Aburi in Colchester

Been going to Aburi for years and never been disappointed with either the food or the service. Amazing range of Sushi and Bento Boxes, everything freshly prepared. By far and away the best Japanese restaurant in Colchester.

Portions seem a lot smaller if you get it from deliveroo and number of mochi has decreased. Definitely gone down in quality. Chicken yakiatori was sadly lacking in flavour and size.

The best Japanese restaurant in Colchester, and there are a lot of amazing ones. The quality of the fish surpasses them all and the bento boxes make the perfect meal. The green tea is high quality and miso soup delicious. The takoyaki is so delicious and the gyoza too. It will always be our favourite place ❤️

Polite and helpful staff. Affordable, on time and amazing food. Must try!!!

Gorgeous food, great staff but prices are a bit high for the portions

Stunning food. Each time that I try something that I've not had before I am impressed. Fast service, efficient waiting staff.

I have been coming here for many years.......the only sensible place to eat Japanese food in the Colchester area. Food is very good sushi always fresh and well presented........very popular worth booking at peak time

The sushi is always fresh, prices are good, and the staff are lovely – can’t recommend Aburi enough!

Friendly staff, arguably the best sushi in Colchester, gluten free diet friendly. Highly recommended!

Best japanese food in the UK!!! Can't wait to go back!

The place is nice. The service is good and the food is tasty and well cooked. Had a juice called Ramune but was not impressed and after I've read the label I'm not going to order it again. With the food completely different story. Tasty well cooked, the rice was wonderful in my opinion. Started with the Miso Soup which you have to give it a try, it's simple and nice. Overall I would recommend it. I've only tried chicken but if you are a fish person I think this place is not going to disappoint. Update 2024. In the meantime, I've tried Pork Bibimbap and my friends who ordered sushi told me it was wonderful. Hat down.

Last year, I celebrated my anniversary with my fiancé at this wonderful place, and we can't wait to return this year. It was genuinely one of the most memorable experiences we've ever had, and the word "experience" perfectly captures our visit. Every detail of this restaurant was top-notch—service, ambiance, and cuisine were all nearly flawless. The owners were delightful and genuinely dedicated to ensuring we had the best experience possible.

The rolls are creative and bursting with flavor, and the staff is always welcoming. The cozy atmosphere makes it a perfect spot for a casual dinner. Can't wait to come back!

I went for lunch here with a friend today. The food came quickly and was delicious. The sashimi I ordered was expertly cut and looked and tasted super fresh. All the dishes we chose were well cooked and yummy. The staff member who served us was great. Can’t wait for my next visit, highly recommended.

The food is really delicious. We would like to thank the waitress Ms. Shan for her patience and speedy service. I will recommend my and friends to dine here again.

Delicious food, brilliant service and wonderful atmosphere!!!

Thank you for your Delicious Food. X

Absolute shocking taking away from Arburi this evening all the hot food was freezing cold and two different sushi rolls were frown into one container, unfortunately I am allergic to mango so couldn’t eat the sushi because it was in the same container not the way it’s usually delivered! I called Arburi and they did nothing about this, so upsetting I paid a lot for what was ordered. Such a shame because this used to be a lovely restaurant and delivered food was always high quality. If you are so busy that you can’t handle deliveroo orders then don’t do it! ! If I had an allergic reaction it could have been a very serious incident!

The food here are absolutely good and it was quite busy when I arrived at the restaurant. However, the food was served quickly and the waiters were attentive. The decorations in the restaurant are very lovely and they have these cute tea cups for the Japanese tea. Would definitely come back!

Amazing restaurant food was so aesthetic, flavourful, delicious, and at a great price. Been to a lot of Japanese restaurants and this was definitely up there with the best!

I LOVE this restaurant, such a buzz inside but the food in just incredible! I’m not the most adventurous but the Maki Roll and Honey Grilled Chicken Wing are just SO SO good!! I definitely come back this place!!

