Abeno Okonomiyaki Restaurant Review

We had to wait 30 minutes to be seated (we should have made a reservation!) mid-week, so we had gone for a drink to a nearby pub. There aren t many tables so I would recommend booking ahead. We were impressed with the food, it looked so simple yet it was of a good taste. It s not a romantic place, nor it can fit a large group but it s good food-wise, not pretentious or upmarket. Staff were friendly too.

Great atmosphere, amazing food, wonderful service. Definitely coming back!

Great authentic family run restaurant - such friendly service and amazing food made in front of you! First time trying Okonomiyaki and was a lovely and delicious experience - won t be the last . Thanks for having us x

The taste is very good, the table is too small to overturn things, the mayonnaise is high, and no fried noodles are recommended.

Authentic Japanese Okinomiyaki restaurant. Good quality food and taste. Friendly staff.

Very tasty food and great service. Cooking at your table feels very much like part of the process rather than showmanship or a gimmick - it is necessary for the dish. It is not cheap, but it is worth it for a treat.

Fun experience to have the food cooked in front of you. Children love it.

Okonomiyaki is ok, but restaurant needs better ventilation for the live cooking. It was full of oily smoke when we were there.

Abeno is still one of my favourite restaurants in London. Everything is delicious, all of the staff are very friendly and speak Japanese, and it offers a fun, different culinary experience. Book in advance if you're more than two people.

Amazing food and great staff! LOVE okonomi-yaki so I really enjoyed this ! Would deffinately recommend!

Delicious food, friendly staff and reasonably priced. Makes a lovely change from chain restaurants

I liked the experience, the fact that they cook the food in front of you, including the pancakes for dessert.

Fantastic unique dining experience with an authentic Japanese feel and menu, made by very talented staff. Only downside is it's too expensive to eat here regularly. Otherwise fantastic. Book ahead.

Nice place in London to try Japanese pancakes. The food was tasty and well made. Service was friendly. It is a busy little restaurant.

This place is amazing. We went to their sister restaurant for many years, and finally went to the original after a trip the the British Museum. It s a very particular kind of cuisine; savoury pancake/ omelettes with a variety of delicious ingredients including fresh seafood, or pork, with veggie options too. Service from Matthew was so polite, and warm, and professional. We drilled him for information about Japanese culture and cuisine between every visit to the table and he duly obliged! Delicious, memorable food, with authentic Japanese drinks, at a really reasonable price point. Thank you!

Great food but dining experience is very rushed. It s not like I m gonna spend 2 hours eating okonomiyaki but I prefer not to be pressured for time.

Ate here a few years ago but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed with the Okonomiyaki. It lacked the full flavour. We were still hungry afterwards so ate elsewhere afterwards. I'd like to think things have improved since then.

My wife and I have eaten at Abeno and now had two takeaways. The food is fresh and delicious, but above all we are amazed at how considerate, gentle and delightful they are. They have the best manners in London.

Not authentic okonomiyaki. The pancake is not crispy and crumbles easily when you cut it. Service is ok but one of the servers kept repeating gratuity not included so overall not an impressive experience.

Incredibly good food and lovely little restaurant with great atmosphere. Prices are what is to be expected for a central London restaurant. I will come back very soon !!

Okonomiyaki is a total revelation for me, I think this place is awesome especially for the price.

Great place for okonomiyaki. Good for special occasions. Okonomiyaki cooked at your table. Nice family feeling Japanese restaurant. A few other non okonomiyaki options too.

Amazing Japanese food, cooked right in front of you. This is NOT hibachi!

Great experience at Abeno ! Service and staff are really great, super friendly and helpful. You do great job guys, thumbs up !
I liked the concept of having the food prepared in front of you. It brings relax and casual atmosphere. Definitely a place to go with few friends to catch up.
No let s talk about the food. I got a mix feeling. I really like the vegetables Tempura. Very light and the batter is just right and not oily at all. Must order !
Ordered
- 2 okonomi yaki : Tokyo and Osaka. I liked the lightness of the dish but still try to taste the difference between both. One is supposed to have Kimchi (haven t tasted it at all) ...
- Mix Soba noodles (scallops, pork, prawns) didn t like the dish. Too dry and heavy ... missing some sauce...
- chicken Soba Rice: fried rice was well done but flavourless due to lack of seasoning ... and still wonder if the chicken stayed in the kitchen ...
- gobu salad with burdock: liked it but very simple dish with more salad leaves than the main ingredient...
- seasonal vegetables with sesame sauce: very tasty and well seasoned but too small portion ...

To conclude I really enjoyed place, the experience and the staff but food wise it s a disappointment especially for the price asked.

Simply the best Kansai-style Okonomiyaki since I left Japan - over 10 years of looking for a proper, authentic Japanese restaurant in London but now I need look no longer.

This is the best place to get Okonimiyaki. The staff here is Japanese but very friendly. They consult you very well for your dietary preferences. I am a vegetarian and they have clear markings and ingredients on the menu. It saves you from egg and fish flakes if you don't eat them. Avocado gyoza were definitely a must. I tried spinach and cheese okonimiyaki and it was so filling and worth it.

Really delicious okonomiyaki! Get the Tokyo mix, it's the best :D

A true original taste from Japan. I love this kitchen

Great food, good service, ok atmosphere.. Well worth visiting, though the food is a bit overpriced.

