Nizuni

Ate here many times and enjoy dining here. I really like the curry chicken Katsu and the katsudon here, delicious and very filling. The tori tori bento is also something I like ordering for lunch.

If you are a true sushi lover then give this a miss. The sushi rolls are very limited and very basic. While fresh, even the sashimi was very small portion and very thinly sliced… especially given the prices. Service was painfully slow.

My go to place for affordable but good quality sushi in central London. This is now a pretty regular lunch spot for me as I work nearby.
Their dragon roll is particularly good. Having said that, while the sushi is good, I have had a couple of bad experiences when I or friends have ordered other dishes like the salmon teriyaki which has not been good.
Giving it 4 stars for sushi, value for money and service, but stray from sushi at your peril.

Well this is really a mixed review.
Ambiance is great, customer service is good, but the food itself has mixed reviews. Friday night around 8 pm was pretty busy, but no need for a reservation. They have both an upstairs and a downstairs.
The sushi is great, but this is mainly because of the sushi rice they use. The sushi rice is quite decadent. It’s very moist, I’d imagine due to the amount of vinegar used. It sticks together better than most sushi rices, and it’s sweeter and denser. I’m going to assume they don’t go so far as to put oil in their sushi rice (although if I didn’t know better, I’d say there had to be oil in it to get it to that texture), but it’s very good. Sushi prices are not bad either.
The chicken teriyaki is a huge miss though. It’s basically just a pile of bad pieces of chicken. They assured us it was chicken breast, but it’s all kinds of bizarre chicken parts grilled in a teriyaki sauce, which isn’t bad. But the chicken itself is off-​putting. It doesn’t come with any vegetables other than 2 small pieces of carrot and one potato. You have to order rice in addition to it. The dish + the rice is super expensive and definitely a miss. Would not get it.
A lot of people were ordering the noodles, so if I did come back (which I’m really not sure I would), I’d order those. They looked pretty good, I have to say. And again, I liked the sushi. Overall, I’d rather go to a restaurant that wasn’t hit or miss.

Found this restaurant through word of mouth and was really impressed by the authentic food and lovely atmosphere inside the restaurant. We have been there a couple of times now and have tried something different each time and been impressed by everything from the sushi to the tempura to the udon. The place continues to churn out consistent and quality food every time and is one of our favourite Japanese restaurants as a result

I really liked this restaurant for the variety of dishes that it offers. The quality of food is amazing, but we only ordered hot food, not the sushi’s. It’s also relatively quiet on a Sunday, which is the atmosphere that I enjoy the most.

Good rolls, edamame, and pinot grigio. The service was also very good and attentive. It’s especially nice on a warm evening when they open the doors to sit outside and people watch on Charlotte Street.

A delightful, Japanese restaurant experience. Ideal for a treat meal or a date. Plenty of choice, skilfully prepared food and a warm relaxed setting. There are no conveyors here! Several fine courses, finishing with Shoshu and plum wine. One happy girlfriend.

I was quite excited to go to Nizuni after seeing it’s extensive menu and the variety of dishes they offer because Japanese cuisine is not only about ramen and sushi. With their Toptable deal of 30% off we decided to give this restaurant a chance. Located in the foodie area behind Oxford Street and Goodge Street I found it very brave to open opposite Roka but I suppose it is more reasonably priced and for people with a different budget. Sadly some of the food was not as up to scratch and I was also quite disappointed to hear that there was no Japanese staff present and only Korean and Singaporean. That could have affected the authenticity of the cooking too.
Some dishes were successful and a great example would be the seared scallops accompanied with spinach in a peanut sauce. The scallops were incredibly buttery, soft, slightly charred and went very well with the morish sticky spinach in peanut sauce. It may not have been as plump as some but it was good as it was. I personally didn’t find the sliced raw carrots necessary as it didn’t go with the dish but maybe it was there for decoration. Still this was one of the highlight dishes of the evening.
The squid kara age was basically battered squid. It came with very thin strands of chilli which was more for décor rather than taste and in a good portion size. The batter could have been lighter but it was nice and crisp but it was the wasabi dip that made this dish original and tasty.
The chicken yakitori was very disappointing. The meat was very dry and stringy unlike any yakitori I’ve had before. Flavour wise it was okay but still a poor attempt and showed that the chicken was not fresh but probably frozen.
Same with the ebi tempura which was sad to be in breadcrumb batter that made it gritty, dry as if to hide the fact the prawn wasn’t fresh as well. I could hardly taste the prawn inside, only the thick over fried breadcrumbs.
I forgot the name of this dish but it was a dish that consisted of bacon wrapped round a quail egg, asparagus and a cherry tomato in forms of yakitoris. This dish was quite forgettable unfortunately. The bacon wasn’t particularly flavoured. juicy or tender, nor was the quail egg. Might give this a miss if I was to return,
But luckily we ended our small dishes on another good note which was the Nasudengaku (grilled aubergine) beautifully fried so the flesh was falling away from the crisp skin and salted perfectly with the miso paste on top,. It was sweet and savoury with a good sprinkle of spring onions on top. In fact It was so morish and I could have probably ordered another to have on its own with rice.
My Katsudon came generously portioned with a side salad, tamago, vegetable croquette and japanese pickles. It’s probably one of the most generous and best donburi presented I have ever seen but taste wise it was a huge disappointment. The ratio between egg and pork was poor where the egg was suppose to be runny, soft and plentiful to add moisture to the dish. But as you can see from the photo, it barely covered the pork. It meant that this dish was not only dry but bland. The pork was also gritty and slightly tough. For £12.00 it didn’t come cheap either. You cannot judge a book by it’s cover.
If I had known I would have stuck to the sushi rolls for my mains as the soft-​shell Futomaki was delicious. The soft shell crab tempura was light to give that nice crispy texture against the sushi rice which was nice and sticky. It came with flying fish roe for a nice burst of saltiness and some sort of spicy chiptole mayo like sauce for that creamy round off. Delicious.
We ended our meal with a nice chestnut heart and green tea ice cream which was another highlight if you enjoy light desserts. It was nice and warm, moist and went very well with the creamy green tea ice cream and crunchy chocolate wafer for a bit of bite.
For drinks I would recommend to try the Soba Cha which is made from Roasted Buckwheat. It definitely smells a lot stronger than it taste and could be bland for those who prefer stronger tasting drinks. But I personally felt it was a great drink to accompany the meal, slightly smoky tasting without overpowering the taste of the other dishes.
Nizuni turned out to be a mix bag. There are definitely a lot more Japanese restaurant that offer similar dishes but do them a lot better. It is a shame as I did really liked the warm wooden décor, romantic setting and Japanese music playing in the background. Food presentation was fantastic including the authentic cutlery and teapot but it wasn’t enough to make me come back any time soon. Of course if I ever do find myself going there again there are some dishes I would stick to but also some I would try to avoid as well.

