I have spent enough evenings wedged at sushi counters across London to know the difference between a place that chases trends and one that simply gets on with feeding people well. Miokuru, which opened its doors on Monday in a tucked-away spot on Warwick Street in Soho, falls squarely into the latter camp. Twenty seats, a counter where the chefs prepare temaki to order, and a menu that puts British fishermen and farmers front and centre. No fanfare, no virtue signalling, just good produce treated with respect.
The restaurant specialises in Japanese handrolls and small plates built around seafood and seasonal ingredients sourced from these islands. Think pressed scallops with house pickles, seared chalkstream trout sashimi, and a signature Cornish white crab handroll laced with wild garlic mayonnaise. There is also dry-aged beef tartare handroll sharpened with wasabi mustard and herbs, and a vegetarian option of glazed and pickled wild mushrooms for those who prefer to avoid the sea. Every bite I imagine tastes of somewhere recognisable: the cold, clean waters off Cornwall, the chalk streams of Hampshire, the fields that actually feed us rather than some abstract supply chain.
This is what a functioning market looks like. A restaurateur spots a gap, pulls together a compact team, sources the best raw materials available locally, and opens the doors. Punters decide with their wallets whether it works. No grants, no levies, no minister pronouncing on the correct way to serve crab. Eliott Grabli, the founder, put it plainly: "From day one, we wanted to showcase the best products available from this island we call home and put those ingredients first."
The format is deliberately intimate. Chefs work in front of you, rolling the handrolls fresh. It is theatre of a quiet, competent sort rather than the performative nonsense you sometimes get in newer openings. Grabli knows the competition is stiff. As he noted in an interview ahead of launch, "London now has so many great Japanese spots that it is tougher and tougher to be different or bring something new." Yet by leaning hard into British produce he has carved out a clear point of difference. Domestic supply chains are not a political slogan here. They are simply better for flavour, freshness and, one suspects, the balance sheet.
A welcome addition to the handroll wave
Miokuru joins Kumori, Temaki, Maki Nori and Saltwater in what has become a noticeable cluster of handroll-focused restaurants in the capital. There is something pleasingly democratic about the format. Quick enough for lunch, special enough for dinner, priced at a level that rewards the punter who knows his fish. The venue also includes a 10-seat cocktail bar called EKI available for private events, giving the whole operation a touch more flexibility.
Opening hours are civilised rather than punishing: Monday to Wednesday from 5pm to 10pm, Thursday to Saturday with a lunch service from 12pm to 3pm and evening until 10.30pm, and a gentler Sunday finish at 4pm. The address at 7-8 Warwick Street puts it a short stroll from Piccadilly Circus, handy for West End workers and visitors alike without the full Soho scrum.
