Engawa

Japanese, Sushi·
££££
·

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - £50 - £79
Cuisines
Japanese, Sushi
Ambience
Fine dining, Traditional
Food Occasions
Dinner, Lunch
Alfresco And Views
Outside seating
Special Features
Counter dining
Perfect for
Dates, Special occasions
Food Hygiene Rating

About

In the heart of Piccadilly, Engawa stands as one of London’s most authentic and traditional Japanese fine dining restaurants. Renowned for its delicate Wagyu beef dishes and an impressive selection of fresh sushi and sashimi, Engawa is all about refined dining, complete with an intimate and elegant setting.

The dining room, designed by Satomi Hatanaka, accommodates just 29 guests for lunch and dinner, creating an exclusive and personalised atmosphere. Additional seats at the pass provide a fascinating view into the workings of an authentic Japanese kitchen in central London. The decor is equally captivating, with a stunning resin artwork positioned above the open kitchen and an eye-catching light arrangement adorned with hand-stencilled kanji writing, adding an unmistakable Japanese charm.

Engawa’s menu showcases the finest Japanese ingredients and culinary artistry. For lunch and dinner, there's an omakase Tasting Course, which includes the chef’s choice of a special appetiser, a bento box featuring sashimi, Japanese osozai dishes and seasonal vegetables, followed by the chef’s selection of eight nigiri pieces and a dessert of Japanese sweets. Alternatively, the Engawa menu offers a 'Main Course' with a chef's choice appetiser, seasonal soup, the famous Wagyu bento box with A5 Kagoshima Wagyu on a hot stone, plus a sashimi bento box with tasty osozai dishes, followed by Chirashi sushi with chopped sashimi on vinegared rice.

Each bento box is beautifully presented on wooden trays, offering an array of intricate and thoughtfully arranged dishes. The Wagyu beef is particularly memorable - tender, buttery and melt-in-the-mouth perfection. The restaurant also offers a la carte dishes, covering appetisers like edamame and Wagyu tartare, fatty tuna salads, teppanyaki dishes, Karaage chicken, tempura, and a broad selection of sushi and sashimi. As for desserts, expect viral Japanese favourites like mille crepes cake with cream, warabi mochi, and mochi ice cream with vanilla, matcha, or mango.

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FAQs

What is the nearest station?

Piccadilly Circus is the closest, though Leicester Square isn't much further.

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Engawa is featured in

Location

2 Ham Yard, Soho, London, W1D 7DT

020 7287 5724 020 7287 5724

Website

Opening Times

Lunch
Mon Closed
Tue 12:00-15:30
Wed 12:00-15:30
Thu 12:00-15:30
Fri 12:00-15:30
Sat 12:00-15:30
Sun 12:00-15:30
Dinner
Mon Closed
Tue 17:00-23:00
Wed 17:00-23:00
Thu 17:00-23:00
Fri 17:00-23:00
Sat 17:00-23:00
Sun 17:00-22:30

Reviews

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6 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Jonathan L

15 April 2024   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 1.5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 1

Nice staff.  Tasty wagyu beef.  Rice not cooked correctly on the sushi and some of the dishes unnecessarily over seasoned, spoiled the experience.  

Gwen L

18 November 2023   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Gorgeous food and nice environment! 

Ben S

04 February 2023   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 2
Service 5
Atmosphere 3.5
Value 3

Service staff were great, but the head chef needs to be more engaged if the restaurant wants to elevate itself to fine dining level. Dinner for me was kind of Times Square-ish.

Anon

20 December 2018  
Food & Drink 5
Service 3
Atmosphere 1
Value 1
Too expensive
The restaurant had no ambience it was a tiny shop window and charged far too much, the food was good but menu small, they are making fat too much profit and giving little to the customer Food was good but at these prices I would recommend Sushi Samba or Saki no Hana for beautiful food and beautiful surroundings

Piglet

19 April 2017  
Food & Drink 4
Service 3.5
Atmosphere 3
Value 3
Traditional Sushi
Four of us ate here recently on a friends’ recommendation. This is one of the more traditional Japanese restaurants that I have been to and is fairly small, seats maybe 25 people, so we were pretty cramped in the corner table. I think that they only offer 2 sizes of set menu for dinner and we opted for the smaller one, the Omekase 3 courses @ £65 a head. The quality of the fish was very good (as you would hope), fresh and well presented, and the wagyu was delicious and tender (if tiny), but there was just something lacking for me, the food just wasn’t very exciting, nothing different to tempt the taste-buds, just sushi, wasabi and soy sauce and lots of it. Actually, I think that there was just too much of everything (none of us managed to eat it all), we were all a bit overloaded and it will be a while before I fancy eating raw fish again. We had 2 bottles of wine and the total bill came to £100 a head, which is a LOT of money for what was a “satisfactory” meal. For that price (and a lot less), I would choose Roka or Dinings.

