Two Michelin-starred Umu is tucked away on a quaint cobbled street in Mayfair behind a discreet wooden door. Inside, the decor is sleek, the atmosphere tranquil and the lighting low, prompting a long, leisurely lunch. After a nine-year stint in Japan at three-Michelin starred Kyoto Kitcho, Chef Yoshinori Ishii worked in Geneva and New York before becoming Executive Chef at Umu. Within six months of opening in 2004, Umu had achieved a Michelin star.

"Umu" is translated as "born of nature" with the restaurant using traditional Japanese produce, as well as locally sourced ingredients to create inventive Kyoto-influenced cuisine. Fresh fish is, of course, a key element in the menu and as Chef Ishii wasn't happy with the fish available from London suppliers, after careful research he decided to source his fish from Cornwall and Scotland. From the dish of thinly fresh sliced stone bass to the Chef's special selection of sashimi including Cornish squid, lobster, sea bream, mackerel and red mullet.

Crispy, lightly battered Japanese style 'fish and chips' served in a paper cone were a worthy complement to the sashimi. With a sake menu featuring over 100 to choose from. Highly recommend is sparkling sake from the Ichinokura Sake Brewery proved to be light, crisp and fruity. Not content with preparing exceptional food, Chef Ishii is also a skilled potter and calligrapher who has created lovely menus and ceramic tableware, including chopsticks.

Address: 14-16 Bruton Place, London, W1J 6LX

Website: https://www.umurestaurant.com/

Chisou was in the same Mayfair spot for 16 years before the owners decided to change things up a little. Now, the Princes Street original is no more but this new, bigger site has opened on Woodstock Street, just around the corner.

It’s beautiful inside: light and airy, with lots of pale oak tables, a calming wall of sake bottles at the entrance and an open sushi counter so you can watch the chefs at work while you eat. On lunchtime visit, it was buzzy and relaxed and the service was lovely.

Cold dishes are its strong suit, a favourite was the horenso salad starter: fresh spinach leaves, beautifully arranged into a spiral, with crispy, spicy pieces of prawn topped with a creamy yuzu sauce and some ultra-thin fried, spiralised carrot for texture. Next up are three different types of perfect sashimi (yellowtail fin, salmon and prawn) and some delicious inside-out roll with soft-shell crab. From the hot selection, the fried chicken karaage had an excellent bubbly batter, while the skewered chicken tsukune (meatballs) were nicely breaded and juicy.

Address: 22-23 Woodstock St, London W1C 2AR

Website: https://www.chisourestaurant.com/

Nestled in a mews off Walton Street in Knightsbridge, Dinings SW3 is renowned for its elegant and modern take on the Japanese Izayaka - a style of cooking combining authentic Japanese and European cuisines. Executive Chef/Owner Masaki Sugisaki has developed a menu that is fuelled with innovative spirit offering a unique style of sushi and sashimi that changes with the seasons using only the freshest seafood from Cornish day boats.

The sushi counter flanking this traditional Japanese restaurant in Mayfair takes its art seriously: expect platters of cut rolls tightly wrapped with nori or glistening slices of fish, beautifully presented with slivers of vegetables and dots of wasabi. Sushi connoisseurs are welcome to go off-menu here.

Address: Lennox Gardens Mews, London SW3 2JH
Website: https://diningssw3.co.uk/

Opening in April 2019, Endo at The Rotunda contains just sixteen seats around a large wooden counter, made from 200-year-old Hinoki wood. You’ll see a beautiful cloud-shaped light installation on the ceiling, reflecting the ‘sushi in the clouds’ tagline of the restaurant.

There is only one menu at Endo at The Rotunda, comprised of over twenty small dishes prepared, plated and served right in front of you. This is what makes the restaurant an ‘omakase’ experience – the word roughly translates to ‘I’ll leave it up to you’ – allowing the kitchen team to focus on creating the very best menu they can. A dinner here is as much about the theatre as it is about the food – watching the chefs showcase their intricate skills up close is fascinating to watch and highlights just how skillful they need to be to produce dishes of such high quality. You can expect flawless edomae nigiri and new-style sushi, plus some equally dazzling sashimi. In short, a near-perfect omakase experience.

Address: Television Centre, 8th Floor The Helios, 101 Wood Ln, London W12 7FR

Website: https://www.endoatrotunda.com/

Set within the heart of Piccadilly, Engawa is one of London’s most authentic and traditional Japanese restaurants, specializing in the delicacy of Kobe beef alongside a stunning selection of fresh sushi and sashimi. One of just a handful of Japanese restaurants in London to offer Kobe – the most exclusive beef in the world often called the ‘caviar of meat – the only UK restaurant to import the entire Kobecow and as such can offer a wide range of cuts including sirloin, rump, fillet, rib-eye and oyster blade steaks as well as a creative selection of sushi, sashimi and sake.

Engawa's meticulously designed Japanese bolthole also gives good sushi from its bijou premises on Ham Yard. You can enjoy pretty nine-piece platters of humming 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-stenciled calligraphy, it’s all very serene ’n’ clean.

Address: 2 Ham Yard, London W1D 7DT

Website: http://www.engawa.london/

Located in the heart of Mayfair, Ikeda is a traditional Japanese restaurant, serving exquisite cuisine in an exclusive, fine dining setting since 1979. This place is old-school with the points you can see when coming here are that affable and super-polite staff, inoffensively trad decor, lofty prices. Consistency is the order of the day – briny-fresh sushi sets served the old way on wooden blocks.

