Ten Ten Tei, Soho, London

Top notch Japanese food, some of the best sashimi in town. Yes, it looks a bit pokey but the food can’t be faulted.

Friday night in Central London can be a daunting thing. Let loose on the streets with empty stomachs and no set destination we wandered for an hour, covering the whole of Covent Garden and Soho adding our names to every restaurant waiting list we passed but still not settling on a cuisine to satisfy both our appetites. That was until Japanese was mentioned. At that point all other thoughts were abandoned and it was a quick dash through Soho’s back alleys to try and avoid the ever thickening crowds. Destination? Ten Ten Tai on Brewer Street. Foot through the door and there were a few people idly propping up the wall waiting for a seat. But being two as supposed to 3 helped jump us to the head of the modest queue and we were seated in a matter of moments. Beers ordered and delivered with the utmost efficiency. The menu is vast and overwhelming for the likes of me so the responsibility of ordering landed on my partner’s shoulders. Within moments the food started arriving. Agedashi tofu as an appetizer, delicious, soft cubes of deep fried tofu, marinated for delicious flavour. Turbot, salmon and sweet prawn sushi to follow rapidly accompanied by a steaming hot bowl of Kisume tofu Udon noodles. Last but not least (far from in fact- despite a tad heavy handed with the wasabi) were the scallop sushi.

Definitely a hidden gem amongst the numerous Japanese restaurants in London. Most passers by would probably give the place a miss - which is understandable given the exterior does look rather sketchy, but if you can get beyond this fact, you will not regret giving this place a try.

Great sashimi and tempura, personally, I find they even find their simple udons brilliant. Factor in the extremely reasonable prices and generous portions, this has become a place I frequent often.

In a way, I am glad they have done nothing to the exterior, or else I would be queuing for ages each and every time I went!

This place is great. Best value for the money of the places we ate while in London. I never expected to find a sushi place this economical in London. Sushi is fresh, menu is great. The decor as others mentioned is a little shabby, but in my opinion those are usually the restaurants with the best sushi.

Has a really nice, friendly atmosphere, slightly ramshackle but that’s part of its appeal. It’s a bit like eating at home… if you can cook the most delicious sushi that is. Gorgeous food, especially the sharing dishes like baked mackerel and black bean aubergine.. Oh and Californian rolls..

Great night out

Having recently been to Japan and eaten out all the time, this place takes me right back.

We were seated downstairs and handed a hand-made menu cover containing the menu written in Japanese first, then translated into English.

The tempura was divine. It is almost impossible to find perfectly cooked shrimp anywhere and yet this place had it cracked. The meal with it was so filling, we could not stuff another bite in.

The chicken teriyaki was so filling, my friend simply could not finish it.

Great value and excellent food. First chance you get, if you like Japanese food, go here. Even if you don’t like Japanese food, try this place out as it’ll convert you.

11 Dec 2008
Just went back and what a JOY! I’m still stuffed from a fab lunch of 6 pork dumplings just like I used to get at the market in Yokohama only YUMMIER, ramen soup in a giant bowl with egg and giant mushroom with so many noodles I could not finish it and roce all for a single price. The yummy green tea supplied for free with my lunch was just what I needed to start and finish with.

I can’t possibly recommend this place highly enough!

Ten Ten Tei is a wonderful sushi place; I’ve been there several times and have no complaints. It’s excellent value: the sushi is super-fresh and the staff are lovely and efficient. The agadashi tofu is out of this world, and the miso soup is also excellent.

The lunchtime set menus are especially good value – great for a relaxed weekend lunch. They include the full works for a tenner, including sushi, rice, miso soup etc. You really can’t go wrong for that price, especially considering how expensive some London sushi joints are these days. Even one I’ve taken there has been very impressed too.

Ten Ten Tei’s food is really good. I love the teriyaki chicken with egg rice or at least I think what it taste like. I can’t remember the Japanese anme of the dish. Although the interior decor is quite bad and the place is really cramp, I love the love. In this case, the tasty food override everything else. The bill usually come up to about £15-20 per person including drinks which is fairly reasonable for the good quality food. I will recommend this place to anyone who is not fuss about the outlook of the restaurant.

I have been to Ten Ten Tei once. It may not be easily located but the quality of food really does worth the searching and hinting. We ordered Katsu Don (Pork Cutles Rice) and some sushi selection. The bill came to less than £20 for 2, including service charge. Japanese tea comes free of charge and unlimited refills. It’s a great place to go after a tired day walking.

For a simple and affordable Japanese meal, Ten Ten Tei is the place to be. They have a wide selection of japanese food available (Don, Sushi, Soba, etc). For 2 person, with beers you are looking for pay in the region of £30. Not bad for a binge-drink free night out in London.

Being a Japanese Food Lover, I would recommend this restaurant to anyone. The price for the food is exceptionally good value and the variety available to choose from is good. However, beware of ordering too much as the portion size is enoumous. Good for sharing if going with a few friends. Recommended

Outstanding but down to earth Japanese nestled in the heart of Soho.

This has been a regular eatery of mine for over three years now and the food remains of a consistently high, tasty standard.