Wing T

04 July 2015  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 4
Kobe Beef in London
Opened in February 2015 and run by The Salt Group who has a number of restaurants in both Tokyo and Osaka. I discovered the restaurant whilst I was having an afternoon tea at The Ham Yard Hotel. Located in Ham Yard, near Great Windmill Street in Soho, the restaurant sits approximately 29 diners when it is full house. There was a number of Japanese diners whilst we were in the venue which shows a good sign. The kitchen is an open kitchen and elegantly decorated. Although it is small is size, the minimalistic decoration speaks for itself. The uniqueness of Engawa, is the fact they specialise in Kobe Beef. Kobe Beef is very expensive, even in Japan. The Japanese grading system in beef involves the marbling, colour, fat quality and the texture. There is a number of menus to choose from, from a £20-£25 vegetarian bento box to £30-£40 main boxes which involves Kobe beef. If you are looking to dine for dinner, expect to pay between £60-£100. We chose the 11 piece selection known as the Hakozen Bento Box which involves a selection of seasonal dishes. Their menu is seasonal so depending on when you visit, the dishes is likely to vary. My bento box involves a variety of cooked Kobe beef dishes, served with barley and edamame rice and a soup of kombo dashi, Chinese cabbage, sesame, chives, corn and onion. It looks very simple and the taste is lighten than the typical Miso soup you get. We also ordered the Kobe Beef Katsu Gozen, which included breaded Kobe beef fillet, served on a bed of barley and edamame rice. It is accompanied by nori, spring onion and fresh wasabi along with Kobe beef stock for making chazuke. It is also served with the kombu dashi soup. Although the dishes looked very small in portion size, it is filling. We was recommended by the staff to enjoy the lighter dishes such as the tofu and sashimi before the Kobe beef dishes as it is more heavier and we would be too full to finish should it went the other way. The Dashi Maki with Spicy Cod Roe tasted very simple, the egg omelette with a piece of roe on top wasn’t anything spectacular to begin with. It was followed by the Fried Potato Salad in home-made tartar sauce with kumquat which introduced some flavour to my taste buds. The Fried Salmon marinated in wasabi and soy sauce was a little heavy, I haven’t been much of a fried salmon fan for some time but it was slightly saltier than expected. But having some of the Pickled Daikon and Aubergine cleansed my taste pallet slightly before moving onto the Seabass Sashimi with Salmon Roe and Japanese Sudachi. That was a tasty dish and it certainly tasted fresh (I have had the unfortunate of tasting ‘off-tasting’ fish before so I have been more cautious about it ever since). The same goes for the Tuna and Scallop Sashimi, both were fresh and delicate in taste. The Pan Seared Kobe with rosemary and white onion in Sukiyaki sauce started to taste a little heavy and this was the 7th dish. I couldn’t taste the rosemary as much as I had anticipated, however the Kobe was tasty and the texture was just right. The Fried Tofu in Ponzu sauce and garnished in chive reminded me a little of ‘Agadashi Tofu’ in many Japanese venues. The dish was very pleasant and delicious as a break before the next three dishes. The Yuba Maki with Seasonal vegetables and shizo roll was a very complex tasting dish. The shizo roll was covered in hints of tempura batter whilst the vegetables inside kept it’s sweetness at the same time. The 10th dish consisted of Heavily Marbled Kobe beef with chilli and spring onion. You can’t see much of the heavily marbled pattern on the beef unfortunately, however I do enjoy the use of chilli and spring onion. The last dish was the Slow Cooked beef with Doukon chives and yuzu zest garnish. It was tasty but heavy. I appreciate a good beef but due to the previous dishes, I started to feel very full. The use of yuzu zest brings my appetite back and I enjoyed the dish very much but you must appreciate the fact that there was a bowl of barley and edamame rice and a kombo dashi soup to go along the bento box. The Kobe Beef Katsu Gozen was also served with the same barley and edamame rice and the kombo dashi soup. It does look simpler and also very bland, however the Kobe beef fillet was breaded and then fried. It tasted better than the other ‘katsu’ dishes you have in other venues and this is not the reason because it was Kobe beef, in fact it is because the fillet was breaded generously and equally, and I did not find a part where it tasted ‘breadless’ and a part where it was ‘heavily breaded’. We were served by a waiter – he did appear to be more like a manager, was very passionate with the dishes and our dining experience. Carefully explained dishes and introduction made us felt very welcomes. I know Engawa hired a manager who has experience working at Nobu however, I wasn’t sure who it was because the service was very good. I know there are many Kobe beef fans, however this is sufficient to satisfy the fans for the time being – unless you decide to buy a ticket and fly over to Japan. I only dined at Engawa for lunch, therefore I will suggest a dinner reservation to experience more of the Kobe beef selection. foodoholism.com
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