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    Asakusa

    4.1 (101 reviews)
    ModerateJapanese
    Closed 6:00 pm - 11:30 PM

    Asakusa Photos

    ASAKUSA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Classy
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - Asakusa

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    Buta kakuni
    Connie C.

    Solid Japanese izakaya type place. Personally, I prefer the hot foods here over sushi and sashimi. Top items were the buta kakuni and salmon head! Will definitely be back to try more of their expensive menu.

    Yum yum. The spinach was lovely.
    Juria Y.

    Got recommended this place for some authentic Japanese cuisine, have yet to find any in London so was super excited. We were a table of 3 mixed Japanese/Western. The place is only small, lucky we made a booking (which kind of sealed the deal for us because the guy was speaking Japanese ). The service is nice and friendly, food was great. The menu is extensive.... We ordered so much it was crazy. Beef tataki was the highlight along with the agedashi tofu . The tempura seafood was also ace. We did order yakitori and tsukune too but unanimously weren't keen on the *special sauce - bit on the salty side. Back there again this week so will check out other things on the menu

    Asakusa sushi joy (^^)
    Josy A.

    I love Asakusa. I had a Japanese boyfriend in my first year of University (quite a long time ago- eep!) At that time I had only lived in Japan for about 6 months...and I was used to eating my host mother's amazing cooking...so after i moved to London, I really missed unpretentious, decent Japanese grub. Back then, Asakusa came to the rescue! It has always been cheap, but incredibly tasty. I also love that the menu is written all over the walls, so I could practice kanji while eating out - that sort of counts as studying!! Anyway... now I've yo-yoed between London and Kansai all of my adult life, if it always good to go back to the awesome places from my student years and find that they are still tasty, reasonably priced and just as dodgy-looking as ever! **I should probably mention that my Japanese boyfriend left me broken hearted yeeears ago, but Asakusa has never let me down...and even helped me seduce my lovely current man. *Starts to drool thinking of both...*

    Pork belly
    Tammy T.

    Food: Everything we ordered was really good. I would highly recommend the pork belly, fried aubergine with soya paste, and quail eggs. The sushi was also very fresh! Service: Not good. Our waitress was super friendly but the food took a long time and we had to ask for water and the bill multiple times. Ambiance: Quaint. It's small and charming. The vibe is pretty authentic.

    Spicy tuna roll
    Grace K.

    Will only be visiting here for sushi. Been on a search for good local spot sushi place in central London for a while and experienced so many places that has warm poor quality tasting sushi that just had to do the job of curbing that sushi craving. Japanese owned and staff are nice. Btw, beware of the 40 minute wait to get your sushi order. Must make a reservation!

    Jiwon K.

    I got the hamburg steak with salad appetizer, and then the sashimi set, which came with a bowl of rice and a miso soup. Both tasted good. The hamburg steak was a bit on the dry side, and I've had better sake sashimi at Eat Tokyo for a lower price. What was unbearable was the service. It took a solid 30 minutes for me to see any food at all. The person sitting next to me at the bar was quoted 50 minutes, and he sat there with no food until I was done eating. Then, to top it off, they took forever to give me the bill. I had to flag down three different waitresses before I could pay them. Then a week later, I realize that they charged me twice on my card. I'm going to drop by tomorrow or something to get it refunded - but how annoying! I was really excited to find a very highly rated sushi place a 5 minute walk from my place, but it was a disappointment.

    Asakusa Food
    Matthew G.

    Inexpensive, authentic and good tasting Japanese food. You'll find this restaurant just around the corner from Mornington Crescent. You'll need to make a reservation here as it gets packed full of locals and Japanese people, for good reason. This place is a little hidden gem in London, as the restaurant really transports you to Japan, it is small, quirky, and best of all, Japanese Music is playing! They have lots of small dishes to offer, so I had Fried Oysters, Pork Belly, Mixed Sashimi, Takoyaki, Fried Aubergine, Tonkatsu, and finally some sweet Green Tea and Sesame Ice Cream. All dishes were good. I paid under £55 for all of this, including 2 glasses of wine and soft drinks. The service is really good, the staff are very friendly. But I have to add.. This isn't the best tasting Japanese food in London, none of the dishes wowed me, that's why I haven't given 5 stars. It is worthy of a visit though, as the food is so cheap and the experience and atmosphere are on-point. Thanks Asakusa!

    Some dumplings we got. Definitely not worth the wait.
    Ahmed A.

