They have the "golden hour" advertising outside of the restaurant but people in the restaurant doesn't seem to know about it. Not only that they don't even have the golden hour menu and the server has to spell everything out for me, they did NOT offer wine on golden hour price when it clearly says it on the golden hour advertisement. And the worst part is, the regular price of these "discounted" items are pretty much £1-2 different than the golden hour price - what a scam. If you had to come here, try their fried chicken for £5 during golden hour and make sure they charge you the discounted price because after so much fuss that we make, they still managed to bill us regular price when we ask for the bill - lucky we check it. We went around 6 and there's literally one table occupied. Absolutely no ambiance and you feel like the server is constantly keeping their eyes on you. read more

Ukai - Negroni and espresso martini - Japanese Near Me - London, XGL

Me and my family went here today. The live jazz music was good and so was the food, but the service was terrible. During our stay, we never received water in our cups and every other table in proximity to us did. No waiter would come up to us and we tried to call a few over with a hand wave but they turned around and walked away. We didn't think we did anything to provoke them but who knows what warranted this behavior. Once we were handed the check, the waitress who was rude to us the whole time started cleaning the table while we were still sitting and drinking. Not sure what was going on but my experience was terrible. read more

Really good sushi and very friendly staff paying attention and explaining what is served. Sushi is never cheap so price is a little above average but quality is equal or better, so definitely a place to recommend Note they add 13% on prices for service read more

Ukai - Sushi lover 55£ - Japanese Near Me - London, XGL

Towards the end of Portobello road. Japanese food in what looks like a modernized pub. Live music. Open kitchen in the middle where you can see some grill action. The Katsu Curry was really good. Perfect chicken breast, not dry at all. Light breading. The sushi portions are small and expensive. Avocado and salmon roll was only 5 pieces, that's the smallest roll I have had in a long time. Quality ingredients above average though. But stupid that they charge for cream cheese, although I had it waived. Allergens concern me though. Table next to me ordered rice that came with sesame seeds on top. They sent it back and it came with sesame seeds again. Generally they didn't seem very diligent when asking allergen kind of questions. read more

Ukai - Japanese Near Me - London, XGL

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Most of these stars are coming from the "to die for" iced tea dream that was made for me here. It is damn hard to find good sushi in London and I think that this [lace is pretty much a winner. Fresh fish, great sticky rice, fabulous drinks and a wonderful little shop attached where you can buy yummies to take home. A little expensive and the service was quite slow but we were relaxed and enjoying ourselves that day so it didn't bother us too much. One thing this place would be great for it a date, nice atmosphere and good food for sharing and conversation! read more

Not a one star because the service and staff are very friendly and it's not their fault the food is subpar. Prices do not reflect what you actually receive. It seems a lot of the Portobello Rd restaurants cater to a certain highbrow, loafer crowd that doesn't actually care or know what good food tastes like. So is the experience of dining at Ukai. Sushi is just not good. Some of the cooked entrees are decent, but simply don't command the price tag that comes along with it. If you're looking for a drink and music and possibly just a friendly staff, this place is fine. For food, you'd be better almost anywhere else (just not The Castle across the street). read more

Interesting to read all those raving reviews about dinner at Ukai ... I have experienced Ukai more as a late bar with live music, and I must say I was impressed. Not your usual pub band or jazz combo playing standards - all a bit more classy to go with the overall feel of the place. Management were extremely friendly but unfortunately let down by the bar staff. They are obviously more geared towards mixing cocktails and utterly overwhelmed with my request for a glass of rose (apologies for bringing down the tone of the entire estalishment!) - it took two to locate the right bottle and an age to finally be served ... My latest Ukai encounter was on a busy Saturday afternoon when Portobello Market was in full swing. Doors and windows were open and a rowdy party was spilling out into the street. It had much more of an old school feel to it then, reminding me of the good old days when this used to be the Market Bar, the coolest bar down Portobello ... read more

Ukai - Japanese Near Me - London, XGL

Fantastic live music on Sunday afternoon - friendly staff - didn't eat but food looks good- reasonably priced wine &!drinks

The reason we eat in this Japanese restaurant is they have free Internet. It's pretty cold in London, so I didn't order any cold sushi, but hot seafood udon soup. The seafood tastes pretty fresh. I spent all my dinner time in front of their computers. Their sushi is cheap, but drinks are more expensive than sushi. read more

