Matsuri St. James’s

I was very disappointed when Matsuri cancelled my Friday night reservation with only an hour and a half notice. They did not call to inform me but simply let an email from Open Table tell me the reservation was cancelled without any explanation. I didn’t see the cancellation email before showing up at Matsuri, only to find the doors closed and sign posted saying the restaurant was closed for building works. Cancelling a reservation without explanation and with minimal advanced notice was inconsiderate and poor service. I had three friends visiting London from NYC and we were looking forward to this meal due to the rave reviews, but will now not try to return to Matsuri given the poor treatment

intersting place
good for Teppanyaki (鉄板焼き, teppan-​yaki) is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. (i google it for you ha ;)
nice food lovely service the décor what décor? the restaurant looks tired, am i allow to say it looks neglected? oops i just said, in need of a redecoration asap, not what you expect in mayfair and for that price
they have private rooms with private chefs, food is good fresh as it should be and the service is lovely
not a big fan of the chef cooking my steak teppanyaki style as i usually find it tasteless
i go here with work otherwise i wouldn’t not my fav to be honest
4 stars just for the service and the food its nice.

One of the only places in London (and all of the UK) to have actual Kobe Beef from Japan. Sadly it’s only A4 grade, but I’m guessing since the ban was only lifted months ago, it’s going to take a while to make higher quality imports worth it. 100g was 125£, for reference it seems Sushi Samba has 160g for 150£, but I’m guessing you are paying a bit extra here for hotel service plus the Teppanyaki experience. Good wait staff and decent chawanmushi. Didn’t try the sushi because nobody in London seems to know what sushi is and nothing looked interesting on the fish list. Garlic fried rice was yummy and for 4.50£ actually decent (and it’s also made in front of you) and I like places where sparkling water is 3£ and not 8! Worth coming here with a few folks as the tables can fit 7 per chef table (sadly the chef had to talk warping from table to table).

Great place for teppanyaki in London. Quite authentic massive sake menu with over 60 choices and a sake sommelier too. Good sushi too. Have the fireball ice cream for a blazing finish.

Très joli restaurant découvert grâce à Unilocal.Le personnel est top, très serviable et avenant. Les sashimis sont excellent, très frais. Né pas oublier de venir habillé un minimum et de réserver. Je recommanderai volontiers ce restaurant!

Ok guys, this restaurant simply rocks! It was my only japanese experience in London, but is actually one of my best of all time! The dining room is downstairs, waiters there are very pro and seem to care that you’ll enjoy your time. The chefs tend to show off a little, but that’s fair enough. The lobster tail is fantastic, as well as their steaks. Sashimi are just amazing, really. This is definitively a five stars that I can only recommend. Enjoy!

Amazing that’s all I can say it’s really 5 stars.

A fantastic and very traditional sushi experience. The fish was amazingly fresh and well prepared. We sat downstairs at the sushi bar and let the chef pick our selection for the most part. They also had a representative from the Sake distributor there and got an education in how rice is polished.
A great overall experience but it comes with a cost.

Since I was invited by the former employer I dont know how much the meal costed.
As an authentic Japanese, I must give five stars for Sushi. It is same taste as I can get in Japan.

Shockingly expensive with good (but not excellent) food, good (but not excellent) service and chefs which cooked the food well but didn’t really interract. I recommend the Fireball icecream. I will not be going again. £200 per couple.

In my opinion, Matsuri is a one of the best Tepanyaki restaurants I’ve been to in London. Fantastic and fun to watch the food preparation, cool atmosphere and an elegant design. Fresh, delicious and intriguing dishes, kind and knowledgeable staff, all in all, great Japanese experience at the heart of the West End.

A great Japanese restaurant to come to if you have not experienced the teppanyaki. We went here for a friends special promotion and she had booked a private room for us.
The teppanyaki is pretty cool to watch and depending on the Chef, he can be good fun too.
Portions aren’t huge so not the greatest place for you big eaters.
I went for the Lobster and it was yummy…
Oh definitely try the ice cream fireball at the end. Can’t remember what its called but they was great to watch lol
Worth to try it at least once!
Video link:

I’m going to have to agree with the person below me that it is like Benihana, but unfortunately I think it is a step down. The décor in the basement of this building on a lazy street is very drab and «chic 80s» if that exists. The birch coloured wood furnishings, to the Reno casino-​style carpets — something just rubbed me the wrong way. If it definitely the last place to go on a date. Maybe for group of 10 people so you can take over one of the dozen or so tables and have your own personal chef, then it could be cool, but the atmosphere is far from cool. On the upside, you can get a reservation any night and comparatively the sushi is a bit cheaper that the more trendy counterparts.
I tried their Yellowtail sashimi which ws of the best I’ve had, and the Otoro, which was okay. a tad stringy which I can’t stand and is an indication of poor quality. They also had Anago Sushi on the menu which is rare as it is the eel from salt water, which makes it sweeter. Not my preferred eel, but apparently this is more gourmet. The Spicy tuna handroll was excellent which a spicy mayo instead of a spicy powder and the spider roll was fine, a bit on the mayo-​y side and just too big for a single bite. As a main I had the tofu stir fry, which for 22 pounds was an awful deal! I had, maybe 4 pieces of brocoli, a bit of tofu, some carrots, mushrooms and spinach, but it was quite disappointing for the price — it could have easily been a side somewhere else. The Duck Orange Stir fry was not edible either, as there was way, WAY too much fat.
If you’re going to pay for sushi, you might as well go to one of the best places, honestly, I’m sad to say it but I won’t be coming back.

