Eat Tokyo - Holborn, London

Eat Tokyo was recommended to me as a place for decent yet affordable Japanese food and sushi.  I've since been to Eat Tokyo a couple of times and I have to say that that description is accurate in my opinion.  Both times have been busy, so other diners must agree!

My group and I ordered a mixture of sushi, sashimi and cooked Japanese food to get a good taste of what's on offer. 

The mixed sashimi platter was fresh and nicely presented, though the actual raw fish head may put off some diners (not me!).

I ordered a bento box with tempura prawns and vegetables as my main dish. The tempura was crispy, salad fresh, and the rice filling.  This was accompanied with sushi with fried prawn in the middle - so tasty!

It's no surprise that Eat Tokyo has won sushi awards before (most recently at the Eat Japan Sushi Awards 2013).  I'll definitely be visiting again at some point in 2015!

Tsunami (West End, London)

I recently went to Tsunami Japanese restaurant with the girlfriend and we had a great time. The restaurant has a contemporary feel and a decent menu, with a wide variety of sushi, sashimi and hot dishes to choose from.

Situated along the restaurant-filled Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia, London, Tsunami isn't short of competition - but it holds its own and it's a good choice for your money.

Takoyaki - deep fried octopus, squid, prawn, cabbage, spring onion.

While it's not necessarily the cheapest Japanese restaurant in London, at the time of writing there is a 40 per cent discount deal available here at OpenTable (formerly toptable), which I certainly took advantage of.

Yellow tail sashimi.

The girlfriend and I picked a selection of hot food, sushi and sashimi, all of which was very good. The highlight was perhaps the 'Dragon Volcano Roll' - something that I had not seen before. The picture doesn't particularly do it justice (at all), but it's quite unique, fun and tasty. In fact, it was voted 'Sushi Roll of the Year 2012'.

Dragon volcano roll - jumbo prawn with avocado & cucumber roll with crispy flakes, spring onions, tobiko, dried shredded chilli topped with creamy sauce.  

We finished off with green tea and sesame ice cream. I like green tea ice cream, but I had never had sesame ice cream before. I've got to say, it was pretty damn good and I'll be having it again for sure.

Green tea and sesame ice cream.

Overall it was a good experience at Tsunami and it's a place I can recommend - particularly if the 40 per cent discount is still available.

Nearest Tube: Goodge Street