Best Japanese Restaurants in London 2026: Sushi, Robata and Nikkei
The best Japanese and Nikkei restaurants in London for 2026, from Zuma and Roka to Nobu and Sushisamba, ranked and bookable with MyRSVP.
The best Japanese restaurants in London are not the quiet neighborhood sushi counters - they are the high-energy dining rooms of Knightsbridge, Mayfair and the City, where robata smoke, black cod and Nikkei plates arrive alongside a proper cocktail list. If you are searching for the best sushi in London or a table with real occasion energy, this ranked guide covers the rooms that define the scene in 2026. A few are purely Japanese; several are Nikkei, the Japanese-Peruvian style born in Lima, and we say so honestly where it applies. Every venue below is bookable through MyRSVP.
A note on Michelin: London's contemporary Japanese and Nikkei icons are known for atmosphere, consistency and star clientele, not Michelin stars, and none of the venues in this particular guide currently hold one. We do not invent them. What these rooms do hold is a decade or more of being the hardest tables in town to walk into.
Zuma
Zuma is the benchmark, and has been since Rainer Becker opened it in Knightsbridge in 2002. The format is izakaya - modern Japanese small plates built around three kitchens: the main kitchen, the sushi counter and the robata grill. Order the miso-marinated black cod, the sliced yellowtail with green chilli relish and ponzu, and whatever is coming off the charcoal. It is loud, polished and consistently full of a moneyed international crowd, which is exactly the point. If you only book one Japanese restaurant in London, this is the safe and brilliant choice.
Roka
Roka is Zuma's sibling and its equal, built around the robatayaki grill that sits at the center of every room. This is the more relaxed of the two on paper, though the Mayfair branch runs at full tilt most nights. The signatures are the robata skewers and the sushi and sashimi selections, all designed to be shared across a long table. It is the choice when you want serious Japanese cooking with a slightly looser, more convivial energy.
Nobu London
Nobu London opened on Old Park Lane in 1997 as the first Nobu in Europe, and it wrote the playbook that most of this list follows. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa's style is Japanese cooking crossed with Peruvian influences from his years in Lima - which makes Nobu one of the original Nikkei rooms, even if the menu reads Japanese-first. Order the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno, the rock shrimp tempura, and the black cod miso that every other restaurant on this page has since chased. It remains a genuine special-occasion address in Mayfair.
Sushisamba London
Sushisamba is Nikkei with the volume turned all the way up, and it is honest about the blend: Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cooking served 38 and 39 floors above the City on Bishopsgate, home to some of the highest terraces in Europe. Come for the view and the scene, but the food holds its own - the sushi and sashimi, the robata, and the Brazilian-Japanese crossovers. It is a celebration restaurant first, a sushi restaurant second, and it knows it.
Chotto Matte
Chotto Matte in Soho is Nikkei done young, loud and design-led - Japanese-Peruvian cooking under neon and street-art walls. The kitchen splits across sushi, robata, tempura and ceviche, so a table here feels like a tour of both cuisines: nikkei ceviche, black cod, and skewers off the grill. It is the most club-adjacent room on this list, which makes it the natural choice for a group that wants dinner to slide straight into the night.
Sexy Fish
Sexy Fish is Japanese and pan-Asian, not a pure sushi bar, but it belongs here for its sushi, sashimi and robata program, and for being one of the most looked-at rooms in Mayfair. The Martin Brudnizki interior - the onyx bar, Damien Hirst's bronze mermaids, further artwork from Frank Gehry and Michael Roberts - is the headline, but the raw bar and the grill are serious. Come for the seafood, the theatrical setting on Berkeley Square, and a cocktail list to match. This is scene dining that happens to do very good Japanese small plates.
Oblix at The Shard
Oblix is Rainer Becker's third London venue after Zuma and Roka, so the Japanese-grill DNA runs deep even though the menu here is a broader Western-leaning grill. On Level 32 of The Shard, the draw is the rotisserie and robata cooking paired with a 360-degree panorama of the city. Sit at Oblix West for the a la carte grill and raw bar, or the East side for the bar, live music and the view. It is the sky-high option for anyone who wants the Becker touch with a skyline attached.
Ivy Asia
Ivy Asia is pan-Asian, not strictly Japanese, but its sushi, sashimi and Japanese-leaning plates earn it a place for anyone who wants theater with their raw fish. The glowing jade floors, the St Paul's views from the City branch and the sheer maximalism of the room are the point. Order the sushi and dumplings, the black cod, and lean into the spectacle. It is the choice when the occasion calls for a room that photographs as well as it feeds.
How to book
London's prime restaurant tables - Zuma on a Friday, a terrace at Sushisamba, a window at Oblix - move fast. Each restaurant above books through its own system, OpenTable or SevenRooms depending on the venue, and its page has the direct link. Book as early as each one allows.
Build a custom itinerary with our concierge team. Pair the venues mentioned above into a single concierge-confirmed evening. See the full Las Vegas events calendar for every upcoming DJ and pool party across the city.
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