Mugen

Decided to take my friend who was visiting and we turned up without a booking. Lucky we managed to get a place. Food was better than I expected to be. We started with some yakitori of chicken, beef and mushrooms! All very good. Followed by a Bento box with soup, cod in miso, 6 pieces of sashimi, 6 pieces of rolls, tempura, grilled beef and some fruit. My friend ordered chicken katsu curry.
All very good and very reasonably priced. The sashimi and tempura were outstanding and the Katsu curry was great too!
The service definitely needs improvement, the number of times the service team for things mixed up was unbelievable.
It was packed on a Tuesday evening with several Japanese clients, so that is an indication of the authenticity!
Definitely going back and hoping for better service. Is reasonably priced for a Japanese in the city!

We were in the neighborhood and wanted Japanese food, so this was a great find. 4 stars!
1^st star: Managing customer expectations — We showed up around 9.00p and the restaurant was pretty packed. The host warned us that the kitchen was really busy so there could be a wait. I appreciated that.
2^nd star: Extensive menu — I mean, their menu is like a book. If you want to sample a plethora of Japanese dishes, you could definitely do it here. What caught my eye as different was the Paper Bowl dish. It’s like a hot pot but the pot is made of thick paper.
We didn’t want much, so we ordered…
1. vegetable and fish paper bowl with a side of white rice
2. california roll
3. asahi beer :)
3^rd star: Ambiance and authenticity — The restaurant had a fun, lively vibe, and there were several Japanese patrons dining there. The restaurant must be doing something right!
4^th star: The paper bowl dish. It’s the reason for this review (so I can remember to come here again the next time I’m in London). The flavors were subtle but savory, simple but oh so memorable; I could just drink the broth and be happy. It wasn’t too salty at all. There were all kinds of seafood that made up my «fish»: scallops, salmon, white fish, shrimp. And then with all the green veggies and mushrooms, I felt like it was one amazingly delicious and healthy dish. YUM.

Have been to better Japanese restaurants in London. The waiter would not let us sit at at a particular table and insisted we sat next to a noisy table even though restaurant was half empty. In addition the sushi was not fresh –about up to conveyor belt restaurant standard if you know the one.

I really enjoyed this restaurant. I was a little apprehensive when I walked in, because it didn’t look and feel like an authentic Japanese restaurant. It felt like a Japanese restaurant just took over the lease and furniture from another restaurant. The menu was huge and had kimchi dishes, which made it look even less authentic.
Lucky I went with a Japanese friend, so she ordered for the table picking and choosing some of her favorite dishes. The menu was so huge, there is going to be something you like. We went ahead and ordered a full table small dishes to share, and I have to say, most of the dishes were really delicious. My favorite was the duck paper hotpot duck. I have never seen such cookware before, as the name suggested, the pot was made from special paper. It held hot soup and sat on top of open flame without catching fire. Quite impressive. Another dish I like was on the special menu, a quite homy dish: pork belly stewed in soy sauce. It was cooked for a long time, so it melted in your mouth and the fat tasted so good. We also had a London Bridge Roll which was a cooked salmon roll and it was OK. We had two desserts, red bean with rice cake and Japanese pancake with custard desserts, both of which were too sweet for my taste. I dishes are reasonably priced and services are really nice.

I LOVED my experience here – I have walked past this place about a bazillion times on my way to and from work, so had semi high expectations but FINALLY stopped in when I was super hungry.
Granted I do like a beautiful setting and Mugen is not about that, but they ARE about delicious food, good service and reasonable prices.
Again, caveat that we were both pretty hungry so this might be too much, but we ordered a couple glasses of wine and green tea and started with our standard edamame to nibble on while we were thinking about what to order which came out right away.
We ordered:
1) eggplant with miso (off the CHAIN!)
2) chicken with rice (good but nothing too excitign)
3) several maki rolls, cucumber, spicy tuna, california, one more i cant remember
All very good, and I have to say we lifted our finger to ask for somethign and someone was there, which was super nice. They were really accomodating and nice, and now its going to be my staple for good japanese food when im not trying to be fancy and going to sushi samba ;)

This is one of the best Japanese restaurants in Central London. The set menus at lunch are fantastic value for money. My personal favourite is the pork/​chicken Katsu curry set — but that’s just my preference.
The main reason I keep returning is because it’s fantastic value for money, considering that it’s right in the heart of the London business district. I also love Mugen because of the great smiles from the staff.

