Machiya in City of London, Westminster

Excellent Tonkatsu, quick service

My favourite Japanese cafe! I am often in Japan and I can say that the atmosphere here is the same! Everything is very tasty and beautiful! The staff is excellent and polite

Great good- really tasty! And lovely staff.

The food was heavenly, and the environment is so homely. The staff is so sweet and suggested really good dishes. Thank you, I will be back for sure.

AVOID. This is the worst Japanese food that I have ever eaten: we ordered rice bowls - Pork Katsudon and Gyudon. The rice was overcooked and mushy, and had no flavour at all. The pork cutlet was dry and chewy, and served in such large pieces that it was impossible to eat with chopsticks (no other utensils provided). The beef brisket tasted like cheap meat that had been microwaved, again with no flavour. I could not even stomach to finish it. For starter we ordered pickled cucumber and kara-age (fried chicken). For £5.75 we received SIX (6 only) small pieces of cucumber. The kara-age did not arrive as a starter; it was only delivered as a main course & was somehow both dry and greasy at the same time. We have visited Japan and even the food at the convenience stores was better than this. I hope that we were just unlucky.

Great food. Relaxed atmosphere.

I visited Machiya for the first time after a recommendation from a Japanese friend and have since become a regular customer. One of the things I particularly like about the food is it is very authentic and tastes like it would in Japan. An example are the katsu curries where the sauce is very much Japanese style and the Tsukune which even comes with the customary egg yolk for dipping. I particularly recommend the katsu curries and large plates and the Mille Crêpe and Matcha Fondant for dessert, although everything I have tried is delicious. The service is also very good. The dishes are served quickly and despite being very busy, the staff are friendly, polite and very responsive. They have Japanese speaking staff, although their English is also excellent based on hearing them speak to other customers. Machiya is a fairly small restaurant and is very busy even on weekdays and so I do recommend making a reservation if possible. I should also point out all the seating is stools and they do not have booths. However, they are accomodating to my needs and give me a table where I could lean against the wall. In summary, I always have a very good dining experience at Machiya and I would definitely recommend a visit if you fancy authentic Japanese food combined with very good customer service.

Visited this weekend, service was really good and the ladies were really attentive. Food was authentic and tasted good. Decor was a little dated and the tables of 2 at the top of the restaurant were very tight together.

Delicious food, pleasant service, music and atmosphere is lovely. Good prices too, will be coming again :)

I went there for lunch on my day off. I had oyakodon and fried chicken, and the soup stock was very effective and it was very delicious. It's been a while since I tasted Japanese food. This is definitely my favorite Japanese food I've had in the UK!

Very good experience. Very courteous service.

Great food and great atmosphere

No es mi primer rodeo en Machiya. Mi novio y yo fuimos a Japón el año pasado y este es uno de los únicos lugares en Londres que sabe algo como la comida que comimos allí. Los platos son muy auténticos y deliciosos. Un favorito es el tonkotsu, tan crujiente y lleno de sabor. No podría recomendar más.

Portion size is good, though the food can be a bit more flavourful. It was really difficult to get service throughout the meal.

Lovely place, wonderful food and staff

Rude staff with zero reason. Walked in on a quiet Tuesday at 5 PM, an empty restaurant with no one. and the staff was insistent—borderline aggressive—about making us sit at the bar table. I checked online—plenty of tables available for the time, but they still insisted. Their booking system even demands credit card details, and for some reason the staff pushes so much on booking, coincidence? No explanation and no flexibility. Don’t waste your time; they clearly don’t value customers with that attitude.

Amazing authentic Japanese food and atmosphere offered. Perfect for a solo traveller spending one night in London 😊 I enjoyed sitting alone at the bar table so much and it brought back memories from Japan!

The food and customer service were excellent. Definitely recommend.

Great service, fabulous food 👌, great fun atmosphere, ( not easy in such a small place!). Our server was wonderful she made us feel so welcome, ( two oldies in a young space), we didn't catch her name but just mention Mighty Crown and she'll know 😉. Definitely recommend for Japanese food lovers and good vibes😍

Hello, the gyudon beef was too dry

I read all the reviews before going there on DEC 20th, 2024. I was hoping to get food Japanese food. Unfortunately, the food was not good. The quality of the rice was terrible. Gyudon was dry and I couldn't finish the rice. The location and service were fine, but I was disappointed by the food. Nasu Dengaku, Kinoko Don and Gyudon were tasteless. Paying more than 60 pounds was not worth it for me in my opinion.

