SASA
The wagyu ribcap skewer comes with blitzed nori to sprinkle over, off the binchotan grill Mark Tan-Pham put in when he moved SASA along St John Street in June 2025.1
Why go
Tan-Pham's family cooked on the same stretch of St John Street for eighteen years and did not choose to leave it. We've spent the last 18 years in the same spot,
he told Hot Dinners in May 2025, and while we didn't expect to be moving, we've found a new home just a few doors down.
The new room is the old Gate site at number 370, open since 6 June 2025, and he was clear about what changed and what did not: the same faces, the same food, and the same heart behind everything we do
, plus a little more space, a bar for drinks
, binchotan barbecue, a sake list and draught beer.1
The sushi counter sits in the middle of the room. Jake Missing reviewed it for The Infatuation in July 2026 and scored it 7.9, and the dish that shows the counter working is the tuna sanshoku set: a long board carrying akami, chutoro and otoro as nigiri at one end and the same three cuts as sashimi at the other, thick hunks of tuna at an ideal moderate temperature
.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the tuna sanshoku set. Missing's line on it is the reason to spend the money:
All of them are excellent with the fatty otoro melting away as it should.
2 - Order: the wagyu ribcap skewer,
a sweet soy glaze and blitzed nori on the side to sprinkle over. We could easily eat a dozen of these.
2 - Order: the tsukune, and start with agedashi tofu in its mirin and dashi broth.
- Avoid: the black cod, which
falls into the enjoyable but not essential bracket
.2 - Avoid: chancing a walk-in. Missing's advice is to book ahead.
What locals & experts say
- Jake Missing, The Infatuation London, 29 July 2026 (7.9), on what the room is for:
Sasa reinforces the fact that a regular neighbourhood 'Great Little Place' can be more meaningful than a once-in-a-lifetime meal.
2 - The same review, on the rice:
although it isn't the most flavoursome rice we've had, these are still really well-made sushi rolls.
2
Good to know
- Where: 370 St John Street EC1V 4NN, between Angel and Sadler's Wells, in the room The Gate used to occupy.
- The move: June 2025, to number 370 on the same street. Anything pointing at the old address is out of date.
- Booking: advised, per the review.
- Price: The Infatuation bands it $$$$ on its own scale. No menu prices were read for this entry.
- Also here: a bar, a sake list and draught beer, all added with the new room.
Verdict
should-visit — Mark Tan-Pham's family cooked in one spot on St John Street for eighteen years, lost the room without planning to, and reopened further along the street in June 2025 with more space, a bar, a sake list and a binchotan grill they did not have before. The menu came with them. Jake Missing scored it 7.9 for The Infatuation in July 2026 and the evidence is in the tuna board: akami, chutoro and otoro as nigiri at one end and the same three cuts as thick sashimi at the other, cut at what he calls an ideal moderate temperature. The wagyu ribcap skewer is the other reason to come, a sweet soy glaze with blitzed nori to scatter over it. He also says the rice on the rolls is not the best he has had and the black cod is not essential, and both stay in. What holds it off the top rung is that one recent review is the whole critical record, and no menu prices are on file.