Gone down hill!! Staff on phones ... toilet unusable walked out!! I am a regular here for 12 years the bento box my favourite good value. Thank you

This is by far the best sushi in the city. Really nice.

Small portions, bad packaging, overpriced.

Great food and lovely plum wine will definitely return when we come back to Colchester

Great food, attentive and polite staff.

Superb food - group of 5 shared: Vegetable spring rolls Edamame spring rolls Vegetable gyoza Pumpkin fritters Yasai yakisoba Vegetable katsu curry Egg fried rice with mushroom Deep fried tofu chunks The gyoza were particularly delicious. The veg katsu curry had freshly fried tempura vegetables which was amazing. In summary, loved the food, the staff were really friendly and we'll be back 😁

Best Japanese food in Colchester!

Come here all the time and have been a fishmonger for most my life and can say it doesn’t get much better then this place some of the best fish I’ve ever eaten! amazing food quick service and turnaround times staff are great even if they make a mistake like humans do they correct it professional and without complaints or attitude would love to see some ales or stouts added to the menu as drink selection is limited but food is plenty and there something for everyone! Wish this place stays open forever my number 1 favourite place to eat

I love this place, it's always good food and even better service. I have never had a bad experience here. Vegetarian options are available and the ramen is soo good. If you're thinking of trying it out, this is your sign to do so.

5* Fantastic service, lots to choose from on the menu. It's also a great price! Everything was cooked perfectly with lots of flavour!

Just had a really lovely dinner and it was so tasty I even forgot to take picture of my main (salmon and avocado don). Very flavoursome, definitely recommend. The aubergine starter with miso tates great too. Chicken gyoza was nice and crispy and my other half loved his fried soft shell crab as a starter. We visited last weekend, and the food is just as fresh and tasty as ever. We had a bentonite box each, the fried vegetable one and the macarel one, and we enjoyed our food. The jasmine tea is worth trying.

At the time I went it was quite quiet during Father's Day. The staff are very friendly and food is really good for the price! The food quality is very good and extremely filling which makes the trip here much more worth it as you're not going away with room left in your stomach. I will point out that the Takoyaki doesn't have large or many pieces of octopus and I would argue that places in London would do it much better for the same price, but as this is restaurant is quiet and tucked away in Colchester I am willing to overlook that small part. The Katsudon was my main meal and that was enjoyable for £11 and I could not even finish the whole meal so I had to take it away! Their bento boxes, ramen, and beef bibimbap looked delicious but I unfortunately did not have a nibble off of my parents dish to have my own verdict but I have been told that it is delicious. I think the charm for me was that it was fairly small, inexpensive, and the journey was not a ball-ache. At the time we were not willing to travel to London and my expectations were low as I had not gone to anywhere else to have Japanese food. I also did not see any reviews of the place as I was just told to come here. At the end of our dining session I came out surprised and extremely happy that we came across this place and would recommend it to anyone!

Been a few times and the service and food is always excellent. Best sushi in Colchester

Excellent place to eat in and relax in. I am autistic and the owners were lovely. I came here a few years ago also. Thankyooooooooooo buri restaurant 😋 👌. Perfect. I love love love the Japanese culture especially the samaris. Thankyooooo I was feeling really tired and in a lot of pain and hungry.

Dinner for 5. Delicious food. Fast service. Some confusion of orders, but resolved fairly swiftly.

Girlfriend been wanting to come here for a while really enjoyed her meal as did I and kids

Went here on a date as per my dates recommendation. I can honestly say it was the tastiest sushi I have ever had, no sushi I have elsewhere will compare now 😆 I ordered the beef yakiudon, and it was delicious, super yummy and satisfying. My bf ordered the pork katsu and it was lovely, the rice was tasty, sticky and delicious. We shared the red tiger maki rolls and it was fresh, tasty and we said it was the best sushi we have ever had. I want to come back and try more of there menu now A bit pricy, but it was fresh and worth it

Great quality food and portion size. The waiters were friendly and quick to attend. I had a bento box which also comes with miso soup. I had to confirm the vegan options but there were a few labelled vegetarian that are vegan friendly.

