Super fast, and great service. Perfect for dinner before a movie night. On Friday night, I did a dinner-fail situation. Forgot to made reservations before my 8:30 movie. I went to a few places, and finally got seated at Atari-ya. With 45 mins left before the movie and a hungry belly, we managed to chow down some really yummy Japanese food. If we were to say purely based on food quality, I’d give it a 3.5. Food quality is very fresh, but the presentation /cut of fish is a bit«fast-food-ish», not top notch. Based on price/quality/quantity comparison, I think it’s a perfect Japanese place for a hungry belly without breaking the bank. However, the most impressive thing is their fast and quality service. Water fill? no problem. more ginger? Ok coming right up. Ponzu sauce? Right away! Bomb!
Dayoung L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Amersham, United Kingdom
I came here with family and friends for an impromptu dinner. I was brought up with Japanese cuisine since a very young age so I’d like to say I know this cuisine quite well. We ordered the 15 pc 5 different kinds assorted sashimi set which was absolutely delicious. We then also ordered the tempura udon, squid leg tempura, cold soba and eel avo roll. The tempura udon tasted cheap and instant where the tempura batter was soggy and not very crunchy. I recommend this place if you’re just going for sushi and sashimi but not for any hot food.
Tamara C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 London, United Kingdom
My roommate is Japanese and according to her this is one of the best quality Japanese restaurants in London. Everytime I come I always order the same thing because it is just so damn good! Salmon don with Tobiko instead of Ikura! The salmon is just such an amazing quality! Everything is worth it’s price if you ask me.
C B.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Atari-Ya is my new favourite sushi place in London! Lucky for me, it’s right around the corner in Swiss Cottage. I have not eaten in, so can’t speak to the service, each time I order take away, the staff is incredibly nice and have always had my order correct. These guys have some great sushi, all incredibly fresh and of high quality. Every roll and cut of fush was perfect and fresh. The uni was incredibly fresh and delectable. I would highly recommend.
Daniel K.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
A reasonable Japanese restaurant but one that I don’t frequent too often. This restaurant is in a nice area of town. Quietly hidden away on a wide street, delights in being rather authentic. I particularly enjoyed the fatty tuna sashimi, although the salmon was not as I have had in the past. Although it was the end of the evening and therefore we may not have been on time for the best parts. There was great service throughout and cola from a bottle. What more could I ask for. Will I return is always the predominant question the answer is yes, although again it may be a few months down the long road.
Anya T.
Rating des Ortes: 5 London, United Kingdom
Amazing!!! Love! Love! Love! Probably the best sushi place in London. I went to the Mayfair branch which I found on Unilocal(thank you Lord for Unilocal!!!) and I loved it! I saw that they have a restaurant near my house, and I think I found The ONE. Honestly, so fresh, tasty and not overpriced. If you love sushi– be sure to check this place out. Be warned– the Mayfair restaurant is really for takeaways only.
Irene L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
I stood and waited for over 5 minutes to be greeted by a waitress. It was a Tuesday evening and the restaurant was packed. I was asked to wait for about 10 minutes before I got my seat at the bar. I asked the waitress for a menu while waiting. However, she did not give me the Special menu. When I saw the Special menu, it was too late, I had already ordered. Luckily I got chatty with the girl sitting next to me and she suggested that we share a roll from the Special menu :) We shared a special roll made up of shrimp, scallop, tuna, sprinkled with deep fried onions. I forgot to take note of the name but it was £8.50 for 6 pieces. The roll was not bad but I did not like the deep fried onions. I felt that the taste of the deep fried onions did not go with the roll. It made the roll tasted heavy. I had the medium fatty tuna, 3 pieces for £6. The tuna was fatty and buttery. All the sushi and sashimi were fresh. The Assorted Sushi C for £11.00 consisted of 3 pieces of nigiri: tuna, salmon, boiled prawn and a salmon & avocado roll. Again, they were fresh but the roll was lacking in flavour. I am tempted to try all the Atariya branches in London to make comparisons.
V L.
Rating des Ortes: 2 London, United Kingdom
Been thrice and each time sliding on the satisfaction scale. Pales in comparison to Sushi Say, Jinkichi and Eat Tokyo where quality, service and authenticity is key for true Japanese fare. Lacks personality and over priced for what it is.
Bruce C.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Wapping, London, United Kingdom
A friend invited me here today for a business meeting. He told me before hand that the food is great. And he was absolutely right. I ordered the deluxe Chirashi, which was one of the best I’ve ever had. My only complain was the tables were so close together. I know they were trying to make the best of the little space available. But for the price I paid for the food, £22 for a deluxe Chirashi. I expect to be seated comfortably and I was not comfortable here.
Ellie M.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
We popped here last night for a bite to eat before the cinema. We usually head to Bento Camden for sushi and this is the first time i’ve been to Atari Ya and i’m seriously impressed. The nigiri was delicious, the fish was meltingly fresh and the rice was room temperature — really delicious. The salmon and tuna were fabulous quality and the black cod inside out rolls were very memorable. Less successful elements was a snow crab nigiri and an overly seasoned yakatori. BUT, and it’s a fairly big but, it’s really pricey, without drinks were were at £30 a head — it’s a lot for a casual meal. We will be back and if they did delivery, i’d probably be living on the stuff!
