Yokoya
Makoto Kuwaki started cooking at eighteen in Japan and specialized in cha-kaiseki, the meal built around the tea ceremony, with formal study in chado and kado alongside it (Yokoya).
Why go
Kaiseki here is a monthly menu rather than a fixed one, served in a four-table room down a staircase off Delancey Street, and it ends the way cha-kaiseki is supposed to, with a matcha ceremony instead of petit fours (Yokoya). Two lengths run: ten courses at £170 a head, which the restaurant calls A full expression of Japanese seasonality, crafted with premium ingredients from Japan,
and eight at £140 (Yokoya menus). A separate seasonal a la carte runs as an izakaya, small plates and sake, and takes same-day reservations. The restaurant states that Kuwaki has cooked for the Emperor and Empress of Japan; that claim is its own and no outside source confirms it. Nothing else does either: no guide, critic or award has published on Yokoya, so read the pedigree as the house telling its own story.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the ten-course kaiseki if you want the full month's menu, the eight if you want the same kitchen in less time. Both finish with the tea ceremony.
- Avoid: turning up for sushi omakase at a counter. The booked menu is cha-kaiseki, and the walk-in-friendly option is the izakaya a la carte.
What locals & experts say
- Yokoya (venue, on the chef):
His culinary mastery was entrusted to host dignitaries including the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
Venue claim, uncorroborated.1 - Yokoya (venue, on the shorter menu):
A refined, shorter expression of Chef Kuwaki's monthly Kaiseki.
2 - Coverage gap: searches across Time Out, Hardens, Hot Dinners, the Standard and the Michelin Guide returned no entry for Yokoya as of 29 July 2026. Treat the cooking as unreviewed.
Good to know
- Timing: dinner. The venue does not publish service days or times; confirm when you book.
- Booking: essential for kaiseki, by phone or WhatsApp on 07853 818062 or by email. The izakaya menu takes same-day reservations.
- Dietary: nothing published. No allergen, vegetarian or vegan statement exists on the venue's pages, so ask at the point of booking.
- Location: 9A Delancey Street, five minutes from Camden Town station, down a staircase.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Order: "Omakase sushi." REAL. The house menus are cha-kaiseki plus an izakaya a la carte.
- Note: "Must be booked in advance." REAL.
Verdict
could-visit — Cha-kaiseki is a narrow, technically demanding tradition and almost nobody in London cooks it as a monthly changing menu that ends in an actual matcha ceremony, so on uniqueness this is a real thing. The rung stops at could-visit because the entire case is the restaurant's own account: no critic, no guide, no award has put a sentence on the cooking. Thin evidence caps the rung rather than lowering the ceiling on the food, which may well be better than this.