Life

I like Life.
I also like typing that sentence, because it’s true on a lot of levels, but in this case, I actually like this restaurant a bunch.
My boss suggested it for a work lunch and I had no idea where it was. Turns out, it’s right near Old Street Station and I had walked by it a million times. You might have too. They have a very small sign outside and some windows that look closed even when they’re open. Even the door is intimidating, as it’s a big wooden behemoth that, again, always looks locked.
But it is not locked (at least when they’re open) and you should go in. Because inside is a lovely, well lit, simple but charming space that is all about good, quality Japanese food.
I did the lunch selection, which was a bunch of food for about £20, including sushi, sashimi, miso soup, tempura and a little cheesecake for dessert. It was all well made, well prepared, pretty to take pics of and enjoyable to eat.
Service is quick and pleasant. It’s a small space though so make sure to make a reservation, because by the time we left, it was filling out. I guess other people know it’s open too (and also like Life!)

A flawless sushi lunch near Old Street/​Clerkenwell!
Pro-​tip: weekday lunch, make a booking. It really fills up starting around 12:45 and you’ll be disappointed if you rock up to dine on their lovely lunch specials and are turned away due to lack of seats. It appears you must call to do so but the process was rather painless, despite my affinity for online bookings (pssst, Life — get free Unilocal Res enabled on your page, STAT!).
My colleague and I came early at noon and basically had private dining for most our meal! The oasis away from Old Street was calm, tastefully decorated and nicely presented. The lunch specials are basically 2 – 3 course meals.
I had the sashimi lunch special, which included a few starters (egg tofu, small salad, etc) and then miso soup and then a wonderful sashimi platter, followed by a slice of cheesecake (above average!). Overall a very nice value for 17 quid. There are less expensive options should you be looking to budget a bit more.
Service was perfect.
Sauvignon Blanc was a delight.
I’d definitely return to this low key sushi spot — I’ve always wondered what it was when walking by and glad I popped in after reading the reviews. Good stuff, add it to your lunchtime rotation if you are looking to class it up a bit!
**also, apparently the bar downstairs is a well kept secret, read Manav M’s review for further details.

This is my go to local spot for Sushi. Normally easy to get a table, the staff are really friendly and the atmosphere is really relaxed. Sushi is good quality and reasonably priced. However, I have tried their non sushi dishes a couple of times and not been impressed.

Went to Life on a Friday lunchtime with some colleagues, I recommend booking as we’d tried to go there the week before but were turned away. I had the fried chicken for £11– and that included miso soup and a small dessert. If you go for some of the £13 options you also get a piece of Spanish omelette and some aubergine in wasabi mayo (some kind of weird Spanish/​Japanese tapas fusion). The main meal was very nice, but the dessert was extremely tiny and the pastry was sort of rubbery. However, £11 for a three (ish) course meal in Barbican is by no means terrible, and the food was presented beautifully.

Usually empty when I go, and quiet. Has a very quirky and memorable atmosphere that I enjoy every time I sit down. The food seems to be some kind of Japanese-​French fusion. I love the soft-​shelled crab Spider Roll!

I usually never go to the same restaurant more that twice since I love to discover new places. Anyway when I want to eat sushi there’s only one place that comes to my mind every time: Life in Old Street. Good sushi for a good price. The staff is very friendly and the atmosphere is relaxed. I just didn’t like the tempura that I had once, not enough crunchy but nothing to say about nigiri and rolls. As a dessert the green tea crème brûlée is amazing. I’ll definitely recommend it.

One of my absolute favourites for sushi. The interior is so minimalistic and cool, the food is so delicate and well made and more interesting than just usual sushi. Not least, the drinks are very very good.

Sashimi is Not fresh at all!
Worse experience n overprice, SAVE UR TIME N MONEY for other better restaurant.

This is a great place for a quick lunch during the work day that still feels like a ‘proper’ restaurant meal. The lunch sets are good value and tasty. Attentive and quick service. The décor is minimal and cool.

A confusing experience. The staff was Japanese, so I was hoping for some quality, authentic food.
They start you with a complimentary mayo-​sauce-​covered spinach dish — so weird and not appetizing.
We shared the sashimi platter and a shrimp tempura roll and the namesake Life roll. The sashimi was really bad quality and poorly cut. It tasted old and I was scared that I would get sick (thankfully, I didn’t). The rolls were worse than NY take-​out sushi — overly sweet and low quality ingredients. Really disappointing.
The best part of the meal was the green tea crème brûlée — not amazing on it’s own, but compared to the other food, it was the best thing ever.
The bathroom area looked sketchy, just a concrete floor with a pulled down store gate — very creepy. And the bathrooms looked dirty and definitely scared me off.
Overall, I say save your money and go to Itsu for better quality.

Strange strange place. Been a few times now and, while I really want to like it… well, I really don’t. Last time there, they sat us at a corner table right next to the only other people in the place. Not entirely weird until you realize that table faced the other people. We literally sat 2 meters from them and watched them while we ate. The food? Meh. Better portions/​options than Itsu… but didn’t seem as fresh. Also twice as much money.

The ambiance is great. Nice open space, quiet, and clean simple décor. The sushi was good. Tasted fresh. The beef tataki and the black cod was my favorite– good flavors put together for those dishes. Scallop ceviche was a bit too citrous-​y. The rolls were ok. It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t amazing. Just ok– like the review rating. Can’t say I was impressed or wow’ed with anything in particular so don’t find a reason why to visit again. I think it was a but overpriced as well.