Ayako Y.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Maida Vale, London, United Kingdom
It is a sushi bar tucked away in nw corner of London. The setting is casual and although some efforts are made to make the place look nicer, it feels like a unsophisticated dinning place — this is mostly due to the smell and lighting. The lighting is very bright — almost feel like an office environment. The restaurant has this permanent fish smell. I am japanese do have been to quite a number of sushi restaurant in my life :-) one easy tell between world class sushi to average sushi is smell., the great sushi restaurants do not smell like fish. All sushi dishes as well as cooked dishes are just average… Nothing outstanding. Greatest value is in sushi and the chain wholesales sushi fish. I go of medium fatty tune, sea bass, yellow tail, tuna roll.
Sarah T.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
4 stars if you know what to order. The fish is definitely the star here, so oddly, this is a sushi place where you don’t want to get rolls. The rice is a touch cold, and the ratio of rice to filling is too rice-heavy. The nigiri were great, particularly the eel and snow crab. We also go the regular chirashi, which was very nice, and the rice was warm, so much better. To reiterate, the rolls were disappointing, The green tea was from a teabag. And the pancake and icecream dessert was fine, but a little underwhelming. It was surprisingly crowded on a weekday evening, but we snagged a last table. The atmosphere has a very light fishy smell, which, while not offensive, is something my mother would comment on and makes it not the fine dining experience it could otherwise aspire toward. The service was fine. It was a bit odd to have a waiter with an eastern European accent and hair from the 90’s punk scene, but he was nice.
J P.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
Very expensive for sushi that is okay and small amounts of it. The cuts of meat are alright and the recipes unadventurous and bland. Lots of well to do locals go there, it is clean and the service is good. If you are willing to travel, can do much better and more interesting sushi for the money
Samir S.
Rating des Ortes: 3 London, United Kingdom
A little bit of a disappointment really. Atariya had always been the go to sushi restaurant for great value good quality sushi. This seems to have really changed. We should not still be hungry after spending £30 per head on a sushi/sashimi platter each. They were described as ‘large’ but we both needed an extra snack on the way home! Certainly the quality and taste remain but the price has become too expensive to make it the destination restaurant it used to be. There are so many other alternatives that overshadow here in both quality and price.
Allison M.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Winchester, MA
The waiter and sushi chef were soo thrown by my simple substitution request: instead of prawn sushi, I would like an additional piece of tuna. They got it eventually, but they messed up my friend’s order, and there was just such an air of chaos with the waitstaff crowding the bar and yelling orders at each other. And, sat at the sushi bar, we got front row seats to this. Wooo. The quality of the fish was very good, but I wish the menu had been a little more interesting.
Conan H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
The eel on rice(unaju) was a winner.
Brian K.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Emeryville, CA
I think this place is a nice spot for a cozy date, but expect your wallet to lose weight and your palate to plead. Yea. Enjoy my alliteration. That’s what two associate degrees will get you. I was quite excited to try the Turbot and Sea Bream sashimi, along with Natto and spicy pollock roe. I will *always* spend money on new cuts of fish, no exceptions. This time, I was met with forgettable cuts that I doubt were very fresh. The turbot and bream had that«serve-able but not preferable» aura about it. This was exceptionally aggravating, as the turbot was a whopping 7+ pounds. The natto was decently stinky and odd, I can’t complain or compare much about this. Finally, the spicy pollak was just«ok» and served in slices that are confusing when dealing with fish eggs. I wasn’t quite done, as I was still hungrying(that’s my word and don’t steal it) I tried a salmon roll and wakame/cucumber salad. It was at this point I noted the insanely confusing price range of this place. A salmon roll was 2.80, and an inside out salmon and avocado roll was 5.50 or so. What? Who did the math on that? Granted, the inside out rolls were a bit bigger. but still. My wakame salad was also microscopic, and probably the size of George Bush’s brain. Overall, not terrible, but I wouldn’t go by yourself if you’re expecting«great» food. Also, I ran into the minor peccadillo(I just learned this word) where it was mostly non-Japanese people dining inside… and the all consuming poor british service. Not worth the 25 pound bill.
Johanna L.
Rating des Ortes: 4 San Francisco, CA
Japanese food is rare and hard to come by in London — at least, fresh Japanese food, that is. Coming from San Francisco where Japanese restaurants are at almost every block, I was a bit dubious as to how great Atari-Ya in West Hampstead could be. How wrong was I! The first time I came here was in 2010 while visiting my sister. We enjoyed the black cod miso and some rolls, as well as a wakame salad. The second time I visited her this past March, I jumped at the chance to eat here again when she suggested it. This time, we ordered a spider roll, black cod miso, and the tonkatsu don with egg. The service is attentive, the restaurant is clean, and the food fresh — unlike every other Japanese restaurant found in my locale of San Francisco. Next time I’m back in London to visit my sister, I’ll find an opportunity to make my way over to Atari-Ya. It’s quality, not the quantity, that matters!
Alinna C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
First time at this little hidden gem thanks to a friend’s recommendation the sushi was delicious and service was particularly nice because we went with a native Japanese speaker. Fatty tuna was heavenly in its meltiness, as was the himachil. Spent about £20 for an order of sashimi and three nigiri, which is perhaps a little steep, but well worth it. I suspect I’d be broke if I lived anywhere near this place.
Zara L.
Rating des Ortes: 4 London, United Kingdom
Sushi is tasty, high grade and whilst not dirt cheap better value than many sushi bars. The hot plates are also scrummy — I loved the miso black cod, and sweet aubergine dishes. Service was mixed as one waitress was very kind and attentive, whilst the other male waiter forgot to put some our order through, leaving us desperately trying to flag their attention from our seats at the back of the bar, Atari-ya is quite small — we failed to get a table even though we booked and were seated at the bar. I enjoy looking over the sushi making action, but for parties of two plus book a table well ahead.