou London
Japanese restaurant in Battersea
175-177 Northcote Road - SW11
Strikingly decorated with murals, this three-year-old modern Japanese from a Cheltenham-based group has proved a “great addition” to Battersea’s ‘Nappy Valley’, and wins praise for “exceptional signature sushi rolls”, “very good cocktails” and its lively style. Ratings are limited by those who find the success of the cooking to be a case of hit and miss.
14. Oka
Japanese restaurant in Richmond upon Thames
88 Church Road - SW13
“A top tip for sushi and other interesting Japanese dishes” – this 11-year-old group from Israeli-born Ohad Kastro offers an “excellent quality and variety of options” that are “so much better than standard rivals” – and each branch “manages to feel like a comfy ‘local’, despite there being others around town”.
15. Tsunami
Japanese restaurant in Clapham
5-7 Voltaire Rd - SW4
This “modern Japanese” with a “clubby and bouncy vibe” has been a hit on Clapham High Street since three former Nobu chefs opened it 23 years ago, and it remains a “very popular” destination for cocktails and fusion bites. Always “a slightly idiosyncratic” place – this issue was more to the fore this year with incidents of “erratic” or “uncoordinated” service, and one or two fears that the “huge” menu is being “dumbed down”.
16. Nanban
Japanese restaurant in Brixton
426 Coldharbour Ln - SW9
2022 Review: “Sink your teeth in and savour!” the “bold flavours” of former MasterChef winner Tim Anderson’s take on Japanese cooking using foreign or ‘barbarian’ (Nanban) ingredients, showcased in his “fast and furious” 10-year-old pop-up-gone-permanent on the edge of Brixton Market. “Their noodle dishes became a lockdown delivery staple, packed with flavour, a wonderful smoky depth to the tea eggs, heart-warming broths”. A new Covent Garden offshoot opened in September 2021 at Kerb’s Seven Dials Market, focused on ramen dishes.
17. Eat Tokyo
Japanese restaurant in Hammersmith
169 King St - W6
“Proper” Japanese food at a “very affordable price” (“the sushi is seemingly no more expensive than Yo! Sushi, but so much better quality”) ensures that these Tokyo-inspired pitstops are “always busy” and there are “often queues”. “The canteen atmosphere and sometimes inflexible service doesn’t make you want to linger” but no-one cares given the “extensive menu – made with fresh ingredients and served up super quick – that’s good overall value”. Top Tip – “the bento boxes are tasty and authentic”.
18. Yoshi Sushi
Japanese restaurant in Hammersmith
210 King St - W6
2021 Review: “The best kimchi in London” – apparently “voted by the South Korean Embassy!” – is found at this drab-looking stalwart, near Ravenscourt Park tube. Despite the name, the place is Korean-owned and run – and it’s the “fantastic Korean dishes” that garner the plaudits this year: “sweet, savoury, spicy and with generous portions”. But the Japanese dishes are also excellent and “service is always personal”.
19. Tosa
Japanese restaurant in Hammersmith
332 King St - W6
This “very decent” small café near Stamford Brook tube makes “a good change from the usual Japanese”, with “yakitori grilled skewers the real draw”. “The room is a little jaded but a seat at the grilling bar is an entertaining winner” (“the friendly chef chats all through the meal”). Top Menu Tip – “the grilled mackerel is truly holy”.
20. Sushi Bar Makoto
Japanese restaurant in Chiswick
57 Turnham Green Terrace - W4
While you probably wouldn’t cross town for it, this basic pit-stop near Turnham Green tube is worth remembering – the sushi is a cut-above what you’d expect from the nondescript exterior.
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