Lady that served us today (up until closing/10pm), great friendly and welcoming service.

I always like to come back to my favorite Japanese restaurant. The vibe, food, service everything was amazing. Thank you for a best service for Yuri-san. 😄

27.50 for a small bowl of eel rice and 11.50 for a barely contained alcohol “Long Island iced tea”, I am even half full after paying 40. Plus eel rice is too sweet. Would not recommend nor come again.

Amazing authentic little Japanese restaurant gem! Food is incredible and service very friendly. The menu is heavenly and genuinely authentic food, a nice find indeed!

very nice and authentic japanese restaurant, umai!!!!!!

Machiya combines a cosy atmosphere, friendly service, and delicious, generous portions. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend paying a visit — I’ll definitely be returning!

I never thought I could hear so much Japanese in London. The food was exactly like Japanese food.

Yuri-san was the most amazing waitress. Thank you for an authentic experience.

Very authentic and delicious food! Super friendly staff, definitely a place to repeat 😍🤌

I tried the Vegetable Katsu Curry, and it was really bland. Based on the menu description, I expected something crispy, but it was just rice, a few vegetables, and katsu sauce. For £17, it felt like a total rip-off. Not many options for vegetarians other than this either.

Very good restaurant, I had a dish made from rice and seasonal vegetables in a Japanese curry sauce and it was delicious 😋. Very good service and welcome. Lovely place. I recommend 😀

I really enjoyed my meal at Machiya! Me and my girlfriend both ordered the chicken katsu curry with yuzu lemonades. The katsu curry was flavourful and one of the nicer ones I have had. The yuzu lemonade was so good, it tastes a bit like sherbert lemonade but better! Definitely the highlight of my experience. I ordered a crepe cake for dessert and it was light and fluffy. I would recommend for a nice Japanese spot in central London.

The food was delicious, the staff were incredibly friendly and the atmosphere was wonderful with fun, vibey Japanese pop music. Would come back in a heart beat!

cosy place with lovely staff (Yuri has been fab) and delicious food

Happened across this place luckily managed to get a seat for 2. Food was very tasty and service was excellent. Bustly place very clean too

Great chilled out place with fabulous food. Try the nasu dengaku!

Delicious pork chop rice! But I would also like to recommend the homemade green tea (? If I remember the name correctly). The tea has a light and refreshing flavor and is very delicious.

Excellent food & service, can’t fault anything, except perhaps the music 😝

Very friendly staff, great food and portion sizes, suitable for lunch and dinner.

Delicious! Thank you very much! ^_^

Amazing restaurant! nice vibe food is amazing

Best aubergine ever and lovely friendly service.

Great little Japanese restaurant. All the food we ordered was delicious. The staff are very attentive and friendly

Love this restaurant and the staff are so friendly and helpful thank you for another fantastic meal

Surprisingly delicious food, a bit crammed space , fast service and okish prices.

Updated @ Dec 2024. Used to be one of my go-to eateries in central London but I sort of stopped coming here after being turned away the last couple times because the place was swarmed. Long story short, as we were around the area we decided to take our chances and surprise surprise - there was no queue, yay! That is pretty much the only happy part of the story, the rest is pretty sad. Now a tonkatsu is £17 and you have to pay an extra £5 for the rice and £4 for the miso soup if you want the full set. With that you get a piece of overcooked pork cutlet with breading that keeps falling off. If you think you'd get better value for money opting for the katsu curry then you'd be disappointed when you get served a bowl of curry without a single piece of veggies inside.

Our first time with my friend. The waitress was very nice and sweet. The service was very friendly, and the food was tasty and filling. I will definitely go back again!! :) And we looooved the old school rnb music playlist 😍

Very good food and amazing service, we will definitely come back 👌

Was the best experience I’ve had, thank you yuri !

Small Restaurant with very kind service. Would go again.