Matsuri is a fantastic Tepanyaki in the heart of the West End.
It is a lovely, eventful place to come with either a bunch of people or a dinner for two.
Went there for dinner on Friday night and got seated without having to book in advance. The staff are extremely friendly and attentive and the food is superb.
Highly recommend going for one of the set menus which includes a full tepanyaki experience as well as some sushi and tempura.
This is a very pricey place though and a meal for two can cost anywhere from £100 to £250, including wine.
However, for a special night with a bit of eventful fizz to the meal, then Matsuri is certainly worth a visit.

I came here with a couple of work colleagues and enjoyed myself immensely. I ordered a set menu meal, the highlight of which was a fillet steak with foie gras. Each and every course was exciting and delicious. I think about this meal almost every day! The service was excellent and the chef prepared the dishes with professionalism and flare. I can also highly recommend the sake-tini’s; especially if you like your cocktails to be dry and sophisticated.

I absolutely love this place and wish I could find somewhere like it in San Francisco. Every meal I’ve had here has been amazing. It is incredibly expensive but a consistent experience.
We usually order some sushi with our saki and then have the beef teppenyaki. I have to admit to also trying the foie gras, which is so yummy (don’t tell my doctor!)
The service is exceptional. It is fast and attentive. We’ve had to wait a few times, even though we’ve had reservation, but we got drinks at the bar and they were always apologetic.

This is the best Japanese restaurant I have been to in London, but has a price tag to prove it. The teppanyaki is divine, with a (often non-​Japanese) chef who performs his or her magic in front of you, while you enjoy the show. The meat and vegetables are all cooked to perfection, and served immediately they are ready.
The service you receive, from the moment you walk through the door, is uniquely Japanese, can to the uninitiated can feel quite overwhelming. This level of service attests to the fact that a large proportion of the clientele are Japanese and therefore expect to be treated in this manner. It pays to master chopsticks before eating here. Not because you will be ridiculed for being unable to use them, simple because it seems to consistently surprise Japanese people that Westerners can master chopsticks, and you will be met with approving glances and possibly even comments.

I have been coming here since it opened 15 years ago, usually brought by business people — but this time we came privately as we were attending an exhibition nearby, but it disappointed again. It a business-​orientated restaurant and comfortable enough, and the service — as in all Japanese places — is examplary. But the Japanese notice small details more than any other race and this falls well short on those which make the difference between a so-​so and good restaurant.
Take the ‘dobin-​mushi’. It tastes ok, but but the essential herb, ‘mitsuba’, was missing and there were no or too few shitake mushrooms — and no ‘ginko’ at all. Heresy to a Japanese! Worse still, the classic chirashi-​sushi (a big bowl of sushi rice with selected raw fish) was poor. The fish were cheap local ones — fresh but not the type that any self-​respecting Japanese restaurant in Japan would even offer. A proper Japanese restaurant has to fly in its quality fish regularly (as they do in Nadaman in Hong Kong) to make the grade.
I am also always astonished at how little the Japanese know about sake. They seem content to snuffle up anything without complaint. I can’t bear the usual ‘sweet’ sake and always ask for a dry Niigata sake. They profess astonishment and go off into a huddle with the one person who seems to know anything about it. Finally they return with a good sake as though it’s something extraordinary. And then charge you £20 per box (the small wooden box out of which cold sake is drunk). There are hundreds of good sakes in Japan, but getting to drink any of them as opposed to the ubiquitous ‘big brands’ is a trial.
It’s true that the teppan-​yaki at Matsuri is alright — but grilling meat and prawns is a picnic compared to the skill and high-​quality ingredients needed to make sushi.
£123 for two — and only one of us was was drinking!

Best teppanyaki restaurant in London, better than Benihana. The food is fresh, cooked in front of you, and quality is superb. I usually recommend seafood or the best steak for teppanyaki, but chicken is nice too. The monthly offer is always a nice starting point, and compare to Benihana, Matsuri is more sophisticated and more Japanese. Benihana is more like a family restaurant, with knife and fork shows and chatty chefs, good for a special occasion with friends and fmaily, but Matsuri is good for couples or to show off your knowledge of Japanese food. You should order sake to accompany your dishes, they have a good selection. Teppanyaki itself is a kind of art/