Shoreditch, Japanese Restaurant Guide

This outpost of the Japanese master of Nikkei dining puts in a steady performance for those who make the trip to its capacious (240-cover) basement location, which is at the foot of a custom-built, Nobu-branded boutique hotel in Shoreditch. There’s the odd gripe about high prices, but no complaints about the food; and all the classics are present, from high-grade sushi to the much-copied miso-glazed black cod. Even so, the venue has never really taken off to the same extent as its siblings further west.

“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 15-strong London noodle chain (now with branches in Brighton, Birmingham and Bristol) is “a good stand-by” – perhaps it’s “not as good as some of its competitors”, but it is widely seen as “good value”: in particular “the lunch-time meal deal” is a winner.

“Delicious ramen with rich home-made broth” draws a steady crowd to these “quick, casual” joints “with a fun classic rock soundtrack”; and whose “great noodles are very consistent across their branches” (there are now seven across the capital). Top Menu Tip – “bao bun specials are good too, and great value”.

“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.

For a dependable meal near Barbican, this straightforward Japanese venue has a twenty-year heritage, although it has shifted site in the last couple of years from Whitecross Street to its new home in ‘The Heron’: a 31-storey block a few streets away. Fans say its performance is very good, and although ratings are a little up-and-down it’s worth knowing about in this thinly provided area.

‘Rebel against the establishment and join the sushi revolution!’ – purists should steer clear of this small Brixton pitstop, where various funky meat, vegan and veggie options sit alongside more traditional Japanese sushi combos. Feedback was limited this year, but continues to rate it positively all-round. And they must be doing something right, as a new Shoreditch branch opened in June 2024.

Open in London’s Norton Folgate from March 2025: a new pasta and grill restaurant from the Angelina Dalston team in a converted, high ceilinged Victorian warehouse space on the border of Spitalfields, seating 75 around a large open kitchen. Similarly inspired by Japanese and Italian cuisine, it offers a menu featuring fresh pastas with a Japanese twist, alongside Italian- and Japanese-inspired ‘big cut’ Binchotan grill dishes (such as Aged Porterhouse or Skate Wing on the Bone) and crudi. The wine list features more than 300 Italian wines and there are also sakes and cocktails.

2024 Review: Neither its prime City location – overlooking Broadgate Circle – nor its experienced heritage (the Hong Kong-based Aqua group, with their Aqua-branded operations in the Shard and on Oxford Street) have helped garner huge attention for this glossy December 2022 newcomer: a minimalist Japanese, where chef Ken Miyake offers ‘crystal sushi’ (draping sushi rolls in coloured jelly slices with kimchi, ponzu or mint and sake favouring) plus robata-grilled meats and noodles. The exception is a January 2023 review from the Independent’s Lucy Thackray, who said the “dizzying” selection of dishes “hit the mark, when it comes to the trifecta [of] presentation, flavour, quality”. She also noted, though, that portions are “petite”; and that it’s “easy to rack up quite a bill”.