Happy Samurai in Canterbury

The food was good, however it’s the second time i’ve been there and i’ve tried to order tantanmen ramen, which should come with minced pork and it’s the second time that they didn’t have it. Instead i got chicken which was fine but didn’t really suit the ramen.

Hopeless. We booked a table in advance, (at the beginning of the evening, not the end!!!) but only stayed ten minutes. "Here's your table and we don't have any Sushi" - not a great start... Could we have a bottle of Pinot Grigio please? - "No we don't have any white wine at all". I'll have a zero alcohol beer - "sorry we've sold out". I'd like the grilled mackerel starter and .. "sorry no mackerel". ... thanks and goodbye. Did you dine in (would have liked to). What did you get (nothing). How much did you spend (nothing). Which dishes do you recommend (lol!).

Food are ok , but the waiting time for food is too long. It’s over 20mins ……

Great food amazing service if I had any questions they were happy to help me and all the stuff were polite and amazing can’t wait for the next time

Always love coming for dinner here. Fantastic food and lovely staff. Would highly recommend a visit. Many years on still fantastic food and service. Would recommend to anyone. Even my plain Jane in terms of eating father loves it here.

Pretty good. Worth a visit for sure.

We were a table for ten people this evening, and had a big party platter of assorted sushi, absolutely exquisite! The mackerel was divine, as was the salmon and the sweet prawn. Followed that up with Bao buns with pork and bbq, miso soup, chicken ramen and steak and egg noodles, and a grilled mackerel. All were exceptional. Really fresh, very tasty and so nicely presented. The service was excellent, the staff all so friendly and very patient. We’ll definitely be returning, as it was also such good value for money. Top night out.

I love here! High quality food and good service! The best Japanese restaurant in town !

Amazing food, as a local this is some of the best Japanese scran in Canterbury- Tamago is on par with this. The food will take an hour to come with a 6 person table and you may feel forgotten about by waiting staff, but nonetheless amazing dining.

The most delicious food in a bustling but comfortable atmosphere. Would highly recommend

Went to Happy Samurai on the 19 September, unlike most I actually went looking for the restaurant. Last time I ate there was 4 years ago when it was in Greenwich, it was really good then. Prices have gone up since but the qualities just as good. I took my wife, we got Unagi (eel with rice £20) a Japanese classic, I think I got the speciality noodle dish (£12-15) and Spicy Karage (Fried chicken £8) the prices are going off memory so might be wrong. Usual service charge too, milk tea (£3-4) and fizzy pop (£2-3). The noodles were really nice, the karage was not too spicy but I have a high tolerance. My wife loved the eel dish she’s from Asia and said it had a real authentic taste, if the sauce was a bit heavy. I liked the noodles. The karage was good. Good environment too not far from the Roman museum and cathedral. For 2 people we ended up spending between £40-50. But if we got 2x noodles etc it could have been more like £20-30. I’ll go again, as the food was good. 5 stars.

We came here as it opened on a Saturday and the whole experience was fantastic! Food was incredible, service friendly and attentive and atmosphere was cosy and clean. Cannot wait to come back!

We came here for my mum's birthday and she loved it. The service was fantastic. The food was amazing. I couldn't recommend more.

Delicious food. Excellent service. Would definitely visit again when next in Canterbury

The music is great! Kai is the best server ever! The food is so mouth watering good!

Amazing as always. Wonderful hearty food. Great atmospheres for all types of dinners. Lovely service always smiling happy to see you.

This is mid Japanese food. Not the best I've had. Some of the dishes coming out were lukewarm and the beef was soooo chewy on the dish pictured. Probably wouldn't come here again but it was cheap enough for something a little different in Canterbury Town centre.

Excellant sushi and sashimi. Worth the money.

A Very small restaurant tucked away amongst the side roads of central Canterbury, offering a wide selection of Japanese favourites.

Nice restaurant. Ordered a large platter, okonomiyaki and rice. The fried chicken in the platter was very yummy.

Since they changed the Japanese waitress and chef, the downfall had began. Hope I can see the restaurant serving good quality food again.

Excellent food and good customer service, one of our favourite places in Canterbury! Would definitely recommend!

Popped to finish off an evening at an author talk at Waterstones about Japan. A lovely finish with the best Sushi I have ever had. I shall return, hopefully soon.

The best Japanese restaurant in Canterbury, They serve real Japanese foods here, I understand it because I’m Japanese. Highly recommended restaurant if you would like to taste real Japanese food!!!

