So happy to have found this place! Slightly out of the way — it’s in Camden, but not on the main drag, and its exterior is muted. Inside it’s also quite plain — some attractive Japanese prints but it is lacking a bit in that wow factor. However: great food. We came at lunch time(note: only the lunch set menu is available, you have to come in the evening for a la carte). It was easy to get a table. The lunches were pretty decent value — mine was £9 for chicken karaage, which was deliciously crisp and a generous portion, and came with the normal lunch accoutrements of miso soup, rice, etc. Also had a sapporo beer, which is my preferred Japanese beer but isn’t always available(asahi is much more prominent in the UK). Am keen to go back to try the dinner menu!
Nilüfer T.
Classificação do local: 3 Georgetown, Washington, DC
Everything nicely presented and the side dishes are very delicious. However £18 blackcod is rather expensive for what it is
Christian W.
Classificação do local: 4 London, United Kingdom
If you ever go for Japanese food in London, make sure it is here. The first time in my life I ate sushi, it tasted awful. Cheap sushi can have an overly fishy taste and bad texture. A friend took me here for lunch and I decided to give Japanese food a second chance. If you’re a newbie sushi eater(like me), I suggest you start with maki, which is thin slices of fish and rice wrapped in seaweed. The Cucumber roll is also good, but has no fish. –You have to put the entire thing into your mouth. Don’t try to bite it in half! It is not supposed to be eaten that way and I ended up spilling rice. Flavours are different, but I liked it. I wouldn’t mind eating here again. Even though the interior is simple, the plates are very fancy and make meals look eye appealing. The atmosphere won’t make you feel like you’re in Japan, but the food is satisfying enough.
Karl K.
Classificação do local: 5 Alesund, Norway
Stumbled upon this little restaurant in Camden on a weekend trip to London last weekend and must say this is the best Japanese food I’ve eaten outside of Japan! Everything was delicious and nicely presented, from the miso soup to the pork belly. The service was friendly and attentive, and to top it off the bill came in lower than expected. All in all an extremely pleasant surprise.
Stefan H.
Classificação do local: 5 London, United Kingdom
Excellent Japanese restaurant, focus is not on sushi but their sushi and sashimi quality is in a league of it’s own in Camden. Personal favourite is the wasabi squid starter(I love the squid texture but might not be for everyone), and the pork belly is tasty and very sizeable. Not exactly cheap but best value traditional Japanese restaurant in London in my experience. Take-out possible but can’t order over the phone as far as I know.
Nick S.
Classificação do local: 4 San Francisco, CA
What a great place! My tonkatsu lunch set was really good. Lunch is a good value here and I’m excited to come back and try other dishes. Glad I finally ate here.
Linda T.
Classificação do local: 4 London, United Kingdom
I was surprised by this Japanese restaurant located in Camden Town. It is a hidden gem for authentic Japanese food where you will find a mixture of sushi and hot food. The range of sushi is probably not as big range compared to somwe other Japanese restaurant but you will find many of the basic sushi which is good enough. I had the salmon sashimi and salmon roe donburi. It is not a donburi that is new to me. But what was new is the rice had mixed with chopped Japanese herb which makes the rice very fragrance. If u dont like strong flavour then I recommend to request it be left off. We also order the beef steak hooba yaki which is beef steak magnolia leaves grilled with miso. The dish was served over a mini hot stone grilled. The sauce was full of flavour and went well with the steak. We finish our dinner sharing the assorted dessert which consisted of mango cheesecake, yuzu tart and chocolate mousse cake. I really love the yuzu tart as it refreshing flavour that suit the warm Summer weather. A great way to end a meal! A place that serve nice food but it is not a cheap dining place depending what you order.
Soomin R.
Classificação do local: 3 London, United Kingdom
I don’t know what went wrong, but my experience at Shimogamo was average at best. Mind you, I’m a HUGE fan of Japanese food and have been to my share of amazing Japanese places across NYC and Singapore, but Shimogamo failed to stand out in comparison. My family and I ordered a plate of sushi(special menu), udon in vegetable broth, eel donburi, and shabu shabu — all some very fundamental dishes in the Japanese cuisine that I think are fair to judge a Japanese restaurant by. To be fair, everything was solid — sushi was reasonably fresh, eel donburi was tasty — but nothing served as a wow factor to get this restaurant in my list of 4 or 5-stars. In particular, I found my shabu shabu was a bit bland and the meat was too chewy when cooked to be good for shabu shabu. Perhaps, it’s a matter of me having expected too much based on the other reviews. Perhaps, we should have ordered something else. Whatever it is, someone needs to convince me that this place is really as good as it many make it out to be. It’s solid, but not the best.
Kenny C.
