Edamame Restaurant

Efficiency is the name of the game at Edemame. Located adjacent to row houses in central Oxford, it’s not difficult to pass by this restaurant without a moments notice. Once inside, you begin to understand why efficiency is required. The entire place is a room no bigger than most large living rooms, which is understandable, as this place was likely a house at one point. If you’re the lucky few that can get a table, you are asked to usually buddy-​up. The menu is simple and straight forward. There are three different menus throughout the week. Sushi is only served Thursdays from 5−9pm! Overall, if your a Japanese cuisine connoisseur, then this place will be the best you can find in Oxford. Itadakimasu!

This small hidden place is definitely my favourite restaurant in Oxford. Authentic Japanese food is served in a very nice and calm ambience. You should try the teriyaki salmon, it is one of the best I ever had! All the other dishes are delicious as well.

I have been living and studying in Oxford, England for the past ten months (I am originally from Los Angeles). Japanese cuisine is my favourite and I was really hoping to find a place where I could enjoy the same foods I love back home. I walked by the queue for Edamame several times while out and about and immediately knew it was something special. Eventually, I tried it. I had the Chicken Katsu Curry, since that is what everyone had been raving about, and I completely fell in love. The miso soup is the best I have ever had and everything about the dish was perfect. Ultimate umami. I can say the same for the ramen, the sushi (on Thursday evenings), and everything else that I have tried so far (currently, I can’t get enough of the beef special on the dinner menu). I am convinced that some sort of magic happens while eating at Edamame because you feel immediately comfortable, at home, and happy. Whenever I miss home, this is where I come. It is food for the soul. I have been back at least once every week since then but it is usually more like two or three times a week. I would go for every meal if I could. I will most likely be there for lunch again today. When I eventually leave Oxford (something I try very hard not to think about) I will have to fly back every now and then if only to have a delicious home-​cooked meal from the lovely people at Edamame. Thank you Peter, Mieko, Leo, and all your staff. My experience in this beautiful city would not be the same without you.
xx
Claire

This place is seriously overrated. It’s average at best. Sure, it’s the only sushi in Oxford (unless you consider Yo! Sushi a thing, and you really shouldn’t), but it’s only Thursday nights and not even that great. There is constantly a line out the door with more than 30 min waits. The rolls are so unimaginative. Which can be fine, if the staples they do are really well done. Well, let’s just say Britain isn’t known for their raw salmon. For a country surrounded by water, they have a really strange relationship to seafood (deep fried for life!).
Their other options are so hit or miss. The tofu dish is literally a block of unflavored tofu. Why is that a thing on the menu? Chicken katsu is boring, but to be fair, that’s my fault for picking it. The ginger salmon was actually quite delicious, but by itself it’s not quite filling. It should come with a side of rice. Or they could fashion a bento box around it.
I’ve moved away from Oxford, and let’s just say I’m not missing it all that much!

I’ve been seriously craving real Japanese food and when I found out about Edamame I got so excited.
We went on a Friday night around 7 and it only took us about ten minutes to get seated. I got the salmon teri and a bowl of rice. In reality it was more of a misoyaki instead of a teriyaki but that was exactly what I had been wanting for the past month. The rice was perfectly cooked and shiny and sticky and so delicious. I couldn’t really have asked for more.
I think the food here was better than most Japanese places I’ve been to in the San Francisco area. It could also be that I haven’t had properly made Japanese food in weeks. However, It pretty much exceeded all my expectations and left my friends and I the most satisfied we’d been since getting here. I will definitely be back to try their sushi night!

Favorite restaurant in Oxford. There’s also often a horrible line later on – best to go right when it opens but somehow I always manage to wait out in the cold for 20 – 40 minutes at a time because I show up late.
But the salmon teriyaki is melt in your mouth delicious and oftentimes there are 7 – 8 pound salmon sashimi deals. Actually, there are lots of deals in that price range that rotate around — complex rolls to multiple sashimi plates.
It’s a very casual but clean, and delicate sort of place. Mostly large group tables and small stools to sit on.
For nonalcoholic/​sake drinks — hojicha, my favorite roasted green tea is just 0.50 and they also have capis/​calpico for 2ish.

This place is awesome OMG! I really love Japanese good cuz it’s not way too oily. This place realllly blow my mind! I had the beef from that day’s special. It’s juicy and tasty! A little bit sweet but not too much ! I am a Asian girl and I don’t tend to have much in my meal. The dish is perfect for me! I had breakfast around 10 and didn’t have lunch. After I finished my dinner, I don’t feel too full or what, which made me so pleasant~ Definitely try them out! BTW, today I went there again, but a lot of people were waiting. So plan your meal ahead of time~ enjoy delicious food ~

Amazing ramen soup. Still very crowded at any time you come, as the restaurant in quite literally the ground floor of the house the owners live in. However, it gives it a cozy feel, though you will most likely have to share your table with several strangers. Their website warns that if you’re looking for an intimate lunch (with solely the company you come with) then it might not be the best fit for you.
However, the glorious soy based broth, perfect noodles, and crispy chicken which makes up my regular order here (Chicken Shoyu Ramen) are worth it. A light on the stomach soup which is perfect for hangovers is filled with bamboo shoots and leeks. I can’t get enough of it. I also love the tea they give you when you arrive. I tried the Chicken Miso Ramen which a bit heavier due to the miso broth and the chicken is mixed in rather than crispy and served on top. It is more heavy on the vegatables but does sit in a well seasoned broth.
The other negative along with the space-​crunch is the strange opening hours (not open Monday and Tuesday for lunch; Thursdays reserved for sushi) and the wait staff which get a little touchy about seating. Once the three of us were waiting to be seated and my friend had to take a call outside from his bank. The staff just blatantly refused to seat us until my friend returned from his call. Finally I made assurances that we would order for him right away but it wasn’t pleasant and not a good start to lunch.

