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!

Mugen - excellent Japanese restaurant in the City of London

As a worker in the City of London, I've walked past Mugen plenty of times and seen lots of (what I believe to be) Japanese people in there - always a good sign for a Japanese restaurant!

Recently, I finally decided to go in for a quick meal before an evening event, so I was after something relatively light.

The menu is not cheap, but there are a few more affordable items on there, namely the ramen noodle soups and curry dishes.

The girlfriend went for the special ramen with miso soup. It was a delight. Check this out...

It tasted as good as it looked - and it looks good to me!

I opted for a much plainer looking soba noodle soup with tempura prawn and vegetables. It may look simple but the flavour of the broth was still top notch. 

I also appreciated the fact that Mugen presented the tempura in a separate dish, meaning the batter would not go all soggy - other restaurants please take note!

While we were there, a private function was going on with a load of Japanese businessmen all enjoying themselves eating Mugen's tasty food. There was a sushi chef in the middle of the party plying his trade, making fresh sushi. Great scenes - will have to go back there one day to try their sushi and sashimi dishes out.

Nearest Tube: Bank

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

Dozo Soho - Japanese restaurant

Dozo Sushi is a Japanese restaurant in Soho, London.  While its name strongly suggests that it specialises in sushi, its main menu actually features many other items including grilled dishes, bento boxes and noodle soups.  So there's definitely something for most people, should you not fancy sushi.

The girlfriend opted for a donburi dish - specifically a sushi don.  Essentially a sushi don is a large bowl of sushi rice with salmon sashimi on top, served alongside a miso soup.  If you like salmon sashimi but want something a bit more filling, this is a good choice; it is a simple yet great tasting and filling dish.  

Sushi don.

I do like a good noodle soup, so I opted for the Spicy Ramen.  This consisted of ramen noodles (obviously), stir fry beef, fish cake, nitamago egg and vegetables.  There were lots of different ingredients and flavours here - I quite enjoyed it and was glad I ordered it.

Spicy ramen.

As we paid the bill, the waiter gave us 10 per cent discount for paying by cash - worth knowing if you're planning a visit and fancy a bit of a discount.

Closest Tube: Leicester Square