Great Ramen. Would definitely recommend this place for a tasty bowl. Nice seating and service as well.

Stopped in for lunch. Restaurant was busy but we were served quickly and shown to our table. Decor is minimalist style with cool samurai art work on the walls. Although small, it didn't feel cramped. One of our group is coeliac and there was a separate GF menu, including GF soy sauce. The ramen soup was excellent and there was a vegetarian stock option. Bao bun and gyoza were fresh and tasty. The sushi and sashimi sharing dishes were brilliant, especially the sashimi which had a fantastic selection: tuna, salmon, octopus, sea bass, mackerel. The staff were very friendly and were happy to add an extra portion of sushi later when we realised we'd love to try some more! Very reasonably priced for a city centre restaurant. Would definitely go back next time I'm in Canterbury.

Usually really like this place, but it seems to have changed lately. We had 2 ramen dishes and both were a little bland and flavourless. The meat portions in both were pretty small and I'd expect a bit more for the price they are. Not sure if it's changed owners or kitchen staff lately, but it used to be much better. The sashimi was still decent though.

I got some takeaway and was pretty satisfied with it! Got the classic ramen dish with added pork (8/10), very tasty with the broth, and the portion size is quite decent!, then i had a sushi platter(9/10, very tasty with the soy sauce and a bit of wasabi if you can handle the spice.) i would definitely recommend!

A lovely find. We thought it was a takeaway only as the seating was upstairs, so we were very pleased we went in to ask! Great service and the food was fabulous too. Having returned from a holiday to Japan a few weeks earlier it was lovely to rekindle the holiday memories! If we lived local we'd doubtless be regular customers!

Delicious Food! Best Place for Seafood Ramen in Canterbury Friendly Staff

Bad experience. It was our favourite Japanese restaurant until their quality is lowered. We have went to the restaurant a few times and we also always order delivery from UberEats. Their food taste worse each time we order and they always miss item when we order delivery. The price is getting more and more expensive while the portion is bitesize. We called to complain for missing item and all we were told is just to get the refund from UberEats.

The food is amazing 😍 The ribs are the best, everyone’s favorite ramen… it leaves me speechless! The more I go to this site I realize how good it is! I highly recommend 😍

Fantastic service and glorious food!

Great service, Really tasty! We shared the salmon

I got in the restaurant with 2 of my friends at night time, almost 30 minutos before closing. even with our late arrival the costumer service were amazing! and the food is just delicious, will be coming back!

Might be some of the best food for value I've ever had, always leave full and satisfied, still working my way through an extensive menu but never been let down, friendly staff and cosy atmosphere

Second visit, just as great as the first one!

This place is godly. Go to of shoyu with cha Shu pork. Second best bowl of my life. Shout out to suburashi ramen in Paris. This place is to die for. The takoyaki made me ascend and 50p for Infinite green tea is amazing. Would recommend to everyone.

Our favourite restaurant for lunch in Canterbury. Extensive menu. Daughter says ‘it’s my favourite place’.

Overpriced and wasn't worth the money 1. My spicy tan tan men was just a bowl of sadness. Underseasoned. The minced pork is not even minced and seasoned. It was overcooked and tasted like some 5 year old cooked it. Was nor worth 14.80£ at all 2. We all ordered different types of ramen, and the menu mentioned different noodles, but all of our noodles looked the same. 3. We ordered chicken karaage, it was not bad but could be seasoned a bit more. 4. We had to ask for water three times. It took them about 10 minutes. Unbelievable.

If 2 of you want to share 1 ramen soup (with toppings already could end up £20) and nothing else consumed, you not allowed to have it. Manager rule! It was Thursday 5pm, quite restaurant and we walked away. Menu placed outside without prices. Choose more welcoming place in the city.

Visited with my partner, order came nice and quickly. Service was very friendly! Food was absolutely amazing ! Will definitely be coming back !

Amazing food going there every time possible.. space little bit too small.. when its busy literally siting next to strangers and listening their convo..thats a bit annoying but food tho🤭😗

Happy Samurai pleasantly surprised us with its good food. It would not be incorrect to say that this place serves the best Japanese food in canterbury. The in house sake was remarkable.

