Covent Garden, Japanese Restaurant Guide

“Fun but fully priced” would be a fair overview of this funky fusion duo – outposts of a glossy US-based chain that started in NYC. The original is found at the top of one of West Europe’s fastest lifts, whisking you to the glamorous 38th floor of the Heron Tower (adjacent to Duck & Waffle, see also), complete with a stylish cocktail lounge and outside terrace. Its newer sibling opened in 2018: “it’s above the market in Covent Garden which is a great location/space (regardless of what currently occupies it!)”. In both spots, all reports agree its luxurious Latino-meets-Japanese bites are super-moreish and “consistently good”. Prices though are OTT, especially as “you can feel like you are in a machine, and they churn out huge numbers of covers so service feels rushed. And it’s big, it’s loud, feels like a bun fight!!” (“Sushi Samba was my 18-year-old daughter’s choice and was not as bad as I feared, but not particularly stand-out either”.)

With “clever”, “good-quality Japanese food” – in particular the “excellent, if relatively expensive, sushi” – and “busy, competent service”, these “fun, stylish and friendly” Scandi-minimal venues are “always buzzing”. Founded in Copenhagen by a pair of Danish-Japanese brothers more than 30 years ago, the company came under new ownership in 2024 with big expansion plans, and unveiled two times F1 champion Fernando Alonso as a major shareholder in April 2025. Recent London openings include a “huge new site” in Islington and Battersea Power Station.

“A reliable option for Japanese food on a budget” – this chain’s “functional decor” “looks and feels authentic”, while the “great, light tempura is always a good indicator of quality” and the sushi and sashimi tend to be “so much better than average”. Service can be “swift”, even “rushed”, and the venues “noisy” and “crowded because of the exceptional value” – but they’re “deservedly popular to eat in or take away”. Top Menu Tip – they sometimes have sea urchin, a real delicacy.

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”.

“Sometimes it just has to be ramen”, and this group from Japan Centre owner Tak Tokumine provides noodles and broth that are “consistent, quick”, “high-quality and very reasonably priced” – “service isn’t amazing but the food makes up for it”. The 12-hour tonkotsu pork broth is a speciality of Hakata, Tak’s home district of Fukuoka city on the island of Kyushu.

This Muswell Hill two-year-old serves an “impressive variety of delicious Japanese dishes”, covering most of the bases: “sushi, wagyu and more”, all “so fresh and tasty”. The “very pleasant decor” is modern and restrained. A second branch opened in Covent Garden in late 2024 (no reports as yet). Top Menu Tip – they even serve a ‘Muswell Hill Roll’ with crab stick, avocado and salmon.