Asakusa Restaurant

Reviews

• Did someone say good value Japanese, in London?

  Not a place you might happen upon nestled as it is between two old school establishments but you'd miss a treat if you walked on by.Asakusa feels like the real thing, a busy little eaterie transferred from Tokyo at the end of the 70's and remains in a time warp. It's not glam but it's full of it's home nationals and if it's great Japanese food you're after at affordable prices this is the place. The food is outstanding, in fact it's as good as if not better than uptown peers Roka & Zuma.Go there, eat sashimi and get at least one sea urchin down you.

  Justinteractive
  Review Date: 01/02/2009 Report review
• Great, but sit upstairs

  Food is amazing, but downstairs smells too much like the gents...

  Mjh21
  Review Date: 07/01/2009 Report review
• Real Mom and Pop place

  Step out of Camden into Japan! Asakusa has the feel and downhome buzz of real Japanese Mom and Pop place. And the worn but thick carpet and the wooden pub beams on the ceiling add to the over all effect. The salads are excellent. The ingredients fresh. The pork with the Bulldog sauce dip was scrumptious. Crab soup with egg was a tasty, fishy starter. All the dishes I tried were excellent but what makes this place is the welcoming feel and sense of relaxed theatre. Prices are reasonable too - many of the Japanese clientele come after 8 - if you want a table book before then and you'll have no problem.

  Stantoncarlisle
  Review Date: 12/10/2008 Report review
• CUTE, AUTHENTIC AND DELICIOUS

  I decided to try out Asakusa on reading the reviews on Trusted Places and.....you're ALL right- its ace!I took everyones advice and booked a table. Upstairs was reccomended but we could only get downstairs, which I enjoyed all the same.The sushi and sashimi took a while but we filled the time by having amazing starters such as half an aubergine cooked in a sweet rich sauce, broccoli cooked to perfection [not too soft] with a sweet sauce and delicious japanese fish cakes.the food just kept on coming.The sashimi was beautiful and we couldnt eat all the sushi so they let us take it home in a little box.Yes it is a bit grimey but more authentic and yes, next time I will try something off the menus written in japanese on the wall!!!Can't wait to go again and tell all my friends! : )

  Loveandkate
  Review Date: 11/09/2008 Report review
• grubby place, but great food!

  Not the fanciest of places, but great food and not full of city boys. Good value...

  Rossmcross
  Review Date: 11/08/2008 Report review
• Cheap & cheerful with great food

  Great Japanese food, cheap and cheerful. Can be difficult to get a reservation but it's worth the effort. Recommended.

  Yvonnep
  Review Date: 01/08/2008 Report review
• What is all the fuss about?

  Why is everyone so impressed by this place? Those who are impressed by the food in the place are sorely missing out on the great Japanese food London has to offer. Service - uninterested. Ambience - greasy hole. Food - all-too-standard fare cooked without love. Want a taste of Japanese mediocrity ? Look no further...

  Alaburb
  Review Date: 11/07/2008 Report review
• sweet sushi

  Sokratis was spot on about this place. When we were outside looking at the menu, a group of Australians who were having a fag break started raving on to us about how amazing the sushi is and that it was definitely worth the wait for a table. They convinced us by their enthusiasm even though we were starving and wanted to eat as soon as possible.After we were seated, the waitress explained that there was only 1 sushi chef catering for a packed restaurant so we only ordered a few pieces of sushi. Sam ordered tonkatsu with rice and I had the asakusa udon which was basically udon noodle soup with a bit of everything - prawn tempura, japanese fish cake, seaweed, egg etc. We also got a starter of agedashi nasu which is deep-fried aubergine in a kind of soy/dashi based stock. It was pretty nice but not as good as the one from Tokiya in Clapham Junction.The main meals were really decent and I noticed that they had a lot of other japanese dishes on the menu that I haven't really seen much in other places so I'm looking forward to trying them out.Now to the sushi. Well, I'm not sure I can stress how fantastic it was. They got the fish-to-rice ratio just right. One of my pet hates is when they slice the fish so thin that you can't taste the texture of it, only rice. Also, the fish was really flavoursome which must be down to it being really fresh and of a high quality.The only downside to the meal is that it didn't fulfil my sushi craving, it just made it worse. I'll have to go back pretty sharpish.

  Lenalouise
  Review Date: 01/07/2008 Report review
• scrumptious sushi

  I live very near Asakusa and that makes me happy! The food is fantastic - if you're on your own or part of a pair, head to the back of the restaurant where you can sit on stools and watch the chef prepare your dinner.

  Carlysteven
  Review Date: 09/06/2008 Report review
• Asakusa

  i love sashimi and this restaurant is my favourite and the least pretentious place i know. make sure you book first otherwise you might not get a table!

  Sevs
  Review Date: 11/10/2007 Report review