    If you're thinking of trying this restaurant. Just NO. Terrible service. Food is relatively fine but definitely not worth the hassle you have to put up with to get it. We were surrounded by incredibly rowdy customers who were shouting and screaming in a basement of a dirty and outdated restaurant with terrible decor. The toilet was filthy and there was only one for a man and a woman. So be prepared to queue. When we went to order after spending half an hour trying to get the attention of our waitress she informed us that the sushi would take an hour so being a little crushed as that's why we came here we chose other foods. It took an hour and a half for the food we did order. So basically we should have gotten the sushi as it would have been faster. What we got was a small portion of what could be described as chicken I guess and a small portion of pork. Took another hour almost to get one portion of ice cream and a bill. Never again.

    Katey H.

    This is my favourite Japanese restaurant in London. The food is delicious and super authentic. The gyoza, fried aubergine, miso soup, korroke & hamburg there is something i could eat every day of my life! Accompanied by a glass of plum wine! Really reasonably priced also. You have to book as it is always packed out!

    Still Had a good time, I was very underwhelmed until I started eating the food. Nom nom.
    Paul S.

    Ok so where do I start..... Let's Start by saying that the place looks like a right hole from the outside. On walking in I was like "Ohh ok this ain't to bad" but then I realised there was nowhere to sit so they took us down stairs to where the over flow of customers go. Anyway first impressions of the downstairs was a bad smell, like a mixture of damp and cats piss... Also very old fashion decor and just dusty looking crap all over the place, it looked like it had not been painted or touched in over 30 years. The smell was really putting me off, I remember saying to my girlfriend that if the sitting Area ain't clean and it's stinky what's the kitchen like . Anyway long story short... The food was real good and the service just as good. But don't think I would go back as there is just as good "imo" Japanese restaurants "that don't smell like cats piss or look like they're from the 70s" near by. Bottom line is this place is always packed so it must be good, but me personally don't like a Stale stench while eating. Would have got a 4 if not for the smell and dirty looking decor. But as I said the food was great.

    Sushi chef

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    Page 1 of 3

    Asakusa Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Asakusa

    Within the worn facade of this unimposing row near Mornington Crescent lies a real treat for fans of Japanese food.

    Mentioned in 4 reviews

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    Asta 3

    Asta 3

    4.8(6 reviews)
    3.0 miPetticoat Lane, Aldgate

    'Asta' (as I like to simply call it) - I have no idea of the '3' moniker, or indeed where the first…read moretwo went - is as genuine a Japanese canteen as you'll find in London. I was lucky enough to, along with a colleague, be taken here on several occasions for a quick lunch by a client (indicative of how welcoming the Japanese are!) By 'genuine' I mean no dumbed-down menus, no super-slick interiors to detract from potentially average food, and no gimmicks of any kind. The place is staffed and run by Japanese nationals as any self-respecting Japanese restaurant should be - and perhaps more importantly, frequented by them regularly, too. Service is smiling and attentive and no more that it needs to be. The food is inexpensive (~£6-8 for a bento, £7-11 for ramen, udon or donburi) and so tasty. On my most recent trip I had beef ramen with tan tan (sesame paste) soup base, and my brother had salmon teriyaki on brown rice. Both dishes had generous proportions of meat/fish, and the donburi came with a side salad and pickles. The unagi (eel) is also lovely, and the place does an extensive line in pick-your-soup base noodle bowl dishes where you have the option of shoyu, miso, and sesame as mentioned above, among others. I can't speak for the takeaway bento, but they looked pretty solid and of a decent quality. Drinks come in the familiar (Coke etc) and the more, um, 'traditional' - aloe vera juice, Pocari, cold bottled green and black teas and others. This place is rather hidden away on the fringes of the City, behind Aldgate station on the Petticoat Lane side. In many ways it's a great location as it's very much a local haunt, and in others a little frustrating as even if you're working in the City it can be a fair walk to get there and back! My advice would also be to get there early (between midday and half-past) to ensure a seat, as well as before some of the more popular items on the menu disappear. In brief summary, I couldn't really recommend this place enough if you're in the area. You'll get multi-kudos from any friends Nippon friends (or appreciators of their incredible cuisine) and have a lunch to beat the hell out of an uninspired sandwich / soft-drink combo whilst spending a similarly scant amount of your hard-earned cash. As your fellow diners would say: "itedakimas!"

