Kiraku

Quick glance:
+ fresh, fabulous and authentic Japanese food
+ takes reservation
+ selection of sake and wine
— good food comes at a cost!
Full review:
I came here on a weeknight evening with a friend who lives nearby, who swears by the tasty sashimi and yummylicious sushi that Kiraku has to offer.
Upon entering the unassuming restaurant, the front door is plastered with awards from TimeOut and Michelin Guide for many consecutive years. The restaurant isn’t very big but several of the large tables were reserved for the evening, as it turned out for Japanese patrons who no doubt often frequent this restaurant.
The choices of sushi, sashimi, and hot and cold food is overwhelming, and there are appetising photos to tempt the diners. In the end I relinquished most of the control to my friend who is a seasoned patron of the restaurant and between two ordered a sashimi platter, hot tofu appetiser, octopus dumplings, and three futo maki.
Everything tastes delicious, although I am inclined to skip the misokatsu cheese futo maki next time (which contains Camembert and pork katsu — different and weird). With green tea for two and service charge, the bill came to £90, which isn’t totally out of this world for good sushi in London. Come here for good, authentic Japanese food, but be prepared that the bill can rack up quickly.

The quality of the food here was generally excellent. Fresh sushi and I rather enjoyed the tempura and yaki soba as well. Everything we tried was homey– lovely mom and pop food)
Could be a bit more atmospheric, but good Japanese food is really hard to come by as it is in London, I’d rather eat good Japanese food in what my friend optimistically called a «store front» restaurant than no good Japanese food at all.
Surprised at the price– you’d definitely not get this quality of food at this price in central London! Yay.
Worth a 20 minute detour…

Very heavy handed with the Japanese Mayo. Sure it’s listed in that ‘Where chefs eat’ book and recommended by one of the guys from The Fat Duck, but it never became my fave in West London.

Really good, very fresh sushi. A bit more expensive then I’d normally pay. But once again was really good. Lots of locals it seemed in the place too, so thats always a good sign.

Camembert and fried pork sushi roll?
Stop and imagine that for yourself. Gooey smelly French cheese, fried pork cutlet and a little bit of chutney all wrapped up in seaweed and rice and then served with the usual dish of soy sauce and wasabi. How do you think that combination will go? Hint, don’t dip it in the soy/​wasabi stuff.
So I think from the start of this review you’ll realise that Kiraku are not the traditional sushi sellers that nearby five-​star Atari-​Ya are. They do sell some good cuts of raw fish as sashimi, nigiri and donburi but they also do a whole lot more — salads, roasted tofu, crispy crab and the aforementioned cheese and pork maki.
I’m pretty sure I still prefer the conservative sushi three doors down, especially as the mackerel at Kiraku is annoyingly the pickled kind. But Kiraku must be doing something good as it’s very packed every night and usually with young Ealing Japanese having fun with the many sakes.

Second visit and I’m in love with this place. Great service. Try Fire Roll and if you like sashimi try Toro and Hamachi

Kiraku does everything fairly well, but having lost their best sushi chefs, has definitely dropped in quality in what used to be their best attribute — the sushi.
I found the fish to be less fresh than normal across the board, and the pieces not as delicately sliced as they were in my memory. The cooked food was ok, though again, I wasn’t as keen on certain dishes which I used to love there, esp the tori karaage. My fiancée had a katsu chicken donburi and we both thought it was a bit gross.
Really not that bad, but for a 20 minute train ride to Ealing I don’t think I’ll be rushing back.

Haven’t had this kind of food since leaving Tokyo. Much better than some of the more expensive places.
The dragon roll sushi is on par with what I’ve had in Tokyo, California and New York.
The udon noodles are the best I’ve had in London and as good as any in Japan.
Worth booking as it seems very busy there. Voted best restaurant by the residents in the area for a good reason.

Been here a few times for lunch and dinner. I have never been dissapointed. The décor inside is simple, the restaurant is clean and tidy. Staffs there are really friendly. It feels like a family run restaurant. The staffs speak Japanese as well as English.
As for the food, there are many varieties to choose from, not just sushi. They serve noodles and dishes, bento sets. Very fresh and delicious and the price is very reasonable.

we went to kiraku last night and had a great experience. the menu is extensive, with sushi and loads of other options. we had just sushi of which i would recommend a turbot sashimi and the soft shell crab roll. the crab roll is worth it just for the experience of seeing a whole crab rolled into a sushi roll! great place overall, ver good value a very attentive service.