Coming from San Francisco, I’m a big fan of little, family run, hole-​in-​the-​wall type places, and this one looked promising. Only, it really wasn’t that great. The food is very average, nothing special. The ambience is cute – you sit at big tables with other people, depending on your party size, and it is a little hole-​in-​the-​wall type of place.
While not amazing, it is probably the best Japanese food you can find in Oxford, just don’t expect your taste buds to be overwhelmed.

Great Japanese food but a bit stressful to arrive at the right time and wait and share a table. But it’s definitely worth it.

A nice little bit of Japanese home cooking in the middle of Oxford. Big warning that this is not a Sushi place, they only do Sushi one night of the week, and it is not their specialty. Instead, this is where you go for good noodles, good Japanese style cutlets and omelets, and Japanese ‘comfort food’.
There are very limited opening hours.
lunch menu :
Wed — Sat 11.30 — 2.30pm (last orders)
Sun 12.00 — 3.30pm (last orders)
sushi night menu :
Thurs only 5.00 — 8.30pm (last orders)
evening menu :
Fri & Sat only 5.00 — 8.30pm (last orders)
Gets crowded, and you should expect to need to leave soon after finishing. You’ll also need the cash to pay for your meal, as they do not take credit or debit cards or cheques.

I don’t know much about Japanese food (I only RECENTLY discovered Wagamama’s…) but I do know that this is good, good food and very reasonable prices. For under a tenner I got a generous noodle dish with a side helping of sticky rice and a huge bowl of delicious miso soup– just like mama used to make it, I imagine. It’s cosy, the service is good and I can’t wait to go back and try some more dishes, if I could only work out when they’re open…

Amazing Japanese food, wonderful enclosed atmosphere. No booking, when I last went and it was only open on selected evenings for Sushi dinners. Great for an early dinners before you head further into town. Well worth a visit if you are in Oxford!

When I first arrived in Oxford, you would have a hard time convincing me that there was ANY good food here, let alone good SUSHI. Of course, I’m still not convinced of either, but the place that’s come closest is this darling oriental eatery on Holywall street: Edamame.
I went in with Jennifer, on a Thursday night of course, since that’s the day they serve sushi. We started with a miso soup, which didn’t taste authentic. Then we tried their beer, which they served us in these adorable little glasses, which were chilled and frosty. It was called Sapporo, but it taste just like Fosters or Carlsberg or other English beers.

There is always a line here for lunch, of course, but this cozy little nook is a wonderful place to get a quick meal. Check out their specials since they’re always changing (the sushi is pretty good), and they have the Japanese comfort food staples like katsu don and ramen. Everything is good but I wish the portion sizes were a little bigger. I haven’t been here for dinner but make sure you know the hours before you come here, they’re not open all ay every day.

I come here every week with my course mates (our department is very close by, and this makes for a quick lunch place).
Edamame serves up good home-​cooked Japanese dishes like Katsu-​Don and Ramen in little Oxford. It is a bit annoying that they have a long list of ordering rules and random opening hours though. I haven’t tried the sushi here, but it looks a bit too expensive for my tastes and certainly lacks variety.
Service staff: The man (who I believe is one of the owners?) is very nice and obliging. One of the waitresses is a bit stubborn and rude though. Other than that, the others on the wait staff have been alright.

Edamame lives up to the hype and the quirky Oxford feel that people crave.
The interior is similar to that of someones badly decorated front room, and there’s hardly any seating available, they don’t accept debit cards and have crazy opening times. Having said these negative points, the food is top notch and the staff are friendly, attentive and ready to help navigate the menu.
Defiantly worth a visit if your in the area and want good quality Japanese food at good prices.
Vegetarians happily catered for :)

We came here on a weekend trip to Oxford after reading the positive reviews on Qype. Fans of traditional Japanese food will appreciate the range of dishes, a far cry from plain old California sushi rolls (it turns out the restaurant only does sushi one night a week).
Two of us shared the octopus balls, stir-​fried burdock root, fermented soybeans (don’t forget to stir in the the sauces they give you) and a portion of rice. We drank green tea and tried calpis (a thin watery yoghurt drink, the total bill was about £14. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal, but felt some of the dishes were overpriced for the quantity of food given, mainly the octopus balls.

The other day, I was struggling to remember where I’d had a delicious katsu don.
And then I remembered.
It was here! The food here, in short, is amazing. It’s literally something to write home about. In fact, I’m pretty sure I did. I’ve been there for sushi nights on Thursday, sampled their Sushi rice specials on Friday, and eaten their home cooked creations on other days. Even their miso soup is amazing.
Just beware of the queues. And, also remember that they only take cash during lunchtime.

For those of you stuck on the perception of Japanese cuisine as sushi and rice, this restaurant will open your mind to the doors of reality.
Never once has the menu been less than appealing. Offering a plethora of dishes that astound in their variety as much as they do in their tasting, this restaurant is nestled down an oft traveled, rarely visited street in the centre of Oxford.
With a variety of different tasting experiences, including a city-​famous sushi night, the intimate, basic dining room contains a brilliant culinary experience for student prices.