Food is nice everything is incredible but the yellow hair waiter is so rude.

Attentive polite service. The food was excellent. Also good value

So, I have eaten a lot of sushi in my years, and this has to be by far the best. It was mouth-watering, tasty, and excellent-priced. I couldn’t recommend this enough. I ate there this afternoon, and it wasn’t busy, but the standard of service and food did not falter. I’m so impressed. The Lion King Maki was a hit. Ordered 2. See picture.

Food is amazing, friendly staff

WOW + WOW = WOWOW! Loved it! First visit last night (1310/21) and my wife and I loved it! The service was good, things were clean, including the toilets, the staff very engaging and helpful. The food was out of this world. We can't wait to go back and try some more dishes. A BIG 5 STARS! Update: 2024. This place has gone down hill. Tge quality of food has declined and is now overrun with delivery drivers.

The Aburi Sushi joint is the top-notch spot in the area. And to top it off, the owner's dead sound, proper attentive, and knows how to treat the punters. Always gonna recommend it!

Easily the best place to eat in the city. Food is always amazing here and staff super friendly

I didn't have great expectations before I had the food. I ordered 3 types of fish sashimi set, tamago nigrini sushi, eel nigrini sushi, soft shell crab maki, honey chicken wing, and assorted tempura. All of them are fabulous. Especially the honey chicken wings and tempura, can keep the crispyness even it is served for around 30 minutes. The chef has put effort not only the taste and also the dishes display. The sliced mooli underneath the sashimi I believe is hand chopped instead of machine cut showing the chef's aim to serve proper Japanese cuisine. The freshness and appropriate thickness of the sashimi impressed me. It is difficult to find a Japanese restaurant in U.K. with this quality standard in a small town. I definitely will visit again and next time I will take pictures and share them.

The food was delicious and the restaurant has nice decorations but we had to wait for a long time to be served.

Very nice Japanese food for a family meal, excellent selection and good service. I would have given 5 stars but have had better.

The food was okay, although for some reason, I had salad leaves in my noodle dish. However, what it let down was the service, so i don't think I'd go again.

Decent Japanese restaurant in Colchester, offering basic Japanese food. Our favourite place to go to for Japanese food in town. Well priced menu. Bento are reasonably priced and value for money. Restaurant signature maki are well made. Service are efficient. Highly recommended!

Honestly I make the most to go around every sushi restaurant I come across in the uk just so I can taste something remotely close to the freshness and flavours I see/had in Japan and when I say this is by far the BEST sushi outside of Japan I have ever had! Honestly dish after dish it kept getting better, even when the first one was already mind blowing. The special rolls were divine and the nigiris were fabulous, melt in the mouth so fresh. Best sushi in the UK and I don’t say that lightly (I am very hard to please when it comes to sushi). I would actually travel just to treat myself to eat sushi here, have already said i’m making the trip to go back just so I can have it again for my birthday. keep up the amazing work chefs and staff, it is noted and appreciated!

We were pleasantly surprised by this restaurant. The service was good. The food was excellent. The atmosphere was pleasant. It was good value for money. We will go back there again some time.

Came to Colchester to visit a friend and she took me here. Fantastic food, thoroughly recommend.

Incredible freshly prepared food with a vast menu. Friendly and laid back atmosphere, staff attentive and polite.

Stopped in without a reservation and was accommodated very quickly. Booster seat for the toddler was safe and secure. The menu is extensive and has some great authentic items on it that I haven't seen at other Japanese restaurants in the surrounding area. The food was fantastic. Fresh sashimi, excellent sushi, really crispy and tender tori karaage and very tasty chilli beef fried rice. We will be back next time we are in the area.

