Okan (South Bank)
Moto arrived in London from Osaka in 1998, sold food off a Brick Lane market stall, and now cooks okonomiyaki on a teppan inside County Hall.
Why go
The venue's own history runs from that stall to a kitchen at The Jazz Crypt in Camberwell and then to Brixton Village, which is where Okan became a restaurant. County Hall is the fourth room, alongside Brixton Village, Brixton East and a take-out kiosk at Coal Drops Yard. Okonomiyaki is Osaka's griddle cooking, a cabbage-loaded batter worked on the teppan and finished with bonito flakes that curl in the heat off the plate. Harden's surveyers score the food 4 out of 5 here and file it under budget Japanese, which is not a phrase that gets used often within sight of the London Eye. It runs daily from 11am with last orders at 10pm.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the pork belly okonomiyaki, and the king prawn and squid yaki soba, which The Infatuation called the
excellent signature
dish at the Brixton original. Harden's singles out the onigiri here.3 - Avoid: bringing a group at curtain time. The room is small and it sits on the South Bank's pre-theater crush.
What locals & experts say
- Harden's (2026 survey, County Hall):
A great discovery! - Brilliant budget Japanese food,
withgreat onigiri and okonomiyaki
anda little slice of Osaka on London's South Bank.
Food 4, service 3, ambience 3.2 - The Infatuation (Heidi Lauth Beasley, 19 Aug 2019, 7.4): on the Brixton Village original,
big portions of tasty yakisoba and small prices,
whereEverything here is under a tenner and comes with a proper serving of bonita fish flakes, seaweed flakes, and Japanese mayonnaise.
That verdict is Brixton's, six years old, and not a review of this branch.3 - Local rec: Marco, from Jeff's list.
Good to know
- Timing: daily 11am to 11pm, last orders 10pm.
- Booking: the venue publishes no booking policy for South Bank. Brixton Village is stated walk-in only, so plan on queueing here at peak.
- Branch: this is County Hall on Belvedere Road. Brixton Village at 39 Brixton Village SW9 8PS is the original restaurant, Brixton East is at 338 Coldharbour Lane, and Coal Drops Yard is take-out only.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5, Lambeth, inspected 14 February 2026.
- Getting there: inside County Hall, two minutes from Westminster Bridge and Waterloo.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Rec via: "Marco rec." REAL.
Verdict
could-visit — Osaka okonomiyaki cooked on the teppan by an operator who started on a Brick Lane market stall in the late 1990s and worked up to four London sites. Harden's surveyers rate the food 4 out of 5 and call it brilliant budget Japanese, which is a rare thing to find inside County Hall, where the neighbors charge tourist prices for worse. The room is small and the ambience score is only 3. If the South Bank is where you already are, this is the best-value plate on it; the Brixton Village original is the one worth a special trip.