I went in around 7pm on a Friday and I was the lone diner. By the time I left at 745pm there was still no one else eating in the restaurant. I tried the seafood udon and the spicy tuna rolls. The seafood udon comes with some seaweed, shrimp, octopus, and imitation crab. Flavor is miso based so it was light and not too salty. The spicy tuna rolls were fresh and spicy and a good compliment to the mild flavors of the soup. Ambiance is very relaxed trendy. They have some cool patterned lamp shades too. Service was quick and friendly as I would expect being the lone wolf here. read more

Sure, I loved Finding Nemo as much as the rest of yas, I would just rather find Nemo on a communal platter with fresh wasabi and pickled ginger. Especially if he happens to be of the sashimi variety that melts like buddah in my mouth. Please Ellen, don't hate me. Ukai served up some tasty fishies for a reasonable price, and as LIzzie mentioned, their fruity teas were fabulous. I also snooped around enough to find a little gallery space upstairs where you could book a special group outing. Veeery niiiiice-a! Overall, it wasn't an all out mouth party, but I did go home with a veritable fish bowl for a stomach, and a happy one at that. So a-ok it is. ...I guess the "fish are friends, not food" thing went in one gill and out the other. read more

Visited in Jan 22. Over-priced, below average food. Bad smell in the place. We paid £100 and left hungry. Totally unprofessional manager who blocks your email address if you want to raise an issue. read more

Portobello Road has so many great eateries and Ukai (pronounced oo-kaaee) is up there with the best of them. I've been several times for lunch in groups of four and the quality of the sushi, the atmosphere and the lovely waiting staff have never faltered. It's a relaxed contemporary Japanese affair, with groups and lone business men alike all frequenting during lunch hour. Whilst if you don't have time to eat in you can also collect to take away, I used to enjoy doing this, although I don't think my office did as the fishy aromas hung around for the rest of the day! We've tried most things from the menu; Sashimi, Chirashi, Nigiri, Hosomaki, Futomaki, Uramaki and last but not least the Temaki. The flavours are so delicate and fresh that I'd put Ukai at the top of my list for high quality sushi. They do a very good Octopus Nigiri (molded sushi rice, topped with octopus and teriyaki sauce) that tastes like it was caught only hours ago. They also have a small Japanese store cupboard range, so if you're inspired to have a go yourself you can get very good advice on how to do your own from the waiting staff which I find is a nice touch. We're always very impressed with the food here and if you're a sushi fan it's not to be missed. read more

While Ukai gives the illusion of a sophisticated adult cocktail/ sushi bar, the staff fully sides with aggressive patrons who ruin the hip, quiet vibe of the establishment with wailing infants.  (Seated at an uncomfortably close proximity, with no care for Social Distancing.)  If an expensive Day Care Centre/ McDonald's playground vibe where infants are allowed to scream and spoil other patrons meals is your thing, you'll feel right at home.  If you expected a cool, adult haven commensurate with the menu, upscale bar atmos and considerable prices, you'll be woefully disappointed.  Certainly don't expect the unpleasant manager to investigate any point of view beyond aggressive infant-Daddy's.  Not the sophisticated establishment it presents itself as being. read more

Wow! What a Gem! Great Sushi, Good service (a bit slow at times), and a nice atmosphere! The chairs weren't very comfortable, but it is a Japanese restaurant, right? For a California girl I was pleased to find such fantastic tasting sushi and fresh as well! Great plum wine that you have to try as well as a Plum Mojito that was to die for! The prices aren't bad, as sushi prices can be steep in London as well as the States. So we were pleased with that...... All in all, I give Ukai a 2 thumbs up! read more

Went here for dinner on Friday, 7pm, was seated quickly. The place seemed to fill up towards 9pm. The selection of fish was good. Seabass was the fish of the day and I had it as sashimi - lovely presentation and delicious fish. Salmon was shipped from Scotland that morning and indeed was fantastic - as sushi and sashimi. I also tried another fish, can't recall the name (it was listed "if available" on the menu), and thoroughly enjoyed the sushi as well. The tuna "special" (seared tuna), very nice flavours and good fish. I recommend trying it, alone or in a group (it comes in 5 pieces). The oysters were OK - good oysters, but came with a little bit of soy inside the shell, I'm not convinced that's a good idea. That said its not the month for oysters anyway. As everyone commented, the teas are great - I had the raspberry/lychee (Asian Rose I think it's called). Very refreshing, and terrific flavours. Atmosphere is great for meeting friends or for a date - not loud, intimate, comfortable lighting and right-sized tables so that it's easy to have a conversation. I'll be back! read more