The sushi is always of the freshest tenderest quality. The a la carte menu offers some interesting choices. The lemon sole is always a very succulent option. The rice bowl meals give a very generous portion. The una don - teriyaki eel is a lovely tender dish. Food I cannot recommend enough

Setting is very informal which adds to a feeling of local authenticity which is nice in the sometimes overly glitzy Soho.

Overall a great establishment with lots of simple, but interesting dishes to try.

This is a quaint little place serving Japanese food in central London. It is located very close to Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus.

The decor is very minimal, and shows some wear and tear, however the food is really great and the sushi is very fresh. It is often very busy so be sure to get there early to find a seat.

The service is good and the waiters are happy to explain any items on the menu. I really like the tempura prawns and miso aubergine. The price of the food is not the cheapest, but is good value for a central London location.

Good fresh Sushi at very decent prices. Better than any nearby 'conveyabelt’ Sushi bar

Good food, pleasant atmosphere, though take friends who are familiar with Japanese food and can recommend things if you’re easily daunted by a huge menu.
On a whim I tried the raw squid. I can say it was interesting, but I’d probably stick to the cooked food next time.

I came here just the other week and agree with the other posters that it doesn’t look great. But it does offer you good food, decent portions and at a reasonable price. Everything tasted fresh and was cooked very authentically. I got one of the set meals which gave me a nice variety of dishes. Would definitely come here again. One of the better Jap places to eat in this town.

As stated below this place is nothing special to look at, so if you want nice lighting and fancy menus then there are loads of places in the surrounding streets. This place is all about the food! All the food was perfectly cooked and tasted just as i hoped it would….trust me try it for yourself…...If you are still not convinced its your loss….!

This small restaurant is quite an interesting place. The decor is quite minimal, maybe a bit rugged but somehow it makes you feel at home.

The food is quite good, it has really good taste, and the prices are quite cheap. Especially for being so central.

The service is quite good, the chef is really friendly. A really nice spot to grab lunch or dinner with your friends. However I have yet to figure out why they always sit me in the bottom floor. Its so odd ^_^

Anyone who loves japanese food must come to this, you’ll surely become a fan.

Another four star review from another Qype team luncher. Not incredibly original I know, but this place is undoubtedly good.

Since moving to a new office in Leicester Sq I’ve overdosed a little bit on Chinatown, bu this place is definitely one to remember. It doesn’t look like much when you walk in, in fact we were a bit put off when we saw there was only one person in there… and then they took us down stairs to a crowded and cramped dining room and everything clicked into place.

It’s nothing fancy, just tatty plastic menus, a selection of noodle soups, dumplings, terriyaki, sashimi and sushi, but you can’t fault the food (especially for these prices).

My bowl of noodle soup could have doubled as a paddling pool (if it wasn’t so hot, and full of noodle soup), and the pork dumplings that came with it were lovely. I stole a piece of the tune sashimi from the person opposite me and that was really nice too, very fresh.

Excellent stuff.

A little ransacked-looking, we were ushered down a worn stair case and plonked at an average table. By the menus and general layout, the place did not seem overly fussed with presentation. The food however, was much better than I anticipated. If you’re not quite a pro on Japanese food, be brave and go for one the many mysterious sounding titles as, in this case, it really appears to pay off. The only downside was the fact that the kitchen sent each person’s food out 10 minutes apart which doesn’t make for a united meal.
Good value for money.

Sashimi platter at sit-down in Soho for under 13quid is not a bad deal in the least. The tuna was great, salmon and whitefish ok, swordfish and kingfish not so much. The platter came without ginger and I’m not sure this was just a slip up or that you have to ask for it.. which to me would be very odd indeed. Was on the fence b/t 3 and 4 stars but the authentic feel of the place makes me log it in as 4 stars. Don’t mind the run-down looking stairway that connects the main level dining area to the lower ground room. Must just come from these stairs being well traveled by full & happy diners based on all the five star reviews before mine.

Rundown? Check. Cramped? Check. Great food with huge portions, at reasonable prices? Check.

We went here for lunch today, and to be honest, I didn’t know what anything on the menu would be like. Which led us to the interesting question: when Japanese people come over here, are they also as confused about egg, chips and beans?

Anyway, I couldn’t even come close to finishing my noodle soup with dumpling, and now feel rather fatter than I did even this morning.

Check it out.

This is my favourite informal Japanese restaurant in London. The set menu’s are great value for money - just under £20 for the sashimi dinner which comes with rice, tempura prawns and vegetables, agadeshi tofu, terriyaki chicken and of course a variety of sashimi. Also included is dessert; a scoop of pretty good ice cream.

There are other set menu’s too which are slightly cheaper, and overall an excellent range of sushi, sashimi, noodles and rice dishes on offer. Great value for money and highly recommended.

Lookin g rather drab and uninspiring from the outside, this place rocks inside!

The sashami was perfect. I never thought it could ever taste this good on this side of the world.

I can’t believe more people don’t rave about this place. I can understand the packed and crowded atmos. and I think line-ups for lunch are going to start in a short time!