London’s best sushi restaurants

Endo at the Rotunda will be closed until late summer 2024 while the restaurant is being refurbished

Formerly executive sushi chef of the Zuma group, Endo Kazutoshi is the main man behind this 11-seater Japanese restaurant up on the eighth floor of the Television Centre Rotunda. Unlike most omakase (‘chef’s selection’) joints in London, this one is spacious, stylish, buzzy and noisy, with plenty of cheffy action to watch as you sit at the long L-shaped counter. Expect flawless edomae nigiri and new-style sushi, plus some equally dazzling sashimi. In short, a near-perfect omakase experience.

Japanese temaki rolls are awesome, especially at Jugemu in Soho, where they’re made to order for punters sitting at the counter. Each little package is packed with super-fresh ingredients and handed over the instant it’s ready, the nori wrapping still crisp. Alternatively, bag a table for full platters of sushi and sashimi. 

You can only book a perch at this seven-seater sushi joint on the phone, and it's a real palaver, but there’s no doubting that Sushi Tetsu is up there with the best in town. Toro Takahashi is a master of his craft: every piece of fish is as briny-fresh as can be, and each pitch-perfect mouthful is prepared by hand in front of your very eyes. Expect a three-hour omakase banquet and brace yourself for a three-figure bill (per person) at the end.

Japanese, vegan and organic? What’s not to love? And, rest assured, we do love this cool little miracle not far from King’s Cross station. The virtuously healthy menu offers its own spin on sushi, meticulously fashioned with various combinations of vegetables and seaweed on rice (where appropriate). Casually dressed, laidback staff go with the flow, while zealous foodie workshops, art exhibitions and other events make Itadaki Zen even more lovable.

We would be remiss not to mention upfront that the omakase offering at Sushi Kanesaka is priced at £420. This is Mayfair sushi at Mayfair prices, but a meal at Sushi Kanesaka has the power to transport you to Japan. With seventeen courses in total, each is a work of art. There's Cornish crab with junsai (watershield), and negi toro maki (tuna with green onion hand roll) as well as grilled Kobe beef with wasabi. Premium stuff. 

The surroundings are as eye-catching as the sushi at this Japanese spot on the fringes of Hackney, where the brushed gold countertops, soft lighting, dainty crockery and pretty glass vases filled with delicate foliage are all worthy of a Pinterest board. Although the fish is top-drawer, veggie combos are an unlikely standout here – don’t miss the mushroom-and-spinach nigiri with hints of sesame, or the shiso daikon with asparagus, cucumber and sour plum paste on black rice.

If you don’t like tuna, this one’s not for you. But if you do, come and experience an omakase centred complelety around a massive Bluefin. The 10-course menu takes you on a tuna odyssey of sushi big hitters including sashimi, nigiri and maki, all with a nod to Mexico. Stand outs include the sticky rice and the tostadito. Admittedly, the vibe of Los Mochis City is a bit City Boy, but if you can look past all the gilets and briefcases, there’s much to be enjoyed. 

Juno is a supremely chill wood-panelled space that fits just six diners, making it either the smallest omakase counter in the UK or a strangely seductive panic room. Biggest hits of the night? The creamy kani king crab with ponzu butter, a perfect pot of hamachi yellowtail with crunchy cereal, and a slice of pink, perky tuna that was so melt-in-the-mouth it had practically dissolved by the time our teeth got anywhere near it. Like Los Mochis – the restaurant in which you'll find Juno – the concept is Japanese-Mexican fusion, but with the Japanese part of the bargain leant on far more than the Mexican.

As a stablemate of Zuma, Roka gets the gold seal of approval from sushi aficionados. Elegantly presented platters on crushed ice are a highlight of the tasting menu at this Fitzrovia outpost, but it’s also worth splashing out on specialist maki rolls from the carte – perhaps spicy yellowfin tuna with cucumber, chives and tempura flakes or crispy prawn with avocado and dark sweet soy. There are branches in Aldwych, Canary Wharf and Mayfair.

This particular omakase counter is part of the rightfully buzzy Arcade Food Hall. So alongside Sushi Kamon’s cosy corner spot, you’ll also find a carefully curated selection of global street food stands, including Mexa’s zingy tacos and the Southern Thai delights of Plaza Khao Gaeng. Menus are seasonal, rotating every month so the freshest and most balanced selections can be offered, such as yellowtail scattered with a giddy sundried tomato and parmesan relish and sweet otoro belly tuna smoked over cherry wood and washed in garlic soy.

Nijū is the brainchild of third-generation sushi chef Endo Kazutoshi of the Michelin-starred Endo at The Rotunda and Kioku at the OWO Raffles. The focus here is on ‘katei ryori’ cooking, which translates to ‘home-cooked food’ and, in their own words, means ‘informal yet decadent’. It certainly feels more relaxed than some of the neighbouring Mayfair restaurants: it’s giving chic, but not overly flashy. Go for the chef’s ridiculously delicate nigiri selection, the standout of which was the otoro – a seared fatty tuna belly topped with caviar – but all of the cuts were fresh, firm, and as delightful to look at as they were to eat. 