Mmm... Friday night at home with sushi takeout. I chose Ukai because they have 5% off (wow!) and everyone thinks they are nice, and well, they are kinda close too! The sushi arrived super duper quick, in 15 minutes! The fish were fresh for London standard and was yum. However, the tamago (omlette) was shop bought, dense and felt waterlogged/ mushy. It also came with lots of pickled ginger, shredded daikon and enough pickles to sink a ship. Why would it only get 3 stars then? Well, every sushi came in its own box, making it the most environmentally unfriendly take out I've ever had the (mis)fortune to have. If you are going to be all posh and environmental like and serve organic salmon, please think of your packaging as well. read more

I came here on a date with two of my girlfriends and we had a lovely time. Tasty teas (my flatmate ordered the strawberry & basil one, though the honey and melon one sounded delicious) and really good quality sashimi. Their seaweed salads are really nice, made of REAL seaweed, not the artificially flavored neon green stuff. I ordered the seafood udon which was super flavorful - I appreciate the way they definitely didn't skimp on the seafood either! Service was very slow and inattentive. One thing I liked, though, was that they seemed to know a lot of their customers, which means they either have lots of repeat visitors or they're just really good at recognising faces. Not sure if I will come back anytime soon (prices are a bit high for this student's budget!), but it's a great place to bring friends and enjoy a quality dinner. read more

I love this place! Delicious food and a great ambiance. Highly recommended if you're ever in Portobello Road.

Went for drinks only. Amazing bartender! Put tons of care into creating our cocktails and gave great advice of which Japanese whiskeys and gins to try. Great place to test out some amazing Japanese liquors without paying for the whole bottle. Lovely atmosphere and clean bathrooms. Not cheap by any means, but for the price of one bottle we got to try multiple liquors and find out favorites. A great pit stop while exploring notting hill that we would have gladly spend more time in! read more

Stopped here unplanned at the end of the Portobello market. Good, mild chicken curry served with white rice and salad. Good beer. Cappuccino just ok. Good ambiance with lots of music. Service was fine. read more

Going in expecting a straight restaurant, however it turned out to be a chilled lounge bar, that's opens pretty late to boot. Very well placed and local to me, very good selection of whiskeys, will go again. Also tried the shashimi which was decent if not spectacular. Will go back read more

Really impressed with the variety of sushi here. The fish is fresh and the atmosphere is really nice. The service can be a little slow when it's super busy, but the waiters/waitresses are really friendly. I always go for the plum wine and their teas are really lovely as well! read more

This has to be my favourite Sushi Restaurant and place to eat in Nottinghill. All the food served is as fresh as you could wish for and presented as either mixed platters or individual portions, perfect for mixing and sharing or for just a quick lunch. Japanese teas are the perfect accompaniment to the refreshing food. Order the lily flower tea and watch as the whole flower head opens up displaying beautiful colours and delicately flavouring the water. The décor is simple and you can even stock up on your home sushi supplies or purchase the traditional Japanese bowls and plates that all the food is served on. Everything about Ukai is executed perfectly, providing quality, delicious fast food. read more

We stayed for dinner as we were meeting friends for drinks afterwards. It was fine. Nice enough. I wouldn't write home about anything apart from what a monumental rip off it seemed to be. The £21 platter had about as much on it as a £6 take out from Wasabi. (In fact leaving here left me craving Wasabi to the point that I'm now having it for lunch. Right this second. Heretic. Go figure) The decor was ok, the service was over friendly but somehow still poor. Smiling and chatting while taking orders is fine but in an almost empty restaurant, having to wait upwards of 15 minutes for them to come clear the table, get the bill... we were piling up our plates in the middle of the table to hint that we were finished. We ended up having to wait at the counter. The guy produced the bill, I handed him my card and then another waiter said something to him and he started making a cocktail. Seriously. Like that couldn't wait the 40 seconds it would take to just finish the task he was in the middle of. The quality of the fish is pretty good... mind you on my walk over I did notice a fishmonger selling sashimi fish. It's like one street over. So I don't know if that kudos is due over there rather than here. Selection is unremarkable. Usual salmon/tuna heavy fare. Not very imaginative. I hate to sound mean but it just felt really underwhelming. I certainly won't be rushing back. read more

My favourite Japanese restaurant in London. The miso soups are delicious and perfect for a cold night. The crispy duck futomaki is heavenly. Best of all they will make your sushi with brown rice if you ask for it. Ukai is my delivery staple when I don't feel like cooking. Delivery time is usually within 30-45 minutes. The only downside is the £15 minimum for delivery orders, but I usually order something to have for lunch the next day or one of the teas. read more

This place is one of the biggest sushi rip-offs around. We ordered the £30 'jumbo platter' and the only thing jumbo about it was the price. Seriously I would expect to pay that in Nobu but NOT in here. I've had bigger portions in other sushi restaurants and paid £10-15. We eat out ALOT and when we tried to raise this issue with the waiter he quite clearly spoke very little English and didn't understand! Avoid! read more