I was a regular customer of Aburi and used to go there every week. The food’s okay, tastes like authentic Japanese cuisine. Even though we wanna go to Aburi, the grumpy waitress put us off. She wasn’t accommodating at all. She never smiled and she was constantly sulking when taking and serving orders, when you asked for something, when paying, and even when she was just standing at the counter. And for the record, she’s consistently like that whenever we go there to eat. She’s making the place’s atmosphere really bad and chasing away the regular customers.

Ordered through deliveroo and I can say without a doubt this is the worst meal I have ever paid for. I ordered the seafood ramen and beef ramen. They were so bland water has more flavour. I love ramen and this was like eating Luke-warm cornflower water with a hint of mushroom along with cold noodles. There was no flavour to this meal with most of the ingredients clearly missing as seen in the pictures. I really don’t know what happened to these meals, it’s like a toddler whipped these up. The beef was so dry it crumbled and felt like the seafood was on strike as there was 2 small prawns and 1 muscle in the “broth”. I can’t even explain how there was no flavour to the broth, the egg wasn’t even pickled it was a plain boiled egg. it’s so disappointing as i use to order from this restaurant and had no issues. The only thing that made it less disappointing was the sushi. If you don’t know how to make ramen don’t put it on the menu as paying £12.50 for a bowl of ramen noodles and water is insulting and thieving. Never going to order again!

Sushi and ramen are my top recommendation in here. A small but very soothing cozy ambience.

The food in ABURI is amazing. Friendly staffs. Good atmosphere. Reasonable price. Definitely my favourite restaurant in Colchester.

Popped into here on a whim after a movie as not many places were open. The service was warming and efficient, we felt very welcome despite coming in near to closing. I ordered the chicken teriyaki bento box, which was very filling and tasty (I was still full the next morning). It’s a great option for if you can’t decide to get sushi or rice.

Absolutely outstanding place in Colchester. I'm rarely happen to see such food quality, authentic cuisine, service and atmosphere for that price. 100% recomend for everyone visiting Colchester as it is one the best places to go.

This restaurant continues to be a splendid restaurant to eat. Service is spot on! The food is so delicious, prepared and presented to perfection. Keep on doing what you are doing.

I would say this is the best Japanese I have had in a long time. I absolutely love this place. Am underrated hidden treasure.

Fantastic food, excellent service, very reasonably priced. Highly recommend.

Great food. The best Japenese in colchester.

best sushi spot in town! fresh, delicious food and lovely service every time. would definitely recommend.

We were so impressed with the quality of the food and the service. The flavours and food combos are great. They also do a gluten free menu and make the food separately to accommodate for our allergies. The crab maki, seaweed salad and fried artichoke sticks were our favourites. Also the desserts were a nice sweet treat and equally as good. Will definitely go again!

Fantastic, a taste of Tokyo in Colchester

Top with everything. Staff are friendly and welcoming, food is always amazing and everyone comments on how tasty it is. Price is good for that and it's a top eatery in Colchester, on a par with the excellent Noodle Bar easily and has more options too.

Love this restaurant! Lush food nice staff...lots of choices

Delicious food! Authentic (according to Japanophiles I was with)

Terrible service by a young chinese male waiter. Unbelievably rude!!!! And not just to us; he was rude to pretty much every table. Management need to look into this.

Food is always fantastic. Service is minimal but that's always the way. Worth it for the fantastic food though. Highly recommend the bento boxes. Everything you need, super tasty and very reasonable.

Great food, great decor and atmosphere overall one the best casual Japanese restaurants we've been too. Will definitely return for takeaway and dine in

Food was great, but the owner kicked us out, saying they don't have dessert cause they were "too busy", even though we reserved.