Just finished enjoying our first dinner at Nizuni and we had a good night out. I thought the atmosphere was great, although at times the service was less attentive (it really depended on which server you caught the attention of).
We ordered a range of sashimi and sushi to start. The best one was the butterfish, others such as spider rolls, dragon rolls were average– not bad but nothing to be too excited about.
The hot food selection was great such as the grilled aubergine, spicy chicken and spare beef ribs (served on a burning fire! If you want a bit of theatrical to your dinner!)
I’d go back to try other things on their menu– I hear they do good value lunch time bento boxes!

Let’s get this out of the way… I wouldn’t come here for the sushi, which honestly, is nothing to write home about.
However, there is good food to be had here! If you are willing to look.
For appetisers, I’d highly recommend the spicy edamame (highly addictive, we totally scarved these downs in no time). The Kaiso Sumiso (seaweed salad) is delightful, zesty, and fresh, and well integrated with the miso dressing. The agedashi tofu is wonderful, and its broth is super umame.
For mains, the one that clearly stood out was the chicken teriyaki. It was perfectly grilled… I love it when there are black bits on the edges, really char-​grilled… pretty addictive as well.
Finally, the Nasudengaku (deep fried aubergine with miso sauce) was really good, and I would totally come back for this dish alone. The egg plant was soft, yet nicely textured, and the sweet miso made it almost like a sweet/​savoury dessert.
The sushi was meh… all the way. I’ve had better.
I found the service here to be reasonably friendly, the oolong tea was good, and the red bean, green tea, black sesame and vanilla ice cream at the end was perfect for dessert.
The place has a nice atmosphere, with different ‘zones’ depending on your mood. Ground floor is pretty buzzy, bistro style, upstairs is more zen, tea-​room style, and the basement has more of a ‘bar’ feel going on.

Actual Japanese food (none of that wasabi/​itsu/​yo sushi nonsense!!) that’s reasonably priced! Not super authentic – my chirashi don came with half a potato croquette, friends’ sake don came with the same croquette and some slices of fried salmon (plus the raw fish of course). And why is there kimchi on the menu? But really, who cares! Everything else was pretty legit and you get say ten good slices of fresh sashimi & tamago. The donburi could do with a tad more rice, but for £15 it ain’t too bad at all. We also ordered a salmon skin handroll (so-​so), the nasudengaku (aubergine in sweet miso sauce, yum!) & uni sashimi (meh-​ish). The donburi was definitely the most worthwhile, will come back for that.

Good food, good service, reasonably prices. Deserve a visit.

Donburi, Makizushi, Niku.

Above average sushi, but not the best, and smallish portions, especially for the price. The space is very nice. It’s worth a try.

Yummy, good quality sashimi and sushi. Beef Tereyaki was very delicious and chilled sake is ace.

Very good Japanese food, reasonably priced as well. In my opinion it is much better than Roka across the street. I only have one complaint and that is that the service is ridiculously slow, be prepared to wait around half an hour or more for your food.

Chocolate fondant? Hot sake? Winning! Ninzuni is the first place I’ve ever been able to combine those two things and I gotta sake they don’t really go together. But thanks for the experience.
Just a quick review this time, the last one took it out of me.
The sake was alright but definitely not the best I’ve had (that award goes to Cocoro) although my German friends ordered it so that could have also been a problem. The fondant, however, was fantastic. It had a shiny, slightly firm pudding looking shell, and the glossy chocolate was just calling my name. The inside was bursting with rich dark chocolate goodness that came oozing out to cover the plate. The ice cream was only mildly sweet which was good as a sweet vanilla would have overpowered your senses and taken the it from decadent to sickly.
I arrived too late for dinner, but from all accounts the food was excellent. The décor and atmosphere is nice, not quite authentic Japanese but a westernised mix. Prices looked reasonable albeit a bit on the high end. But for Charlotte Street (which has a number of Michellin starred restaurants), it’s not that bad.
Also, after dinner you can head across the street to Shochu for some drinks and to continue the Japanese theme!

Really liked Nizuni. Thought it was a great value proposition. 10 – 11 set sushi and sashimi box lunches — even the included miso soup and salad were good. The fish was fresh and was properly cut (long and over the rice for nigiri and thick cut of sashimi). If you’re hungry, you probably need to order an extra maki roll. The one thing I wasn’t a fan of was the vegi tempura — didn’t think it was crispy enough and had some odd vegi choices in there (mint leaf?)
Have to say this is my new go to casual sushi experience

Very nice restaurant: the sushi’s were delicious and the service was OK.