A chic and calm refuge from the hustle of portobella road! And a great place for fantastic tasting, beautifully presented sushi and delightful cocktails. Whilst many minimalist sushi bars exhude an air of pretentiousness and feel tacky, this darkly painted restaurant with square seats and tables and strategically placed orchids, feels homely and warm. Meals cost towards the high end of being reasonably priced, but are worth every penny. I would definitely recommend the miso soup and sashmi. Whilst my apple and lychee cocktail was very tasty, the lychee was hidden by the overpowering apple. I would also recommend visiting this restaurant to try the asahi dark, I have never seen this variety before, but for asahi lovers this is a must try! These guys offer 5% off online orders, so also a great alternative to unhealthy take-away. read more

http://hungryinlondon.com/2011/07/ukai-notting-hill/ I was surprised by a torrential downpour in Notting Hill (yes,after having lived in the UK for almost 6 years I am still 'surprised'by rain and never carry an umbrella) and fled into the next restaurant on my way,which happened to be Ukai Sushi. Being soaked might have been the better option in the end. As I was wet and frozen,I went for warming Vegetable Udon Soup (6.95) with some Edamame Beans (4.50) on the side. The Udon Soup was the blandest dish I have possibly ever eaten. It basically consisted of doughy tasteless things only marginally resembling my beloved udon noodles swimming in something that looked like washing up water and tasted like ehmm.. water. The tofu tasted of absolutely nothing and so did the broccoli. It was the first time I had cherry tomatoes in my udon noodle soup and let me assure you it doesn't work. I won't forgive them what they did to the edamame beans. Overcooking them is one thing,not seasoning them another but immersing them in some brownish coloured,luke-warm,watery sauce? Who would have thought that you can do so many things wrong when preparing edamame beans? The service was very friendly,and the tip was not included into the bill. This was about the only positive thing to say about Ukai. By the way,you might want to take a flash light with you,as the light in the toilet doesn't work. Believe me,I was happy to be back in the rain after this little interlude read more

This place is crap. Very limited sushi menu for those dining in and at ridiculous prices. For £10, I was able to get 5 pieces of sushi and it tasted mediocre. Not worth the time or the money and I was still hungry afterward. read more

Really good sushi, good wine, excellent cocktails, no wait for a table, and very friendly service. Not to mention it didn't require a tube ride and jostling lots of people on the sidewalks to get there (referring to the high end sushi places in Soho and the West End). Plus, they seem to do a lot of take-away business, which should be great for the locals. read more

Ukai was great. Good food, very friendly, good service an enjoyable evening. Interesting interior which appears to be black painted chipboard and actually looks very Cool and asian! read more

Generally good food but, the salmon always seems to be slightly luke-warm and taste a bit odd to me (it's fresh but, somehow not very nice). Atmosphere and interior are good. read more

best sushi in town. excellent quality at such reasonable prices. eating in or out, the quality is of the same standard too- unlike some sushi companies that tend to deliver pre-prepared packs that have been sitting on the shelf for too long! i've happily taken clients there to taste the ukai california uramaki, ukai salad and to die for ukai lemonade..all specialities of ukai. would also highly recommend for non-sushi lovers to try the ukai pancakes, brocolli and miso noodle soups. read more

This little place tucked into a corner on one of the best roads in London is truly a diamond in the rough. The first night we got to London we stumbled on this bar because everything else was closed and I'm not going to lie we were a bit intimidated at first. Being American we weren't entirely sure what we would find behind the tiny door but to our surprise it was a cozy, trendy, dim lit paradise. We were immediately greeted and embraced by the head bartender and he was eager to learn about us and make us some amazing cocktails. The atmosphere was nothing like we have experienced in the United States. The music was as calm and as soothing as the bar itself. After some cocktails and sake of course, we were approached by a local that was full of conversation and complimentary shots. We left this place feeling very lucky to have found it. We went to Paris and returned to London almost a week later. On our last day we wanted to stop in again and again we were pleasantly surprised. The head bartender remembered us and greeted us with open arms. He even remembered things that we spoke of a week prior. We ordered a few cocktails and took the lovely atmosphere in again. After we paid we wanted to thank the bartender, the man that was so welcoming and kind to us. When we did we were thanked in return with complimentary shots. We had one last embrace and goodbye. We will certainly be coming back to this little treasure when we return to London. Despite what other reviews may say we had an absolutely lovely time in this bar with the staff and all. Cheers, Ukai you made our London trip that much better. read more