Booked a table for 7 nice atmosphere, service was good initially, but then went all south just when we asked for the desert menu. We were handed the desert menu just as we were about to start looking the manager comes with we don't have desert tonight, shocking you would say considering we were handed the menu. The manager then stood over our heads to pay and leave, was even grabing our jackets, like we had overstayed our welcome. All he needed to do was to approach and speak to us, eg, sorry guys due to a large number of customers wanting to eat, we would appreciate it if you didn't order dessert. Note All this within an hour of us sitting down to order. For that only it is a thumbs down 👎🏾 from me.

I had the bento box. It was very good & filling at the right price.

Very nice and lots of sushi options. Also some noodle bowls and good selection of drinks.

Incredible handmade sushi! Would recommend to anyone who's a fan, red tiger rolls were particularly good 👍🏼

The best Japanese food in the city.

The sushi here is amazing, I've been many times and have never had a bad experience!

The service was top class and great interaction. Food was beautiful and choice was great. We will certainly return and recommend this to anyone!

Great little Japanese restaurant, only dropped in for a plate of noodles but will be going back for more. Friendly efficient and competent staff. Thoroughly recommend for an authentic experience.

I have been to Aburi several times and would say we have had very positive experiences in the past - the food has always been nice and I would 100% recommend the sushi dishes. Unfortunately, on our last very recent visit, our experience was let down by the waitress. She honestly made us feel like she didn't want us to be there. She was abrupt, unfriendly and hardly muttered a word of thanks. I could see her smiling and joking with her fellow colleague but with us, it was a different story - I do not usually leave bad reviews but this has put us off visiting again which is a shame as the food, atmosphere and service is usually top quality.

All the food was lovely the sushi was especially good and nicely presented. Very quick service and good value for money

Sooo poor experience. I and my friends went there for dinner on 27th Jul 2023. We have 7 people. I and my husband came first. We ordered a soup and fried chicken. The waitress gave me the food without any plate and spoon to eat. I tried to call her but she ignored my purposely several times. Then I needed to ask other staff. When my friends came, that waitress still kept that attitude. I understand that she might be tired after a long day, but I don't think that is an excuse for her underestimating attitude. She still kept ignoring when we tried to call her to order new things. The food was terrible (I ate Japeness seafood ramen and Beef bento). The shashimi and rolls are so so. Overall, I had such very bad experience here, mostly because of the waitress. Never come back again.

Amazing food and service as usual. My favourite authentic Japanese restaurant. Can’t recommend this restaurant enough. Some people say it’s expensive but it’s not, it’s high quality and worth every penny. Far from the commercial chains this restaurant gives you high quality fresh authentic Japanese food perfectly executed and delivered with excellent service. Love Aburi for sure

Ok so the 3 stars was because my daughter enjoyed the Katsu curry generous portion personally the waitress seemed like she didn’t want to be there .. awful smell when they wiped tables over like a dirty cloth was used and my daughter ordered a large bottled water I’m 99.9% sure it was refilled with tap water as it tasted nothing like Harrogate spa water and she ‘opened’ it whilst walking to the table not even asking if my daughter wanted it opened .. if you order bottled water my advice tell them whilst ordering you’ll open it yourself. I wouldn’t eat here again

Staff is nice and polite Food is delicious and fresh Love the Original soda, good import drinks.

I’ve at at aburi about 40+ times since we found it in 2020 and not once have we had a bad meal. Best food in Colchester tbh

Delicious Japanese food. Tried Octopus balls for the first time! Sushi good quality

Nice food, nice staff, very clean place. Delicios maki and soda

I come here for sushi occasionally. Quality is ok if expensive for what it is.

Delicious Authentic Japanese food and well priced. Good service.

Everything was very tasty. Calamari especially was sublime. Good portion size and price.

Very quick service, there was a good range of food, and it was delicious.

Amazing food.. lovely hidden restaurant.. great prices...Great staff

I came from Japan,which the restaurant is wonderful the sushi is delicious,the drinks is the one came from Japan, service is excellent it all brought me back to Japan.

Nice themed restaurant nice staff and very nice food