Many places advertise Japanese fare, but are in no way authentic. This place is, and staff preparing meals included Japanese. Happy Samurai is both eat in and take out. I would say what the offerings are close to the same dishes I have eaten while living in Japan. Happy Samurai is certainly popular, and we had to return after 20 minutes to secure a table - on a Sunday at 2.30pm. The downside is to be prepared to wait: it took 25 minutes to be served. A bowl of ramen is around £12.50, a plate of yaki udon, £13. The dining area, accessed by a narrow staircase. is slighty cramped - perhaps reminiscent of budget Japanese eateries. Staff were friendly and helpful - for those knowing little of Japanese food, some pictures on the menus might help.. We left feeling broadly positive. My wife intends to pick up some sushi as a take out in the next few days.

Great quality food, highly recommend and will definitely be returning. One of the best restaurants in Canterbury.

Very nice, busy restaurant with lots of different options! We had to wait for a table to begin with but not too long, glad we waited as the food was very enjoyable!

A simply lacklustre experience. Had to wait 30 minutes outside the restaurant in the cold, which was fine as we had not previously booked, though it speaks volumes about the service, especially as it took 12 people to leave the restaurant before my friend and I were seated. What was most infuriating was not only that the waiters took the order of 2 separate groups before ours (who came after us), it took 35 minutes for our food to come, with everyone else in the restaurant who came at the same time or later, having almost finished their food by the time we got ours. Don’t even think the waiters made an attempt to feel remorse/apologise for making us wait so long. Just wasn’t worth the 1 hour wait before getting any food.

Gorgeous food, best gyoza/ ramen I've had yet.

On arrival there seemed to be a miscommunication between the staff and we were left waiting at the top of the stairs with all tables full or reserved. No one came to seat us or paid us any attention until we could stop a staff member going past. When we were seated in a position that required climbing up steps with no handrail or wall, and stepping down into the table and bench (not for older people or the less able), service was decent albeit with an added 12.5% service charge. The sushi was good quality and I would recommend it but the noodle bowls were a bit disappointing. The spicy bowl was too spicy for even the bravest in our Anglo-Asian family.

Since I moved here 4 years ago, I have tried many ramen places, but this one stands out as one of the best. Our go-to order is always the tan-tan ramen with the char siu pork because it is simply delicious. Despite the small size of the place, the service is impeccable.

The food is fine, though not as tasty as Tamago's. The service was good and the staff went out of their way to help us choose dishes. The problem lies with the layout and ventilation. The seating area is small and very cramped, and situated above the kitchen. This means that it's hot, humid and smelly. You can tell when something has gone in the fryer as you are bathed in the smell of hot oil. Signs tell you not to open the windows, even though the place desperately needs fresh air. After dining, we had to shower and wash our clothes. That shouldn't be necessary.

Kind waiter, platter was expensive and tasteless but was redeemed by the rice bowl, best I’ve ever had

Always have the best food here. Service is always great!

Amazing food, excellent service, generous sized portions. Best ramen l've ever had!

Probably the best sushi I've ever had! You know its good when you see Japanese people eating in there. Highly recommend

OMG visited this place today after a recommendation and travelled 45 mins to take our daughter for her birthday - it’s well worth the trip - the staff are brilliant and the food is out of this world. We will definitely be going back for sure. Thank you guys !!!

Really lovely great value food and friendly stuff.

Mum's birthday lunch with the girls.

Average ramen, very long wait despite the friendly service. Wouldn’t come again.

Good food, good service and affordable prices. Good for starters and small plates to share.

This is the best Japanese restaurant in Canterbury - at least in my opinion. It's a bit pricey but well worth the money for the experience. Defiently worth checking out

This palce is dirty! DIRTY Walls,toilet, and sticky tables. We ordered sushi platters, a literally miniature version of sushi. Absolutely ridiculous overpriced!

Amazing kitchen! Best sushi in Kent. The ramen is to die for. Thank you!

Fantastic Japanese restaurant offering a wide range of authentic dishes. The place offers quite a good representation of an authentic Japanese restaurant but with quite a wide range of foods on offer. You can get sushi, ramen, tempura, yakatori - all sorts. There will be something for everyone on the menu. Lots of veggie options, they also explain most menu items in more English terms for those less familiar with the Japanese terms. It would be great if there were more authentic Japanese veggies on the menu, e.g. lotus root, and if they had a tablet/ticket ordering system like a lot of little Japanese restaurants, but otherwise you can't fault the service. A great improvement would be a range of alcohol free beers - although the ice teas were really delicious - not too sweet, and very flavourful. The food came quickly and the hosts were very friendly.