Absolutely amazing food!! Ordered easily on their website and got the food within a few minutes during quiet times. The food was super tasty and we really enjoyed it all. The portions were a perfect size and we were very satisfied. Not too expensive either! The restaurant was lovely, clean and light and the staff were very friendly! Would definitely recommend and will definitely be returning!

Came here for two consecutive days! Amazing Japanese home-style food, very healthy, authentic, and delicious!

Not too bad. Hope price can be better for the quality.

Very good food with good atmosphere. Fast and attentive service

Hometown taste...😂 I ordered beef bowl, eggplant, and matcha cake🍰It was delicious.

Unbelievably good japanese food. Best i’ve had

The food was amazing, really friendly staff! We ended up sitting at the bar which was a new experience for us but very fun!!

This was our second time here. It's a small restaurant so probably best to book but we've been twice and have been lucky both times to get a table without a booking. Lovely food great atmos.

Really good, authentic tonkatsu! A bit pricey, but usual for Japanese restaurants in London. Came here on a Saturday evening, and despite being quite busy, the food came fast and was tasty. It is a bit away from the crowded area around Leicester Square, so you will have a seat even without reservation! Would come again! What I ordered: Misoshiru Tonkatsu Large Plate Homemade Yuzu Lemonade Total: £26.40

Astonished by the food. We haven’t had eel for a long time so order Unagi Don. The eel was sooo well cooked and the sauce was nicely seasoned. We also ordered beef udon which I will come back for the soup! My LO loves as well. Fried tofu was very finely prepared in a sense that the panko around it was just a thin layer. It’s a fried dish but you don’t feel it’s heavy at all. We ordered 3 dishes for a family of 3 and we think it’s good quantity. For big eaters, you might want to order one more.

Brilliant! Right up there with the best of Tokyo

Excellent quality of food, I highly recommend coming

Delicious food and super fast service

A good Japanese restaurant! I liked the Beef Gyudon and Teppan Beef. I also enjoyed the homemade Jasmine Tea Lemonade. Our server was a smiley Japanese woman. There are seats upstairs and downstairs (also the bar is downstairs).

The food is amazing! The staff are friend and nice! They recommended us plum sake and advised us to drink with ice as it tend to be on the sweeter end! I tend to find most matcha cake to have their sweetness too overpowering but here you can definitely taste the matcha!! One of the best matcha cake!! Portion is very generous for the unagi don! It’s a small place so would strongly advise to book in advance!

Very good Japanese food and nice people!

Super friendly and nice here. Would recommend for locals/foreigners.

Visité Machiya por primera vez después de una recomendación de un amigo japonés. Tuve el Kara - edad, el Tonkatsu con arroz y el Matcha Fondant. Habiendo vivido en Japón, encontré todo lo que ordené para ser auténtico. El Kara - era agradable y crujiente por fuera y jugoso por dentro. El Tonkatsu era delicioso y definitivamente comparable a lo que tenía en Japón. El Matcha Fondant también era muy bueno. Realmente se puede probar el matcha y sin duda lo recomiendo si tienes un diente dulce. El servicio también fue muy bueno. Los platos que pedí se sirvieron rápidamente y a pesar de estar muy ocupado, el gerente y la joven japonesa que me sirvió fueron amables, educados y muy receptivos. La joven incluso se hizo tiempo para charlar conmigo en japonés (aunque su inglés era excelente basado en escucharla hablar con otros clientes). Machiya es un restaurante bastante pequeño y estaba muy ocupado incluso para un día de semana y por lo que recomiendo hacer una reserva si es posible. También debo señalar que todos los asientos son taburetes y no tienen cabinas. Sin embargo, se acomodaron a mis necesidades y me dieron una mesa donde podía apoyarme contra la pared. En resumen, tuve una muy buena experiencia gastronómica en Machiya y sin duda recomendaría una visita si te apetece auténtica comida japonesa combinada con muy buen servicio al cliente.

