Here are the cream of the crop, bringing real flavours of Japan to the heart of London, chosen by a Japanese foodie living in London.
Humble Chicken
Humble Chicken is chef Angelo Sato’s yakitori joint in a former bar venue in the heart of Soho, specialising in Japanese-style grilled chicken skewers. The restaurant uses traditional bincho charcoal, to ensure that each bite is bursting with flavour. They offer most of the different cuts of chicken that are available in Japan – liver and cartilage are usually on the menu alongside the more familiar cuts like thigh and breast. They over-engineer the skewers a little by offering a wide variety of toppings and sauces. In Japan, salt and tare (a soy-based sauce) are the only options, and rightly so. I try to stick to the simpler seasonings when I eat at Humble chicken. Their non-skewer dishes are reminiscent of the dishes you get at a Michelin-starred izakaya in Tokyo. The only drawback is that your only options for seating are at the bar counter, or at a rather exposed table on the narrow pavement. My preference is to go with one other person and sit at the bar.
Koya
The best Japanese restaurants specialise. Koya is known for its authentic and delicious Japanese udon noodles, which are made fresh in-house daily. If I got this quality of udon in Japan, I’d be pretty pleased. In addition to udon, Koya also serves a variety of other Japanese dishes such as grilled fish, tempura, and rice bowls. This is one of the few places in the UK where I can sit down to a Japanese breakfast outside of my house. The restaurant has intimate counter seating and some seating on the pavement outside and does not take bookings. It’s rare that you walk past and there are fewer than half a dozen people queueing. It’s always worth checking if it’s possible to book a table at Koya City in Bloomberg Arcade instead. The trip there is 15 minutes on the Central line and the wait for a seat at the Soho branch is often a lot longer than 15 minutes.
CocoIchibanya
Coco Ichibanya is a popular chain of Japanese curry restaurants that originated in Japan and has since expanded internationally, including to London. The restaurant is known for its wide variety of Japanese curry dishes, which can be customized with a choice of meat, vegetables, and spiciness level. Curry rice topped with croquettes and runny omelette, extra hot please. Customers can enjoy their meals in the delightfully authentic Japanese restaurant-chain atmosphere, complete with plasticky menus with photos and customer survey forms, at one of Coco Ichibanya’s London locations.
Hachi
Hachi is a Japanese yakiniku (DIY BBQ) restaurant popular with Japanese expats. A trip to the yakiniku is all about drinking and grilling cuts of meat with tongs in the middle of the table all evening. The menu features a good selection of meat, including wagyu and high grade ox tongue. But what’s truly exciting for the expats are the authentic drinks like green tea highball and the “Japanified” Korean side dishes that we only see in yakiniku joints at home. I highly recommend this experience for a group that wants to go and pretend they’re a bunch of Japanese salarymen.