Great place, about as authentic as it gets. If anything they have too much selection but if you have a vibe they can pretty much fulfill it. Only wish they had seasonals like odin

Limited choice for vegetarians but delicious

Firstly I would like to say that the food was very good, but. I found the food over priced for the amount we received. We ordered 2 dishes with the second given to us 20 minutes after the first which wasn't great. All topped off with Christmas songs being played, it's September! When I asked why a Christmas playlist was on I was told it seamed fitting for such a cold day, it was 20'c and sunny??? I didn't hate the place and I will return to try one of the Ramen bowl's one day. I just feel that it's overpriced and left me feeling cheated out of £60

The Unagi Donburi (eel rice bowl) is amazing

Possibly one of the worst meals I’ve ever tried to eat. I ordered fried udon noodles with vegetables. I got udon noodles that hadn’t been fried with mandonlined veg. That’s it. No sauce, no flavouring. Literally a packet of noodles + 20p worth of thinly sliced peppers/cabbage and whatever else- it was so thinly sliced it was basically tasteless. The young Japanese guy serving us was sweet and friendly, unlike the girl who would rather have been anywhere else than serving at this restaurant. How can a Restaurant with so many glowing reviews have served us a meal that even a student would have disowned? My companion ordered mackerel sushi he said was good. He also ordered seafood udon with noodles that were equally underwhelming and barely warm with frozen prawns and mussels. We dined here thinking it would be better to dine at an independent business wish we’d chosen Pho or Wagamama instead. Had we been charged service we would have refused on the basis of the waitress’s attitude.

Best Place for Ramen Noodles. The only down side to this restaurant that i wish it was opened more. every time me and my girl friend are looking for a place to eat, this place is closed...

Every single dish we tasted was terrific. The waitstaff seemed like they were in training, very polite and lovely but learning the ropes. The food was sensational. We truly enjoyed it. We were with a couple of foodies and they also gave it two thumbs up. So delicious and reasonably priced. Would love to visit again.

Great food, attentive staff but had to wait a long time for meal to be served. Didn't spoil our evening though.

We have been visiting happy samurai for close to 2 years now and have never had anything bad to say about them. Recently my girlfriend and I went there and thought it would be another good experience. We received our ramen and immediately found her order to be wrong, and then found a long strand of hair attached to the meat. We called the waitress over and she made a face and asked if we wanted a new bowl of ramen. We were not offered any compensation and no apologies were made. Food good, customer service poor. We unfortunately won’t be going back.

Only the Ramen is good, sushi’s ok, noodle dishes Luke warm and the service is embarrassingly awful. Management weren’t in the least bit interested, literally getting away with the bare minimum to take your money. 3rd visit- same each time

The quality of the food was okay , the place look real authentic. The portion were a bit small . Was a bit expensive but like most of the Asian restaurants in the uk.

Very popular Japanese restaurant, you generally go upstairs, although some bar seating for busy days downstairs. The food is good and the service is polite and typical Japanese. Drinks and food tasted great, and service was fast. Busy place and well worth a visit for authentic food and experience.

Love this food so much. Everything I could want in a Japanese restaurant. I have been here before. Service is very slow, so you can’t be in a hurry. We got forgotten about once we were seated as a family, with many other people after us being served before us. This is unfortunate as it does leave a bad taste. I had to literally go and ask someone to take our order after 30:minutes waiting with no drinks etc. Busy or not, it’s a very small restaurant! Considering we reserved a table it makes us think again about going. Such a shame, but we will try again. Previously service was also slow so I’m hesitant

The seafood ramen soup is very light, but it doesn’t match my taste. Whereas the seafood like, sea bass, shrimp, and squid are tasty. Fried tofu is not the type I imagine as crispy outside but soft inside, if it is the case, it will be wonderful. Also, if the noodles can be customized, to be harder not soft as dough, it would be my type.

Waited nearly an hour but didn't get our food, it would be less annoying if we hadn't seen people who had come in after us being served first

Must try place for some heart warming ramen

Quite surprised with what we got considering the many positive reviews. We had rice with teriyaki chicken. The chicken was chewy and not good at all, I do believe I spotted them heating it up in the microwave (and perhaps overdoing it). All in all, I’d avoid and go somewhere else.

