RestaurantsLondonMayfairW1

survey result

Summary

£94
 ££££
4
Very Good
3
Good
2
Average
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

After half a century, this high-quality Mayfair veteran is “still one of the best Japanese restaurants in London”, with particularly “good fish” – although it has a lower profile than many newer and more flashy rivals. “Having the kitchen open to the dining area adds some theatre to aid the digestion”.

Summary

£92
 ££££
4
Very Good
4
Very Good
2
Average
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

The “superb Japanese food” at this little-known Mayfair veteran, now in its fifth decade, stands out in “an increasingly crowded market for Japanese gastronomy”. Like many traditional restaurants in Tokyo or Kyoto, it is understated and unflashy to a fault. The sashimi and sushi are “moderately expensive, but then fish this good should be”. Top Tip – “the Tekkadon Chirashi is simply delicious – sashimi of tuna, fatty tuna and seared tuna on a bed of rice”.

For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at Ikeda?

30 Brook St, London, W1K 5DJ

Restaurant details

6
No dress code
32

What the Newspaper Critics are saying

Evening Standard

David Ellis claimed to be the first newspaper critic to review this veteran Berkeley Square Japanese (est. 1973), despite its being favoured by entertainment royalty (thank-you notes are on display from George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Cher and Mick Jagger) – not to mention its regular listing in the Harden’s guide.

With an “everyman anonymity” from the outside, inside it is “the Wilton’s of Japanese restaurants: old school and hush-hush… entirely without embellishment”. The cooking met with David’s approval, with  miso soup that “felt like a tonic to all of life’s ills”, aubergine “as gooey as a rom-com and twice as comforting”, and sushi “perhaps as good as any I’ve eaten”.

Places like this are often fearfully expensive, he noted, “but Ikeda can be done carefully; we left at £175, preferring it to £420-a-head Sushi Kanesaka. In that sense, it felt like good value.”

David Ellis - 2025-04-13

Prices

Starter Main Pudding
£4.80 £47.00 £7.20
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £42.00
Filter Coffee £5.00
Extras  
Bread £0.00
Service 12.50%
30 Brook St, London, W1K 5DJ
Opening hours
Monday5 pm‑9:15 pm
Tuesday12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6 pm‑9 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6 pm‑9 pm
Thursday12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6 pm‑9 pm
Friday12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6 pm‑9 pm
SaturdayCLOSED
SundayCLOSED

Best Japanese restaurants nearby

123V
Vegan restaurant in Mayfair
£65
  £££
3
Good
3
Good
2
Average
Chisou
Japanese restaurant in London
£98
 ££££
5
Exceptional
4
Very Good
2
Average
Cubé
Japanese restaurant in Mayfair
£145
£££££
4
Very Good
4
Very Good
2
Average