    I wish I could give this place 10 stars because it is simply amazing. For lunch I got a chicken…read moreteriyaki be to box. Their rice is so delicious I could eat it alone without any other dish. The chicken was tender and flavourful and I really liked the fried potato thing that came with the side. Another great thing about Asta is that with bento boxes you can pick a variety of cold side dishes. I recommend the cucumbers and the rice noodles. Will be back!!

    Photos
    Asta 3
    Asta 3
    Asta 3 - Sesame-base (Tan Tan) and Beef Ramen with Brown Rice Salmon Teriyaki Bento

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    Sesame-base (Tan Tan) and Beef Ramen with Brown Rice Salmon Teriyaki Bento

    Nambu Tei - This masterpiece does not require explaining

    Nambu Tei

    4.3(33 reviews)
    1.2 miMarylebone
    ££

    As we look for places to eat amongst coworkers, we decided to go to a Japanese place. Not being…read morefamiliar with places to eat here in London, I looked to Yelp, and of course someone from our hotel recommended this place too. So I can say it wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't the beat Sushi I have had. I would go back for sure as the service was good, minus my coworkers chicken dish took forever to come out, as we kept having to check on it. The Uni was definitely not a bad batch as it had a sweetness and creamy texture that I would expect. Amaebi was not the larger shrimp with the fried heads, so not what I was expecting. As for the Natto Rolls, I could tell you that our young waitress made a surprising face, which made me laugh, as I could tell she was from Japan, as I was told not many Japanese even eat Natto. Of course I had to ask later and she is not a fan. Hahaha... I enjoyed it though. Enjoy.

    As another reviewer says, this is an undiscovered gem! Hidden away inside an arcade, it was filled…read moreon a weekday evening with mostly Japanese patrons. Plenty of wait staff who were quite attentive, including some who were preparing table side shabu shabu (cooking thinly sliced meat and veggies in a broth). They have a huge menu with an unusually wide selection of small dishes as well as the usual entrees. I ordered their ten piece nigiri (17 GBP), grilled miso black cod (12 GBP), and salmon belly age dashi (cooked lightly in a daikon soy based sauce) (7 GBP). All were excellent including with fresh not powdered wasabi root. Super affordable, high quality with great service -- what's not to like!

    Photos
    Nambu Tei - Nabe-yaki udon

    Nabe-yaki udon

    Nambu Tei
    Nambu Tei - Salmon donburi bowl, yellowtail nigiri and miso soup. YUM

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    Salmon donburi bowl, yellowtail nigiri and miso soup. YUM

    Shogun Restaurant

    Shogun Restaurant

    4.5(4 reviews)
    1.7 miMayfair
    ££££

    This upscale Japanese restaurant is located on the lower ground floor of the Millennium Hotel, just…read moreoff Grosvenor Square. It's lavish traditional Japanese decor that includes medieval battle tapestries and samurai armour sets the setting for some of the best authentic Japanese food in London. The choice on the menu is significant, offering many traditional Japanese dishes, as well as some variety with a unique angle. The choice and quality of sushi are among the best I've encountered. I also enjoyed their interesting beef burger, prepared with Japanese recipe but in the western manner. The staff are extremely welcoming and attentive and the overall atmosphere is comfortable and pleasant within this basement location. This kind of place will most likely attract you to come back again and again.

    A dungeon-like hidden gem. It looks like a back-alley takeaway on the outside (well, practically)…read more Don't be put off by it. Go inside. Descend the stairs. Inhale the incense. And prepare yourself for pure, simple, sushi delightfulness. Staff were incredibly friendly, explained the menu options, and food came at the right time, with the nicest presentation, and tasted delicious. My personal favourite was the sushi, although I was misled by the prawn tempura roll, thinking it was a hand roll. It was just maki. Oh well. Yum nonetheless!! Would not recommend it for a (rowdy or not) group for friends, as it's very very quiet, eclectically lit and patrons seem to want to keep it that way. (discussions were not escaping tables, with the notable exception of one older adventurous American gentleman who recently came back from Peru) This is the kind of restaurant you take someone you fancy, to whisper to her throughout dinner, and then surprise her (well, assuming she'd like to be surprised, and won't slap you in the face for being presumptuous!) with a room at the Millennium hotel upstairs afterwards. Oh yeah If you sit near the back, go have a peek at the shogun armour :)

    Photos
    Shogun Restaurant - This soup is delicious :)

    This soup is delicious :)

    Shogun Restaurant - Sake

    Sake

    Shogun Restaurant

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    Asakusa - japanese - Updated May 2026

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