Passed by this place several times on weekends while crossing the London Bridge to Borough Market and noticed that it was always closed. I wondered how a restaurant could survive by being closed Saturday & Sunday nights, but came to realize that Mugen probably makes a pantload of money during the week, as it’s generally packed full of Japanese & other patrons. The former is always a good sign…
I went on a weekday and had myself a fantastic meal at Mugen. They have an extensive menu of traditional Japanese items, many of which I’d not seen before at any other Japanese restaurant. I sampled a few different things, most of which I can’t remember now, but at the time I was very satisfied with my choices and the decision to eat here in general. I was pretty surprised to only see 2 reviews for this place on Unilocal,but I suppose it flies somewhat under the radar. And that’s okay, because the less people know about it, the more space there is for me to get in there and eat!
Bottom line: one of the best meals I had in London during 6-​weeks on business there. Highly recommend popping in for dinner on a weeknight.

Sushi and tempura were as fresh as in Tokyo. Japanese service staff explains the presence of many Japanese customers. The service was friendly. The prices are averaged and met the high quality food.

If anyone in London ever says the word ‘Sushi’ to me, i instantly say, ‘Have you been to Mugen?’. Hell, if anyone in the world says Sushi to me, I say, ‘Next time you’re in London, you need to go to Mugen’.
Ive been here a few times with friends over the past few years and always had the sushi here (as opposed to Bento), and it’s been really really good. OK I now realise I may be hyping it up, but it’s just so good!
Chuck in a load of beers and sake, and this = great dinner experience!
I love it!!!
OK, I need to calm down methinks.

This restaurant was a last minute choice for two of us (one of whom wasn’t too hungry) as we walked round the London Bridge area after work. Both of us are Japanese restaurant fans and I always am up for trying something new.
We got there fairly early, around 6pm and ordered a range of dishes as well as a couple of beers and Sake.
The menu is well constructed with lots of dishes from rice, to Sushi, Sashami and mains like Aubergine in miso sweet sauce.
However, I was really put off to be honest by the prices. While Japanese restaurants tend to be expensive, they aren’t usually quite so expensive in not so great surroundings (the restaurant looks a little run down and used inside). They didn’t even have the sushii counter open (and this was a Friday evening) so it just didn’t feel very lively.
Never-​the-​less, I ordered for myself the Aubergine, a thin sliced beef wrapped around asparagus dish and some Beancurd fried in Chilli.
These dishes tended to be cheapest, for example if I had gone for sushii I would have had to pay circa £20 for a small set.
The food when it came (quite quick) was okay, but nothing special. The aubergine was a particular letdown. In Donzoko where it is light and colourful with the orange tangy sauce here it was older looking with a sticky unappealing surface. Presentation, so often a hallmark of Japanese food was thus a little waiting.
So overall, not a great experience. For far better Japanese food, try Donzoko or near St. Pauls there is a great little place tucked away.

Very busy Japanese restaurant, bento boxes are pricy at over £20 but there are lunch set menus starting at £9.80 and going up to around £14.80.
I wanted Today’s Special lunch set, which was fried oysters, my favourite! — however that particular dish had all gone by the time I arrived at 13.30. Lunchtime for Japanese people usually starts at 12pm, so I guess the fried oysters were long gone before I got there.
Apparently, depending on the menu, the Today’s Special quickly runs out of portions and I was told today’s one went in under 30 mins. So I chose Fried Tofu topped with grated horseradish instead, which came with salad, rice, soup and a fruit (making it a ‘set’).
The taste was authentic, but the salad and the fried tofu used the same sesame dressing, which was a weeny bit boring.
The portion of the main dish was on the small side, and if I could expand my budget I would have like to order an additional side dish.
Reservations are required (for lunch too) if you want a table in the dining room area otherwise you are offered a seat at the rotating sushi counter.