Soho, Japanese Restaurant Guide

“Our daughters love this restaurant – especially the cubed steak and iceberg lettuce!”. This manifestly cool Soho three-year-old offers sushi and sashimi as well as a wide range of fish and meat from the robata grill.

“Absolutely top-notch food” – “pricey but great!” – is the key to the steady growth enjoyed by this Copenhagen-based Japanese group, whose most recent (2019) openings in Soho and Chelsea join established venues across London. It’s “an interesting concept, well executed” – “fresh and delicious sushi”, yakitori skewers, and “colourful, almost art-directed salads”, delivered in dining rooms that combine clean, Japanese minimalism with Danish hygge.

“Super ramen” constitutes “a top meal at a great price” at these Japanese-style fast-food bars. In early 2021, the brand opened on Putney High Street in a former branch of Byron and later announced ‘Wing Daddies’ (a virtual chicken wing delivery option at all its London stores).

“Quick, warm and tasty” is the verdict on Japan Centre owner Tak Tokumine’s “very busy”, “authentic ramen” noodle group, based in the West End but expanding fast via delivery-only kitchens. “The tonkotsu soup stock is a wonder” and the “side dishes are great, too”.

“Consistently good food from an appealing menu” has earned a solid following for this Asian-fusion chain with branches in Soho, Marylebone, Primrose Hill, Chelsea and Barnes. Opinion is split on the relative merits of its two main offerings – all agree on the “terrific sushi” but others register both pros and cons for the hot dishes.

“No frills but great food” is the deal at this small group of basic Japanese canteens, which has pushed south and east after more than 20 years in Soho, with branches now in the City, Balham and Kennington. They serve a wide range of sushi, noodle and rice dishes, with the best value to be found in the bento boxes and ‘set’ meals.

2021 Review: “Under the direction of a single, passionate and precise chef” (Yuya Kikuchi), this brilliantly “authentic” little (about 20 seats) izakaya in Soho produces some marvels, with dazzling sushi being the top pick on the menu. Don’t go if you’re in a hurry.

2021 Review: “Always there to satisfy a Japanese food craving”: this conveyor-belt sushi-stalwart in Soho rates well for “fast, good-quality plates” – less so for the “uncomfortable stools and loud music”. But nobody is complaining with “fresh hand-made tempura and salmon rolls for £4 – a steal!”. It lost its spin-offs last year, though, in Covent Garden and South Kensington.

“Superb in every way!” – Victor Garvey’s decision to close his “small” tapas restaurant Rambla (RIP) and to transform it in late 2019 into a highly “original” top-end venue has paid off. The idea is to celebrate ‘the modern cuisine of America’s Pacific West Coast, bringing a taste of California to Soho, via LA’ (hence the SOLA name, geddit). In practice, this means a plant-filled interior; a strong, well-priced list of Californian wine; and high priority placed on “exceptional ingredients” (with an emphasis on seafood). “It delivers all you could want from a top-end London restaurant whilst still feeling like you’re dining in a small local bistro”. The “creative” cooking is “freshly seasonal” (e.g. “exceptional tomato salad”) – “the only drawback is the £139 tasting menu price tag, with no £89 prix fixe option available to weekend diners”. In January 2021, it earned the first Michelin star for an American-cuisine restaurant outside of the US.

“Casual and inexpensive, but no compromise on the standards” – this Japanese noodle chain has become a firm favourite in London’s “competitive” ramen market, with 14 branches (and counting). “I can’t speak highly enough of the quality of ramen here, absolutely packed full of flavour and at a really good price.” The name is taken from the pork broth used, and the noodles are made daily in-house and cooked, it is said, for precisely 32 seconds.

2021 Review: Izakaya-style Soho yearling, which opened in Spring 2019, making a feature of the robata skewers for which it is named, and whose other attractions include bao buns, sushi and cocktails. It opened too late to inspire much in the way of survey feedback, but the general social media buzz about the place is upbeat.

“Rooftop views of central London” are a highlight of this nightclubby Japanese venue, whose large outside terraces can come as a surprise for somewhere so close to Oxford Circus. It’s in the same HK-based group as Aqua Shard, and also has a rooftop neighbour, Aqua Nueva, if you prefer Spanish food. It’s not a particularly foodie choice, but is sometimes noted for its “good sushi”.

“Excellent, fresh udon” – the original Japanese noodles – are to be found at the Soho mothership of this small multiple and its offshoot in the City’s foodie Bloomberg Arcade. Other specialities include tempura and kara-age fried chicken. (Udon are more difficult to find in London than the highly popular Chinese-influenced ramen, and are generally considered subtler, lighter and more refined.)

“Quick, warm and tasty” is the verdict on Japan Centre owner Tak Tokumine’s “very busy”, “authentic ramen” noodle group, based in the West End but expanding fast via delivery-only kitchens. “The tonkotsu soup stock is a wonder” and the “side dishes are great, too”.

“The team that took over from Matsuhiro Araki is outstanding”, and under Marty Lau this Mayfair nine-seater continues to deliver “stunning sushi, immaculately served and presented”. When the maestro moved on in 2019, Michelin not only removed all three stars, but completely deleted the restaurant from its database – a fantastic example of the capriciousness of its decision-making and the partial nature of its ultimate listings. As a result, this Mayfair venue inspires very much less attention and feedback than once it did, but it can still deliver “a meal you’re likely to remember for the rest of your life” (even if the same can be said about the price tag…).

Just off Regent Street – in the pedestrianised enclave surrounding Heddon Street – this late winter 2020 newcomer is the brainchild of the Japan Centre Team. Inspired by the yokocho ‘alleyways’ of Japan and 1970s Tokyo, you eat ramen and other Japanese bites washed down with well-priced drinks options amidst “authentically fake kitsch” decor. Most reporters are very enthusiastic about the “full-flavoured, thick broths – occasionally you can tell this is all pre-prepared food, but the prices are very reasonable and it's not supposed to be a temple”. See also, Panton Yokocho.

Star chef Luke Selby (former head chef of Hide), together with brothers Nathaniel and Theo, now runs this intimate 10-seat counter experience in the cellar of the 275-year-old Blue Posts pub in Chinatown, which melds a love of British produce, Japanese techniques and classic French training. We’ve rated it on limited but outstanding initial feedback and the impossibility of getting a table – bookings are released on the first of every month, at midday.

This veteran group has served up “authentic Japanese food” – “always fresh, tasty and beautifully presented” – for four decades, at its half-dozen “basic” (ignore the “tired” decor) but “extremely reliable and good-value” London diners. They “never disappoint”, with “consistently excellent sashimi and sushi, using really high-quality fish”. Venues stretch from Hammersmith via Notting Hill to Soho, Covent Garden and Holborn, while the Golders Green branch adds shabu-shabu to the menu. The group also operates Tonkotsu-ya Ramen on Bond Street. Top Tip: “miso eel is very good”.

Limited, but good-all-round reports again this year on this funky Japanese in Soho – part of the Bone Daddies stable – which serves an eclectic mix of dishes inspired by ‘Yoshoku’ food (the Western-influenced cooking style popular in Japan): well-known examples include Mentaiko mac and cheese, prawn toast and everyone’s favourite pudding: Kinako French toast with soft-serve ice cream.