The highlight is a ringside seat by the tiny open kitchen, where sparklingly fresh sashimi, light, crisp tempura and numerous other classic dishes are produced. A lunchtime set of well-shaped nigiri was served traditionally on a wooden block. Leaner-than-average slow-simmered pork belly with Japanese mustard and boiled rolled spinach (buta kakuni) yielded easily at the prod of a chopstick. More unusual was a prawn tempura dish, where the shellfish was rolled with cha soba noodles in nori before getting a second dipping in the batter and oil. Like the ambiance, the lofty prices also fit the Mayfair location. But consistency is the order of the day here, so come in the sure knowledge that you’ll get a decent meal.

Address: 30 Brook St, London W1K 5DJ

Website: https://www.ikedarestaurant.com/

As far removed from the Zen minimalist school as it gets, Aqua Kyoto does high-end Japanese with a bit of razzmatazz. Feel the vibe as you circumnavigate the central bar, past gorgeous kimono silk-padded booths, to reach the dramatic dining room with its showpiece sunken sushi bar crowned by an oversize red lantern. The clubby mood conjures up shades of Tokyo’s swanky Ginza district, likewise the menu’s luxurious bent.

You can go for broke by ordering king crab tempura with crab miso, Wagyu maki rolls and agedashi aubergine with roasted foie gras, or discover original creations ranging from chili yuzu lamb teriyaki with Japanese artichokes to rabbit with green peach, pumpkin tofu and mustard ankake sauce. By contrast, lunchtime bento boxes and sashimi selections are gentler on the wallet. The terrace is perfect for a sundowner.

Address: Regent Street Entrance 30, 240 Argyll St, London W1B 3BR

Website: https://aquakyoto.co.uk/experience

Just a few doors up from one of London’s most lauded sushi restaurants (Atariya), Kiraku has stiff competition, but this friendly neighborhood restaurant definitely holds its own. The tatty orange sign and frosted glass windows give little away about what to expect inside. The interior is simple too – pale wood sushi counter and tables, white walls hung with ink drawings of fish, and a TV screening Japanese shows. Nevertheless, the food is not only of high quality but good value too. No wonder the dining room is regularly full with a range of ex-pats and local families.

A house speciality of kaisen bara-chirashi saw an array of impeccable fish (tuna, salmon, cured mackerel, boiled prawn) and jewel-like roe scattered across a bowl of generously vinegared rice – a joy for the eyes as well as the palate. Particularly impressive were the tender chunks of octopus, an ingredient that so often is too rubbery. Tempura udon was another enjoyable dish, with a resonant dashi broth and chewy noodles, though the batter on the prawn was a little thick. Drinks such as beer or saké are served by courteous, efficient staff.

Address: 8 Station Parade, Uxbridge Rd, London W5 3LD

Website: http://www.kiraku.co.uk/

From the brushed gold countertops, untreated wooden stools and pretty glass vases with delicate foliage, to the square cards that make up the specials board which, naturally, are held together by mismatched bulldog clips. All of these create a vivid scene that makes up Uchi, the lighting is soft – perfect for a date – the music soothing and the atmosphere relaxing. If it wasn’t for the obligatory wino staggering about outside, it all might feel a bit too perfect.

The menu boasts all the usual suspects: thickly sliced, melt-in-the-mouth tuna sashimi; piping-hot, fatty karage (fried chicken) with an interesting chili-kick; succulent charred pork skewers. A ‘seaweed and carrot salad’ might sound like food for an amphibious bunny, it was deep, earthy and full of umami satisfaction. Mushroom and spinach nigiri might sound bland, but had a wonderful fleshiness (they contain huge pine mushrooms) and came packed with sesame. And the texture of the sweet miso aubergine was perfect: soft but still solid and not in the least bit sloppy. Whatever you do, ask for the black rice and tempura broccoli maki – a rainbow wheel of veg and rice wrapped in crisp nori, the lightly-battered broccoli giving it all a satisfying crunch. Technically a ‘special’, it would be a real shame if this dish doesn’t become a permanent fixture.

Address: 144 Clarence Rd, Lower Clapton, London E5 8DY

Website: http://uchihackney.com/

Yashin is an ideal place for anyone who likes sushi, tucked down a side road off Kensington High Street, its exterior looks more like a smart French brasserie than a Japanese restaurant. Interior inside set on the dark green tiles behind the team of itamae (sushi chefs), a neon sign reads ‘without soy sauce', and this is how the chefs ask you to eat your artfully crafted sushi. In place of a dunking, each piece is finished with its own flavourings – perhaps a dab of tangy ume plum paste, a spoon of tosa jelly, or a quick blast from a blowtorch (perfect for balancing the richness of fatty tuna).

The rest of the menu also displays precision and innovation: a testament to the chef founders grounding in the intricate art of kaiseki cuisine. A delicate dish of saikyo lamb was dotted with sweet miso and summer berries, while buttery sautéed razor clams (just a little overcooked) came with generous slices of summer truffle.

Address: 1A Argyll Rd, London W8 7DB

Website: https://www.yashinsushi.com/