In Canterbury for shopping, stopped off at the Happy Samurai for lunch, we asked if they could cater for Gluten free and they produced a Gluten free menu. Very pleased. We had a triple choice of Sushi and the spicy tan tan Ramen Very enjoyable, its really nice to see Japanese families eating here as well. Staff were very helpful and knowledgeable, service and food was superb. We will certainly be eating here again

Food was good, the only things was the ramen which was overdone but relatively minor. Defo de was friendly but slow. Would definitely go again for the sushi. Good variety and quality.

The food here is absolutely excellent. It's a favourite haunt of the local students who typically eat the exceptional value ramen dishes. We tend to be more adventurous, starting with the tempura prawns and soft-shell crab, both of which are great. We then also go for platters of sushi and sashimi. These are all substantially more expensive, but still good value and top quality. The issue is that service time becomes a nightmare when you stray from the most popular dishes. Be prepared for a long wait. I'd normally have dropped it 2 stars for poor service, but the food is so good I only dropped it one. Will still go back despite the wait.

This place was a surprise and one thing f the best Japanese restaurants I've ever been to. The most difficult part is choosing what to eat,... it is the only place I have been to that has great sushi and at the same time really good ramen... Ohh and take their homemade Kimchi

One of the best ramen places I’ve ever been to! What a lovely experience! Thank you!

The food is spectacular!! The staff there is very kind but the only problem is that there was a mosquito flying very slowly over our food. Really recommend it though!!

Mouth-watering and incredibly tasty food, wonderfully helpful staff. Staff were really accommodating when we visited yesterday with our 8 month old, allowing us to park our buggy downstairs. As for the food itself, it was to die for - easily the best meal I've had in months. My partner and I both had kimchee steak donburi and we had a selection of other plates. Honestly, I think it's a little underpriced for what you get, particularly in the middle or Canterbury. We visited whilst on holiday which is a crying shame as we'd be coming back as regulars if we lived in the vicinity.

Lovely foods, all done freshly at time of orders. One of the best Japanese foods I've ever tasted up and down the country. Warm and friendly atmosphere. Highly recommend!

Whenever i visit canterbury i will have my lunch here with my partner & we been having lunch here for 2 years but recently the quality is going down hill, soup rymen taste nothing like how it used to be, last time it was tasteless just like water & full of burn stuffs, i said i will give it another try but again, it just not worth £15, i can easily get a pack of rymen with better soup pack inside for as low as £2, me & my partner both agreed that we will not come again knowing you pay for something not worth it. Very disappointing.

Went with my 21 year old daughter. Great choice of food, lovely friendly staff, tried a Japanese lager , very nice. Good Central Canterbury location

Love this place Great food Great staff Great price. Will be visiting again

The food was good. We had the sushi party platter with extra unagi. It took a while to come because there was only one sushi chef on. The server was really helpful, informative and friendly. They seemed a little overstretched however and couldn't focus their excellent service enough to make the evening seem like it was managed efficiently. The atmosphere was lively but also a little stuffy. The kitchens being downstairs and producing a lot of fried food means that the environment is warm and greasy. I would love to give more stars as the food was really nice - the unagi was fantastic - but the environment and lack of support for their excellent servers takes the shine off this dining experience.

amazing food, lovely staff and great service 10/10!

Seems to be genuine Japanese cuisine. Both staff and clients mostly Japanese

I have been to Happy Samurai (Canterbury) quite a few times now with my girlfriend - this is what to expect: The food is great, best Japanese food in Canterbury, plenty of options, I LOVE their Tantán Ramen and it’s great to have an option for extra noodles for a fee. Everything is hand prepared and very tasty, they have a sushi menu and a ‘specials’ menu too. DO NOT COME TO THE RESTAURANT AT 3pm AS STAFF TAKE AN HOURS BREAK UNTIL 4pm and it does not tell you on Google, this has happened to me 3 times in the past after travelling 30 minutes. The service is quite sub-par though and I have encountered rudeness over the phone whilst booking and when walking in. The waiters and waitresses are quite young and the busier it is, the more chaotic the staff. We also made a booking and was told we could not be seated for 30-45 mins. It’s a small restaurant with seating upstairs and can get very hot on hot days. After coming here around 10 times this year, our last experience with service and rudeness, we will not be returning for some time.

Best Ramen in town. I literally dream about this food and it's my go to place now when I want to eat in town somewhere

I've visited the happy samurai on multiple occasions and I always love it. I love going to grab a takeaway on my break at work or going for a sit down meal. Always excellent 👍

Slow service and the amount of times I’ve been here where soft shell crab is not available is unbelievable.