London's Japanese restaurants are on a (spicy tuna) roll right now. With waves of new omakase counters and swish sushi bars cropping up every day, finding somewhere that's the reel deal is no small feat. That’s where we come in. From authentic Japanese food to the tables everyone’s talking about, we’ve fished out the UK capital’s top spots for sushi, sashimi, and sake that’ll maki your day.
19 Motcomb St, SW1X 8LB | Image credit: Rusne Draz
SACHI, Belgravia
Best for: sushi and skyline views.
Just when you thought the view and vibe at one of London’s best rooftops couldn’t get any better, its brunch menu brings even more to the table – literally. Seven sharing starters arrive on an aesthetic tiered tower of crushed ice and bamboo canes, including crispy sushi rice crowned with scarlet spicy tuna. This spread is so pretty you’ll pause for a picture before you pounce with your chopsticks.
sachi.com
The Fuji Grill at Beaverbrook Town House, Chelsea
Best for: tapas with a Japanese twist.
If the name Beaverbrook rings a bell, you’re probably picturing the Surrey country house with stationary hot air balloon dining – not a boutique hotel on Sloane Street. But its city cousin should still be high on your hitlist, serving tapasu (tapas with a Japanese twist). Cue bites like spinach salad mixed with goma miso and sprinkled with crispy leeks and spicy tuna temaki (taco-style hand-rolled sushi).
beaverbrooktownhouse.com
115–116 Sloane St, SW1X 9PJ
12 New Quebec St, W1H 7RW
Roketsu, Marylebone
Best for: a 10-seat chef's table.
It’s a cliché to say a restaurant of this calibre serves melt-in-the-mouth food – but at the recently relaunched Roketsu, that's just the reality. The duck confit, cloaked in a layer of crisp, golden skin, more or less evaporates, while the wagyu beef collapses at the touch of your chopsticks. Both dishes are garnished with a delicate kinome leaf – a tiny, fern-like Japanese herb – that the waiter tells us is prized for its peppery punch.
roketsu.com
JUNO Omakase, Notting Hill
Best for: a 15-course chef’s counter experience.
This tiny sushi temple inside Los Mochis proves good things really do come in small packages: six seats, 15 courses, and a two-month wait to score a spot. Scooch up to the counter for mid-meal caviar bumps and hop on the hype with not-for-the-squeamish insect-led dishes like grasshoppers and deep-fried flying ants. Plus, less daring dishes like king crab dressed claw-to-claw in colourful flowers.
juno-omakase.com
2–4 Farmer St, W8 7SN
Raffles London at The OWO, 2 Whitehall Pl, SW1A 2BD
Kioku by Endo, Westminster
Best for: private dining rooms.
With SUMI, NIJŪ, and Endo at the Rotunda under his command, third-generation sushi master Endo Kazutoshi has already conquered London’s Japanese dining scene. But beyond its Old War Office address, Kioku makes its own history with a private dining room inside a stone turret and blue belly shrimp sashimi crowned with aquamarine-hued roe – so good you’ll battle for the last bite.
kioku-by-endo.com
Sticks’n’Sushi, Covent Garden
Best for: sushi sharing platters.
No points for guessing what’s on the menu here – the name’s too much of a giveaway. But this Japanese spot scores points for the presentation of playfully named sharing platters, like the Four Meal Drive: a 72-piece feast designed for (you guessed it) four. This particular platter rolls out a whole colour wheel of salmon, yellowfin tuna, and shrimp nigiri, served in a wooden, wheel-shaped bowl for the full experience.
sticksnsushi.com
11 Henrietta St, WC2E 8PY
45 Park Ln, W1K 1PN
Sushi Kanesaka at 45 Park Lane, Mayfair
Best for: omakase.
An omakase serving more courses than it has seats? Count us in (or should we say, counter us in). Pull up a seat at the chef’s table and watch as 20 courses are mesmerisingly sliced and served in just 90 minutes, featuring only the finest ingredients from Kobe beef to blue lobster. Word of warning: it’s on the pricey side, so save it for extra-special occasions.
sushi-kanesaka.com
ROKA Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia
Best for: robatayaki (charcoal-side cooking).
If you haven’t heard of this Japanese robatayaki (charcoal-side cooking) restaurant, have you been living under a ROKA? The group’s flagship in Fitzrovia has been winning over Londoners since it opened in 2003 – as have dishes like impossibly thin yellowtail sashimi, intricately swirled in a circle and doused with a yuzu truffle dressing; or black cod balancing on a hoba leaf.
roka.com
37 Charlotte St, W1T 1RR
1 Cavendish Sq, W1G 0LA
Aki London, Mayfair
Best for: Kyoto-inspired
There’s a new Kyoto-inspired kid in town – and we’re already putting our money on it being one of the capital’s hottest openings (partly because it’s inside a former Grade II-listed banking hall). The tuna tartare with Japanese brown puffed rice is worth its weight in caviar-topped gold and the hay-smoked scallop with tofu and apple tosazu jelly is sure to drum up some serious interest.
akilondon.com
SUMI, Notting Hill
Best for: temaki (hand-rolled, taco-like sushi).
Die-hard foodies know that Notting Hill is home to some of London’s best restaurants – and one of those is SUMI, the little sister of Kioku by Endo (scroll up for a refresher). SUMI puts its own spin on temaki (traditionally cone-shaped sushi), serving what looks more like an open taco wrapped in crisp nori seaweed. Speaking of, go for the super-soft, chopped scallop with shiso flowers and soy.
sumi.com
157 Westbourne Gv, W11 2RS
35 The Market, WC2E 8RF | Image credit: Steven Joyce
SUSHISAMBA, Covent Garden
Best for: rainbow-coloured rolls.
To call SUSHISAMBA colourful is an understatement – as soon as you swirl up the spiral staircase, the entire space erupts with an explosion of orange tones. Even the Pisco Samba arrives with a bath bomb of bright bitters floating on silky egg white. Beneath a rainforest-resembling roof, you’ll snap photos of rainbow-streaked dishes such as the Neo Tokyo rolls topped with ruby-red tuna and orange spicy mayo.
sushisamba.com
CLAP London, Knightsbridge
Best for: dinner with a DJ.
With resident DJs and rooftop views, CLAP deserves a standing ovation as soon as you step inside. You'll clock it from a mile away, thanks to its colossal, curved installation arching over double doors fit for a giant. The menu earns its own round of applause: showstoppers include sushi-shaped strips of Wagyu beef tataki topped with oscietra caviar, obviously. By the finale, you'll already be plotting your encore.
claplondon.com
12–14 Basil St, SW3 1AJ
5 Raphael St, SW7 1DL
Zuma, Knightsbridge
Best for: lobster and wagyu.
Zoom, don’t walk, to Zuma: a star-studded sushi spot in Knightsbridge. Just make sure you arrive hungry and ready for your taste buds to be blown away. The menu is foolproof, but you’d be a be fool not to order the matchstick-like stack of tiger prawns, wagyu beef tartare with truffle, and lobster tempura maki roll, garnished with a generous sliver of black truffle.
