Mitsukoshi

It’s a good sign when you go to a Japanese restaurant and all the staff are Japanese and most of the clientele as well. It was expensive — I won’t argue that — but the food was delicious and different from the usual Japanese fare you’d get elsewhere.
We ordered off the non-​sushi menu: kaiso seaweed salad (not just wakame but different coloured seaweed on a bed of lettuce), takoyaki (octopus balls topped with bonito flakes, yum), fried tofu in tempura sauce (delicious although I was hoping the tofu would have been slightly smoother), crispy fried mochi (fried in some batter and doused with sauce so it wasn’t crispy but I loved this dish) and grilled black cod in miso (the texture of the cod reminded me of fatty salmon — excellent). We should have ordered some rice but aside from that, it was a good meal.
That aside, it was expensive. £50 for 2, including two beers. I could definitely have eaten more. Was it the best thing ever? No, probably not but I loved the variety and different types of items on offer. Not your normal teriyaki bento box fare.

fantastic sushi!!! The service in the menswear department was
excellent.

Having been past here so many times since I was young, I was surprised to find this place wasn’t some japanese bank but actually a restaurant and shop.
Upon trying it however, perhaps it would have been better off it if was a japanese bank.
Quite pricey, and the food isn’t that good overall. At least it wasn’t that good on the lunchtime I went there. The whole dish seemed a bit dry, especially the meat, and the service left a lot to be desired as it was quite some time before we got any waiter service.

Très drôle: c’est un espèce de mini grand magasin pour japonais, avec des espaces des différentes grandes enseignes londoniennes (Harrod’s, Fortnum & Mason, etc.) et des vendeurs qui parlent japonais, des panneaux indicateurs écrits en japonais, etc. Sans doute peu d’intérêt pour les visiteurs, à part avoir la possibilité d’acheter des souvenirs sans avoir la cohue des vraies enseignes.
Enfin, je crois: je n’ai pas vérifié si on pouvait payer avec autre chose que des yens ;) !

What a disappointment! It’s very ridiculous! When we entered the unfriendly Japanese sales staff just looked at us perplexed because they’re only expecting Japanese customers. But there were no other customers which is bad for business. The price of items are given in yen ¥ and £. It’s very sad because they weren’t behaving like friendly and smiling Japanese sales assistants in Tokyo Ginza Mitsukoshi where I’d been several times!

Mitsukoshi is a quite a special Japanese department store. Lots of designers goods to choose from, and even a Japanese book shop. Quite interesting and different, and certainly worth a visit!

I love going in Mitsukoshi.
It’s a very nice and peaceful Japanese department store.
I’ve also been to the Mitsukoshi in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan.
But this branch is much smaller than in Tokyo. The things they stock at Mitsukoshi are very hard to get hold of. For example, Hardy & Parsons key-​rings, Ettinger laptop cases,
Glenroyal wallets, Glenroyal briefcases and Swaine Adeney umbrellas. These goods are very difficult to get hold of, and yet they are
made in the British Isles. Glenroyal are the most hard-​to-​find,
and I think Mitsukoshi are the only retailer in London stock them. They seem to have a lot of pure British made goods in Mitsukoshi.

Okay, first off, the food was absolutely delicious. My gf and I ordered a Chirashi to split, as it is pricey! I’m from the states, and I’m used to Chirashi being $ 16, not 16quid. So, yeowtch.
The sashimi bits were nice, though a bit stingey. The rice was perfectly seasoned though.
The reason this place gets a one star is the service. I would rather have good service with so-​so food, than have crap service and delicious food.
In one word: Crap.
We went at opening for lunch, it wasn’t busy. We were the second table to be seated.
That went all fine and dandy, though our servers were extremely cold to us.
The Chirashi came with clear broth soup, which went to the GF since she was a bit sniffly. Unfortunately, she had a bit of a clutz moment and dumped it! Oops! Anyways, a server saw it, but did not bring us any napkins, he actually openly glared at my girlfriend. Not cool. We had to use two thin (paper) napkins to sop up the mess because by that point we were being ignored.
Behind us, there were three servers who were having a conversation behind us. Talking about us. I speak some Japanese, it was about us, making fun of us. Oh so not cool.
We ate quickly as possible because we just wanted to be out of there, and we thought they would as well. Oh no. They screwed around for fifteen minutes after we had finished. Finally a waitress passed by, who my girlfriend said, «Excuse me,» to three times, to which the waitress ignored completely and utterly.
Finally, I had it, and responded with a gentle, but firm, «Sumimasen!»
Oh, that got her attention, upon which she went as red in the face as could be. Oh, so, the two non-​Japanese girls can understand, or at least one of them?
From there on out, I spoke nothing but Japanese to them, which got us out with the bill quickly enough.
It is safe to say I have had better service at Chinese Buffets than I have at this place. I’ve ate at many Japanese places, both completely authentic and not so authentic, and have never had such horrible service in my life.

Strange place full of japanese people who want to shop in a Japanese department store. I cannot see the point as the offerings at home are far better than what is offered in London. As I’ve learnt from bitter experience that british brands are so much better in the UK than abroad… Go to Harrods, Harvey Nichols or Fortnum & Mason instead.

This Japanese restaurant shares its name and is located on the basement level of the Mitsukoshi department store. However, it does open beyond the store opening hours and is a good venue for dining in the West End.
It’s a good sign that it’s full of Japanese customers and I was informed by some of my fellow diners that Mitsukoshi serves some of the most authentic Japanese food in town. So expect a good kick of wasabi in your rolls and some less well known dishes such as natto (fermented soy beans), which is served with buckwheat noodles, chilled with ice, and eaten within minutes of preparation.
There is a separate sushi bar and I had some top grade toro the night I ate here. I did splash out on their shokado bento box to try as many dishes as I could as I was dining on my own. The tempura and sashimi were light and super fresh respectively. The grilled fresh fish was lovely and was complemented well by the pickles.
There was so much more I wanted to try on the menu. When my wallet has recharged, I can see myself returning here again and again.

This is the London branch of the large Japanese Department store that was established in the Edo period and features in every city throughout Japan. You can find many of these department stores in Europe (Rome, Paris); they mainly serve Japanese and Korean coch trips or expats looking for souvenirs and a shopping experience to remind them of home (all staff speak fluent Japanese).
Service is really great and I would recommend the sale to all London shoppers as a nuber of branded goods (Orla Kiely, Burberry, Celine, Vivienne Westwood) are offered at a discount. It is quite small — the basement has a good range of Japanese books and magazines and souvenirs of London and England. The ground floor has a range of Harrods goods and handbags, Jewellery and Accesories. Upstairs this continues with clothing and Jewellery.
It usually isn’t busy and is a great place to come looking for trinkets or bargain designer accesories.
There is a point/​stamp card for the book shop if you buy there regularly and you can sign up for a Mitsukoshi point card for discounts and to be added to their mailing list for details of their sales.
The bookshop is a great place to pick up Japanese gifts for Christmas presents as they put an extra selection on display. You can find anything from vases to other Japanese crafts.

This is a Japanese department store just off Picadilly. As you walk in the staff yell irrashaimase which always seems a little odd to me as it’s in London. They have a big selection of designer goods and a good japanese book shop in the basement. Most customers are Japanese expats or tour groups looking for souvenirs to take home.