Classificação do local: 5 London, United Kingdom
Loved it, the Karage was amazing, the duck was good as well though not my favourite. The sushi was very well made, my preference would only be a bit more flavour in the rice, but I loved biting into my nigiri! I really enjoyed the Miso Aubergine, with two different miso. Staff was friendly and efficient. Definitely looking forward to going back again and try other dishes. Highly recommended!
Jyunk
Classificação do local: 4 London, United Kingdom
As a Japanese citizen, this restaurant is really good. Not only the decoration but all the dishes they make were beautiful and we could enjoy our eyes as much as our tongues. I would love to come back for another special occasions!
Josie D.
Classificação do local: 5 London, United Kingdom
The more I come here, the more I love this place. I went to the world famous Nxxx sushi restaurant on Saturday night, and at that restaurant, all I can think of is how I can spend 30% less of price and still enjoy the same quality sushi at Shimogamo. Enough said.
Josy A.
Classificação do local: 5 London, United Kingdom
Lovely. Seriously lovely! They serve a whole range of delicious Japanese comfort food, as well as sushi. We tried more of the hot dishes than the sushi, and I saw plenty of other things that I’d still like to try. I might even risk ordering unagi here(I don’t normally order it in London as I am an unagi snob, and sub-par eel puts me into a unagi-monster-rage…) * I love the way they have a massive collection of different plates to serve each dish. It means the presentation is not only beautiful, but it reminds me of home cooking in Japan(all my host families used a whole mish-mash of beautiful serving dishes… natsukashii) * I love that umeshu is served in a large cup * I love that everything just tastes right, the dashi is perfect, the fish is super fresh… I’m not sure how they get hold of all the ingredients, but I was impressed. The only thing I might not rave about was the pork belly. It was pretty good, just not quite as good as Tomoe(my gold-standard for pork belly joy). BUT it wasn’t bad, and certainly not bad enough to remove a star. *** Shimogamo made me love Uli B(as I first heard about this place through his photos/review, so I have been meaning to try it for aaages) ***
Uli B.
Classificação do local: 4 Mill Valley, CA
As I promised in my previous review on this place, I wanted to come back, as I could feel that this place has potential. And indeed it has! I went back with my dining-partner-in-crime and this time I really enjoyed everything we had. What I really like about this place is that they offer dishes that you typically not find at a Japanese restaurant outside Japan. Most places offer sushi or some kind of noodle-variation, but the menu at this place already reads very differently and when perusing it I wanted to try out many of the dishes, especially since I hand’t heard of them before. My favourites during the last visit: — Hijiki seaweed, carrot and fried bean curd braised in a moderately sweet broth — Agedashi aubergine and rice cake(mochi) — Grilled eel donburi(rice topped with grilled eel with a sweet sauce) Also, my Japanese hairdresser recommends this place! And let me tell you, she’s very picky!
Lloyd S.
Classificação do local: 4 London, United Kingdom
I’m a local at this place and tend to frequent at least every other month, at first I wasn’t sure if the place would survive but I’m glad to see its growing in popularity. Japanese dishes other than sushi and Ramen are difficult to find so its nice to see a large selection of other dishes. I’d strongly recommend the shabu shabu or sukiyaki! And the sushi is always fresh. The restaurant décor suits exactly what this place is very nice without overdoing it in any area. The service is always very friendly but they do struggle sometimes… Just be patient, it’s worth it.
Sebastian C.
Classificação do local: 4 New York, NY
One of the best i’ve been to in London. No frills… no bells and whistles… just unpretentious tasty japanese food. If you love japanese food you’ll love Shimogamo! They have a «no smoke and mirrors» approach. What you see is what you get. Decent prices for great food, as opposed to high prices that go to maintaining a trendy décor, sexy staff or a professional marketing machine. Food: 9⁄10 The grilled eel is delish! The shabu shabu beef is spectacular. sashimi are top quality cuts! The presentation of dishes is detail oriented and fairly elaborate. Didn’t try the desserts. Overall it’s very good. With a little more creativity and risky dishes it could even be mind blowing. Sake: 8⁄10 A nice little collection of sakes. Service: 8⁄10 Friendly staff, but don’t expect the high-end professional treatment. Atmosphere: 6⁄10 no great décor, nor a trendy hangout. Just clean, comfortable and to the point. un abrazo ;)
Kathleen J.
Classificação do local: 5 London, United Kingdom
I’ve been to many Japanese restaurants and travelled to Japan in many occasion. After living in the UK in search for a decent Japanese restaurant I’ve come across some very disappointing and mediocre restaurant in London. In addition they have always been expensive! However, after discovering Shimigamo my perspective has changed! Not only that the selection of food was extensive it was very affordable. I would recommend and try their Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki! Oh and their sushi and sashimi are very fresh!