Eat Tokyo

Eat Tokyo, this branch in particular, has been a favourite for years and would usually be a 5* for me. The food is always delicious, the portions on the larger side and the prices reasonable. The fish and sushi especially have never failed to be great.

However, my guest and I were both rather disappointed by the service on our last visit (4th of November). We arrived before restaurant opened and queued so we were some of the first people to get in at opening.

I understand the place gets busy but we felt rushed: our waitress asked us not once or twice but thrice if we were ready to order, whilst we were still very clearly reading the menus on the table. There’s so many options it takes a while and it was getting annoying to be pestered.

The dishes all came quickly and I cannot fault the food (though a few options were not stocked that day) but we felt watched like a hawk!

Barely had time to finish eating and decline desserts and we were promptly presented with the bill.

As it happens, this was a birthday meal for me which has been a little tradition for a while and I’ve never felt rushed like this before. For context, I ordered 5 dishes of different sizes plus a drink and my friend also got several starters plus a main meal and drink so it’s not as though we were were hogging the table with barely any food.

As we left, we expected to see a large line outside that might explain why we were being so rushed, but there was no one!

Overall, we enjoyed the food but the service certainly dampened our experience.

Overall, it was a rather disappointing experience. The restaurant itself has an unusual layout, spread across several very small floors. The uppermost and largest floor, which lacks windows, felt somewhat enclosed and overcrowded.

The menu was quite confusing perhaps typical of authentic Japanese establishments, but it made choosing dishes more difficult than expected. The food was acceptable, though not exceptional; I’ve had more enjoyable Japanese meals at smaller, non-London venues.

Service was also underwhelming. While staff were not overtly rude, they were somewhat abrupt. One of our main dishes arrived nearly an hour after the rest, and the initial response from staff was unhelpful they declined to cancel the dish despite everyone else having finished eating.

Vegetarian options were notably limited. Moreover, several dishes marked as vegetarian actually contained fish, so those with dietary restrictions should take care.

In summary, it isn’t a terrible restaurant, but it fell short of expectations, and I wouldn’t be eager to return.

Solid choice for authentic Japanese food at good value. The serving sizes are generous, the ingredients fresh, and the menu offers plenty of variety. Service is efficient yet welcoming - you’re well looked after without any fuss. Great spot for a casual, satisfying meal

I had an excellent Chicken Katsu Curry at the Eat Tokyo restaurant (Holborn). The main dish was about £9 and the can of soda a few pounds. The size and quality of the meal was good value for central London prices.

I visited on a Friday at lunchtime, so it was busy and I had to wait only a couple of minutes for a table to become available.

The staff were friendly and once my order was taken, I only had a short wait for the meal to arrive.

I opted for the regular size Chicken Katsu curry (there is also an option for large). The regular sized meal was definitely filling and I was glad I did not order the larger version. The food was tasty, with the chicken nicely crispy coated, the curry a medium spice level and the carrots & potato well cooked.

The menu is quite large, and looking around the restaurant the Bento boxes also appeared to be very popular.

I would recommend this restaurant.

I’ve been here many times and have never been disappointed. The place itself isn’t fancy, but the food more than makes up for it. Every dish I’ve tried has been excellent, and you can really tell the people here care about what they’re doing. This spot truly deserves five stars.

Our chicken is Halal and we do not use alcohol in the preparation of our sushi rice.

Halal Status for Eat Tokyo Holborn