The Aubrey delivers a strong whiff of Victoriana with its maximalist interior of fringed lamps, ginger jars in curio cabinets and gold-framed Ukiyo-e prints. However, the food – earthenware sharing plates of deep-fried karaage chicken with zingy yuzu mayo, soy-licked edomae nigiri sprinkled with edible ants and charcoal-charred meats, pulled straight off the robata – is supposed to be inspired by an ‘eccentric Japanese izakaya’. Fresh, stunning fish comes from Miho Sato, the UK’s only female Sushi Master. Hit the bar with your bougiest besties or blow the budget on a dinner date. 

With a maximum of 16 covers who perch along a light pine bar, this highly fancy omakase joint is headed up by chef Takuya Watanabe. Watanabe knows good fish – he used to be behind the counter at Jin, Paris’s first omakase to score a Michelin star – and now he’s bringing edomae to one of Mayfair’s grandest thoroughfares. Harking back to the way fish was cured with vinegar to preserve it during the 1800s Edo-period, this is a deeply traditional style of Japanese cuisine. But before we take a little trip to the past, we’re delivered a round of bracingly modern small dishes as part of our 20 – 20! – course set dinner. In 2023, Taku got a Michelin star of its own. 

It’s all about attention to detail at Yoshinori Ishii’s Michelin-starred enclave in Mayfair, from the chef’s handcrafted tableware and bespoke wood-block poems to the procession of surgically precise, extraordinarily delicate sushi emanating from the kitchen. You can sample these delights from the carte or as components of a full-strength multi-course banquet highlighting the intricacies of Kyoto kaiseki cuisine. Just be warned: the bill will slice through your wallet as mercilessly as a samurai sword.

Small but lovely, this offers the best of both worlds: it feels old school, but the music’s upbeat, there’s a vivid geisha mural splashed on one wall, and the kitchen is manned by a brigade of blowtorch-wielding chefs from all nations. Sushi fans congregate at the brightly lit counter, where they can drool over modish carpaccios, silky o-toro tuna sashimi and market-fresh omakase sushi sets: perfect for a Japanese lunchtime sweetener and great fun too.        

Everything about this Japanese fusion restaurant in Marylebone is impressive, from the glitzy, capacious interiors to the quietly ambitious, head-turning menu. Park up at the luxurious L-shaped marble counter and watch in awe as the chefs perform their micro-surgery. Everything is tiny on the plate, but precision-tuned signatures such as the ‘modern’ sushi and sashimi are a real wow.

It may be famed for its exclusive kobe beef, but this meticulously designed Japanese bolthole also gives good sushi from its bijou premises on Ham Yard. You can enjoy pretty nine-piece platters of hummingly fresh nigiri (with soup) as part of the omakase menu or pick from the carte, which also includes various vegetarian sushi. Served in a swish room dominated by an ornate chandelier decorated with hand-stencilled calligraphy, it’s all very serene ’n’ clean.

With testimonies from the disparate likes of George Clooney and Led Zep axeman Jimmy Page, the long-serving Ikeda is a cut above in the celebrity sushi stakes – although conservative businessmen have no qualms about bringing clients here. This place is old-school (affable, super-polite staff, inoffensively trad decor, lofty prices), but consistency is the order of the day – briny-fresh sushi sets served the old way on wooden blocks. Bag a ringside seat by the tiny open kitchen for a high-end, gimmick-free experience.

Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japanese fusion style redefined expectations when he launched his global Nobu chain (remember his iconic black cod in miso), but the sushi at this Park Lane outpost is also pretty special. Don’t miss the intriguing ‘new-style’ sashimi, the well-shaped temaki rolls or the classic nigiri, served in a ten-piece ‘cup’ if you want. Also try the sushi at the Nobu Hotel in Shoreditch.

‘Without soy – but if you want to’ says the neon sign displayed above the counter at this jewel of a sushi bar, where the chefs are dedicated to matching each piece of artfully crafted fish with an exquisite flavour pairing – perhaps a dab of tangy ume plum paste, a spoon of tosa jelly or a quick blast from the blowtorch (perfect for balancing the richness of fatty tuna). Sit at the ground-floor counter for the best service.

Dangerously seductive and relentlessly fashionable, this high-gloss Knightsbridge rendezvous is a funky industrial-zen honeypot for A-list celebs, swanky bankers and sporting superstars. It also serves some wow-factor modern Japanese food and turns up on nearly every sushi fan’s bucket list. Come here for immaculate high-art assemblages with pin-sharp flavours and oh-so-pretty embellishments: think spicy yellowtail with sansho pepper, avocado and wasabi mayo, or new-style sea bass sashimi with yuzu, truffle oil and salmon roe.