Vibrant Japanese Restaurant in Soho – Dozo

Tons of variety of Japanese cuisines you can find here!

There are lots of Japanese restaurants in London, but which one to choose? Dozo was recommend to S while S was debating where to have some good Japanese food in London. Eat Tokyo was the first one popped into S’s head, however, Eat Tokyo doesn’t take reservation for Soho branch. Therefore, S picked Dozo in the end, and luckily S got in just before the crowd arrived.

The seating is quite traditional Japanese style, yet it’s a bit too packed and not too easy to get into the seat especially the restaurant is not big. The price (menu) is reasonable considering the location and the quality of food. The dishes S had today were dragon maki (£18.8), volcano maki(£15.8), unagi don (£14.8), tekka don (£9.8) and yaki udon (£7.8).

Sashimi is always S’s favourite, especially tuna and salmon. Tekka don which contains tuna sashimi and some ikura on rice. As you can see, the tuna was super fresh, and there’s a big chunk of tuna so that you can taste the purest flavour of it. Moreover, every rice dish here will come with a small miso soup before the main dish.

S’s friends ordered volcano maki and dragon maki since he said these were the popular dishes in Dozo. S was totally amazed by these 2 dishes, because S usually wouldn’t order this type of maki. The mayo with the seared eel and bonito flakes gave the dish a unique flavour. As for dragon maki, if you like avocado and asparagus, this is definitely your dish! The mixed taste with mayo and the veg gave a mixed feeling of being healthy and guilty!

Yaki udon did not stand out compared to the other dishes S had that day. However, it didn’t mean it was not delicious. The yaki udon here was not too salty nor sweet for the sauce. Furthermore, the noodles were not overcooked which kept the chewy texture of it.

Last but not least, the one which S loved the most from that day was unagi don! Unagi don is a dish made up of grilled eel with sweetened soy-based sauce on rice. The sweetness of the sauce brought out and gave the flavour of grilled eel a richer taste.

The dessert was mochi ice cream which the flavour were mango, coconut and mocha (from left to right). The mochi itself didn’t have any flavour but the flavour came from the filling ice cream. S liked the mocha one the most since it was not purely sweet but a bit bitter too.

S is definitely gonna try more different dishes if S has a chance to visit again. S would recommend to make the reservation first, otherwise you might need to stand outside to wait in line to get in.

Restaurant info:
Address: 32, Old Compton St, London W1D 4TP
Phone: 020 7434 3219
Opening hours: Mon.-Wed. 12-3pm; 6-10:30pm/Thur. and Fri. 12-3pm; 6-11pm/Sat. 12-11pm/Sun. 12-10:30pm
Site: http://www.dozosushi.co.uk