We love this place — we’ve given up all other restaurants just to come here. We don’t even mind 1 hour drive (sometimes with additional 1.5 hours in traffic) if only we get a slice of Kiraku special (crispy salmon skin roll with roe).
Service is immaculate, very attentive staff, lovely owners. This place is always busy, so booking in advance is a must.
Extensive menu, plenty of hot dishes (not just raw fish), finest quality products used.
Stunning!
My average spend is £30−35 per head.

Please don’t confuse this place as an izakaya that serves only snack like items. They have full menu that outshines a lot other japanese restaurants.
Let’s talk Sake. I don’t really drink sake all that much but they have a machine that keeps the Sake at the optimal 98 degrees, on tap! How awesome is that?
They serve the best grilled saba I ever had in my life. It was about the quality of the fish and contrast between the crisp outside and the incredible tenderness of the inside! Holy cow, was it ever good!
I’ve eaten at many Japanese restaurants in London and this remains my top choice for price and authenticity!

please take know that the address should read as:
8 Station Parade
Uxbridge Road
Ealing Common
London
W5 3LD
also the map shown is indicating a wrong location!
and the nearest tube station is ealing common and not kew gardens!
our original plan was to try out sushi hiro nearby.
unfortunately hiro was fully booked for the evening and we settled for kiraku.
basically, kiraku builds itself as an izakaya restaurant.
lot’s of japanese patrons which is always a good sign.
comprehensive menu with a bit of everything.
the sashimi moriwase special was surprisingly very good.
very fresh and nicely cut.
the shoku carpaccio was a nice sashimi salad with garlic and olive oil.
their kaki fry was well fried.
the salmon porridge was simple and comforting.
the grilled eggplant with cheese and miso was a little over salty.
kushiyaki was ok but not outstanding.
i like their crispy chicken skin.
their beef tongue was nicely crunchy and chewy.
the pork rolled with shiso leaf was slightly too porky in taste.
the chicken ball was ordinary and so was the chicken.
as for the chicken wing, one was burnt and the other was under cooked.
maki wise, the ones we ordered were the kiraku special and soft shell crab.
kiraku special had a generous serving of ikura but i couldnt taste any crispy salmon skin.
the soft shell crab one was ordinary.
in both, the rice grains seem too starchy and big.
the biggest led down, food wise, has to be the special of the day which was a deep fried iberico pork.
too oily outside and too dry inside.
definitely not worth the money and long wait!
for dessert we struggled to make the staff know what we wanted.
bascially, 2 macha ice cream with azuki beans and 1 kuri ice cream with azuki beans.
after going back and forth for 10 minutes, she finally understood what we wanted! sigh.
my biggest complain for kiraku has to be their wait staff!
very slow service and no promptness in refilling our tea despite many reminders to do so!
also the food took ages to come.
so much so that we even forgot we had ordered them.
having said that, they must be doing well as they were packed by 8pm.
i’ll be back but i’ll be more careful what i order in the future.
Opening Hours:
Tuesday — Sunday (Monday Closed)
Lunch: 12 — 3pm (Last orders 2:30pm)
Dinner: 6 — 11pm (Last orders 10pm)

This is a hidden gem just across the road from Ealing Common Tube. The food is ten times better than Yo! Sushi. Really really fresh and with more variety. Try the fatty tuna but don’t be put off by the name. They also do take away and a great party platter if you want to entertain at home. Don’t expect it to be cheap here though. But you get what you pay for. Which is good quality fresh sushi, sashimi and ngiri!

Impressive Japanese restaurant in Acton, which is blessed with a significant Japanese population. There are a few good places around, but this is my fave for food.
It’s simple inside, but elegant. Clean and uncluttered, you can order a wide range of sushi, noodles, and other dishes. The portions you get here are more substantial than you get most places: just see how large the soft-​shell crab roll is.
If you’re eating in, the renovated toilets downstairs are very nice, almost elegant.
My wife likes to ring ahead with a take-​away order to pick up on the way home. She’s well known as a regular now.