Phenomenal food at this place, not a bad item on the menu and at a reasonable price too

I came back to London for a league of legends worlds event and this came up as a place to go. I had the pork katsudon l, authentic and tasted so good. What kept me here is all the staff, amazing atmosphere. I knew no one and ended up chatting to people I would of never met. 100% would recommend and come again. Runs and feels like a family and very hard working. Being someone that works in hospitality, I rate this place. Definitely make this a stop by 👌🏻

Pequeño restaurante japonés encantador. Muy cálida bienvenida y como no sabía qué comer era muy útil que me aconsejaran sobre qué elegir, una vez que la señora me había preguntado qué tipo de comida me gustaba. Bien encantadora, necesito perfeccionar mis habilidades con los palillos. Una cerveza fría encantadora también. Una pequeña joya y muy buena relación calidad-precio, teniendo en cuenta que está en el corazón de la tierra del teatro.

Great food, but got seated next to toilet.

Great experience, would highly recommend!

Service was super friendly. Food is amazing. We had an amazing time here. 10/10 would recommend:)

Had a lovely lunch at Machiya! The karaage chicken and the niku upon were delicious and such a nice atmosphere.

🍚 Had a lovely lunch here today of shake don and a side of pickled cucumber. HUGE portion sizes and each bite was full of flavour. 💖 Clean, nicely laid out space and friendly and attentive staff. Would love to revisit next time we are in London!

The Japanese service was very good, and I was able to enjoy the taste of Japan at a reasonable price. Thank you for the meal!

Great food, very tasty and well presented. Fast service

Delicious Katsu curry, fast service!

Fab food, great welcome...will come back

I loved the miso aubergine, I loved the cheeky Spanish Oliver Twist that waltzed into my life like a faulty spot light and the rice and mushrooms wooohoooi

If you want Japanese food in London, definitely go to Machiya! The food is also great! The staff are also great! It's a popular restaurant, but the customers change quickly, so I didn't have to wait long to get in. My friend was impressed by the matcha dessert at the end. She said it was so delicious that she almost cried. I will definitely go again! Thank you for the meal :)

Delicious food, fast service, friendly staff 🤩

Had very tasty chicken katsu and also delicious starters. The Japanese flight of fancy was rounded off with very, very friendly service - we'll be back! 🚀

Very authentic, delicious Japanese food. Service was great too, it felt very homey. Please open a store in Leipzig, Germany too :D

My second time here. The best of service and really delicious food!

They gave us a table on Friday without having reserved. Was. The 21. They behaved great. They helped us choose a dish. Go hungry as the portions are generous. Very good flavor.

Amazing food, service is lovely, quick and pleasant.

Good food … quick service and tasty

Extremely rude service and perform racism to Asian people. Not real Japanese food and without Japanese culture - respect to everyone. Be aware the Japanese restaurant next door is under the same company. Different brands, same crew and same kitchen.

Good Japanese food. Interior was nice, but missing chairs with backrest, so it's not comfortable to sit there. Recommended to do reservation, because place can be busy. Serving was good. Payment can be done by scanning qr code from the table, which was super convenient.

Love machiya! I come here every couple of weeks to get my Japanese fix. Reliably tasty and amazing service from Yuri and the whole team.

I went there as seeing the high rate on reviews. Many (or all??) servers and the lady who looked like an owner there seemed to be very friendly to the only regular customers. What I was mostly disappointed was food. I don’t think the chef is Japanese. As a Japanese myself, I cook much better. Also, FYI, after adding 12.5% service charge on the bill, they also ask more tip on credit card payment machine although it’s an option to do so.

Ordered the "large plates" to tonkatsu which I thought was reasonably priced at £17. They asked "with rice?" which of course, tonkatsu needs, along with miso soup, which wasn't part of the plate. Turns out the rice was £5.80!!!!!!! Scam and ripoff. Do not recommend.

Amazing service and Amazing food

Delicious meal - nicest tonkatsu I’ve had outside of Japan. Friendly service and chilled atmosphere. Highly recommended.

Service was v nice & nice space, but food expensive. £60 for 1 of white wine, a chicken katsu curry and a basic beef rice bowl. I guess that's London 2024 😭

I don't usually think of Japanese food in London as being Japanese, but this place really felt like I was in a Japanese izakaya, which really impressed me as I was studying abroad. I'll come back later! ! Thank you 🙏🏻

Very nice Japanese food spot - highly recommended