Went there for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it. Authentic menu, restricted but tasteful selection, great service and quite/​relaxed atmosphere. Delicious.
My new local sushi spot.

This is a silly review but here goes…
Made a reservation for 8pm on a very rainy night. Took the train and walked for awhile until we arrived.
My hair and makeup were completely ruined.
But no worries! We were at Life! Sushi was on the way!
Our party of three was seated right away and we quickly realized why we had such good service…
Nobody else was there.
We saw lots of reserved signs on tables but you could hear a pin drop.
The food was actually outstanding.
It might be the only worthwhile experience I had in Barbican.
If you are wondering about what I ate I had a mixed Sashimi plate. Everything was great!

Again, this review is just for the downstairs bar.
Atmosphere:
Almost indescribably chill vibe. As you walk in you’re greeted by the sight of 5 – 6 really comfy couches, really chill music in the background, and animé being screened on one of the walls. Though we went at 2030 on a Friday, there were maybe 2 other groups, and 5 of us were able to get a seat. There’s just something about the bar that makes it feel like you’re in a secret spot that no one else knows about.
Drinks:
Pretty decent selection. 4 types of sake, 3 types of shochu, and around 12 sake and shochu based cocktails. Beyond that there’s the usual selection of liquor you’d expect to find in a bar. Prices are really reasonable too! They have Asahi on tap for £4, and the house sake starts at £4 as well. I only tried the 2 types of sake that the bartender said were slightly sweeter, but really enjoyed both (though I wish they had a larger selection).
post-​10pm:
Around 2145 we contemplated moving somewhere else as the vibe was almost too chill for a Friday. However at 10 the staff informed us that they had to move all the furniture out of the way. So they cleared the floor, a dj showed up, the music went up just a tiny bit and from being a quiet spot, by around 2230 there were probably 40 people there.
It has to be said that I still left at 2300 but it really was the perfect place to start the night. Food wise I only tried the edamame which was good but after reading the reviews i’ll be sure to try other nibbles as well next time.

Wow. Yum. I’ll be honest — I got sidetracked coming in here — It was on my way home and I just wanted something healthy to takeaway before heading to the gym a couple hours later. I got confused at first thinking Life was the new LIFE studio in Shoreditch that also sells food, so figured — it must be healthy. Note: It wasn’t the LIFE studio, but I’m sure glad I went in.
Food: I just ordered a quick multi-​fish role and edamame for the road. Knowing how sushi usually goes in London (and having had the opportunity to compare and try it real deal in SF, Tokyo and NY) I wasn’t holding my breath. But wow — Go here! The fish was fresh, the rolls were yummy — Yeah, it may be a bit more on the pricey side compared to going to, what, itsu — but you would be disappointed. I’m planning to come back here with my partner sometime soon for an actual sit down meal and will update then if anything spectacular or horrifying emerges.
Atmosphere: I can’t really comment here as I didn’t do a proper sit down — but the service was quick and friendly enough for takeaway and the ambiance looked like something I could get into. The door is quite heavy to open and that was a plus given it’s on such a busy road — the noise seemed to stay outside, which is where I’ll want it when we return for a longer meal!

Excellent! The combination lunch (for 24 pounds, including hot tea for drinks) was wonderfully presented, absolutely satisfactory for quantity, and of excellent quality.
Service was fast, attentive and courteous. A really nice experience all around.

I chose Life for a recent meal based on location (near where we were meant to be staying) and reviews, and it didn’t disappoint.
Slightly hard to spot due to its unassuming front, we walked into a kind of warehouse-​ey feeling restaurant — meaning it was minimal with lots of space. The space was great because you were several feet from any other diners which meant that there was no squeezing between tables and no hushing the four letter words which start when four friends who havent’ seen each other in years get together for beers and dinner.
The wait staff were lovely — incredibly polite and attentive, but also friendly and laid back.
The food was excellent. Neither of the boys were big sushi fans so opted for chicken teriyaki and a fish dish, while the girls went for sushi. They enjoyed our sushi so much that we ended up having to order more and forcing them to keep their chopsticks on their own side of the table. They also fully enjoyed their mains which were very attractively presented and were a good Japanese/​British fusion with Japanese flavours incorporated with potato and leek (or so they told us, we didn’t get as much sampling of their food as they did of ours!).
The meal for four, wiith starters, two mains, 5 rolls varying from £6.50 to £11, and 2 or 3 beers each came to about £135, including service. So, not cheap but in no way expensive for what we got. I just wish this was in Edinburgh instead of London, so I could visit regularly!

Probably not the best idea to have dinner here before a show at the Barbican but I was so glad I did. I ordered the chicken teriyaki dinner box — everything was so delicious and never thought chicken terikyaki can taste this good! We had to dash quickly and wouldn’t stick around for the dessert but they were so nice they packed it for us to go.
Why does this place have to be so far from where I live and work?

(This review is for the downstairs bar, rather than the restaurant upstairs)
Life is one of my favourite places to meet friends for a chilled drink. The selfish part of me doesn’t want to write this review in case too many people start going there!
It is a typical shoreditch-​style, underground bar, sometimes with a DJ in the corner, and movies projected onto the concrete walls. However it is also very friendly with comfy sofas.
I come here at least once a month to meet other friends who have lived in Japan. We all appreciate the karaage and cheap drinks. I don’t think the food is particularly good value, but it IS yummy… and when happy hour prices are so reasonable, it seems okay to spend some money on food!
The best things at the moment:
— unagi/​avacado maki sushi
— beef carpaccio
— Karaage
If they did gyoza we would probably eat too many of them, so it’s lucky that they don’t!