I used to love this place because the Okonomiyaki were excellent but what a disappointment when I learnt that they NO LONGER WELCOME 3 PEOPLE. So after a 30 minutes walk just to go to that place (pregnant), learning we could not eat there unless you are 2... I was very disappointed and angry it was not explained on the website. At least when you have such a constraint you say it before people come to your door.

Delectable okinominyaki in a fun setting. The wait staff are very friendly and accommodating. They have a large whisky menu, as well.

Traditional Okonomiyakes and Japanese Street food. We tried the pork and Tokyo ones, as well as a couple of entries and barley and green teas. Everything was very tasty and it resembled flavours of Japan. The only downside was the long wait, I think the place is understaffed considering the waiters have to clean, serve, bill and cook..

Delicious food and tasty drinks, bit more on the pricy side but something very different to your usual dinner experience with the hot table. Staff take great pride in their work.

Very good food - tasty, different... simple and kind staff ... if you are in the area - go!

The food was excellent and really authentic. It would be nice to be able to cook it yourself, but it's a small critique for a policy that I'm sure is out of the restaurant's control. We had beef kara-age, edamame, miso and gyoza to start, and then I had you Osaka okonomiyaki (not to be confused with Osaka style!). The staff were knowledgeable and courteous and I'll definitely be going back.

Very authentic Japanese style restaurant. The Okonomiyaki is delicious. It will be cooked by the friendly staff direct at your table.

An excellent foray into something new for me, lunch with a bit of theatre prepared and served in front of you on the embedded hot plate within the table. Very friendly staff, patient and accommodating with the newbie! Recommended.

Really enjoyed the meal here yesterday. The waitress had superb cooking skills and the meal was really tasty and well cooked. Asahi beer is a great accompaniment . 5 Stars for taste, ambience and good value.

Good okonomiyaki! Your clothes will smell quite a bit afterwards.

The best restaurant in London! Staff is amazing and quality very high! Make sure to try the okonomiaki negi style (with oignons)

Excellent place to visit. Really worm and amazing service. The food has quality and the ingredients are great

Really well made and very nice staff. Okonomiyaki cooked before your eyes.

Different food, tasted good as well but too pricy.. liked their combination of green tea ice cream and a red bean paste kinda thing.. got the smell of cooking in my coat and very difficult to get that out which I hated. They should probably provide some cloak room facility.

Loved the Okonomi-yaki cooked on the hot plate in front of me. I only wish the staff could be a bit more chatty and friendly.

Can I just say service was tremendous. Our waiter was super animated, answered any of our questions and made it look so effortless! Food was great and a lovely experience!

My favourite okonomiyaki place in London.
The place is small but cozy and the staff very helpful.
Very tasteful dishes.
Apart from the okonomi-yaki I would recommend their gyozas (cooked on the spot) and very tasty and from dessert I would recommend Choccie.

Nice selection of sake.

If there is anything negative, is probably the prices being a touch too high.

outstanding, And the chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream was sublime.

I love Abeno! Book in advance, because I m not the only one. The food is fresh, carefully prepared, and delicious. The menu has lovely seasonal options.

It s a family-owned business (so rare), and the the service is wonderful. It s always a warm, friendly experience.

Abeno has become my go-to with visiting friends and family. It never seizes to surprise with its tepanyaki experience and wonderful flavours. It s a little gem nestled right behind the British Museum. I love the pancakes, but I also highly recommend it for dessert!

Brilliant birthday meal for a friend. Amazing food, great team who come and cook for you at your table. They were fantastic about letting us bring a special cake as well :) Despite it being a busy Saturday we were not rushed in any way.

Really good if you eat meat. If you are vegetarian/vegan options are limited.

For a place so close to the tourist attractions, this place has some good food for decent prices. Skip the appetizers and go straight for the okonomiyaki.

The best okonomiyaki restaurant in London. An absolute landmark - booking essential at any time of day.

Ambiente 4
Service 4
Food 5

Really good, original Japanese restaurant. Good food with an emphasis on Okonomiyaki.

Went here to try something new and in that sense was left very satisfied although it was not just a gimmick food as the dish was very tasty. The waitress was very helpful in explaining the range of choices available and was skilled in cooking the dish. However, I found the price to be too high for the amount and quality of food.

Came here for takeaway during lockdown. Okonomiyaki was such a revelation: what a delicious dish, so sophisticated and satisfying! Fresh and high quality ingredients. Rare to see organic chicken on a restaurant menu. Staff were so kind and lovely. Can t wait to go back once they open again!

Cozy Japanese restaurant with hot plates (teppanyaki) on the tables. We had soba wrapped in an omollete with prawns, the asparagus and prawn gyozas and a Pork okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is their speciality and it was really good.

We loved this place when we first visited it a couple of years ago (another location) and were equally pleased this time.

Great experience both food and service. it is a different twist on Japanese food but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I loved it! Cool experience and nice people but also excellent food

Probably the best okonomiyaki I ve had outside of Osaka

Amazing food, as good as I remembered when I had it in Hiroshima, highly recommend

I love Japanese food but never tried okonomiyaki before stumbling apon this little gem. It was so rich and delicious i wasnt dissapointed. it was very busy so we had to share a table with another couple. but we didnt mind. The menu is very extensive lots of Japanese drinks and a specials menu. The food is cooked on the table for a touch of theater to your dinning experience as is traditional with this kind of food. the staff are really nice. i would go back again . lovely!

Amazing Japanese food with absolutely lovely staff, highly recommend

The food here took me back to my visit to Japan, very very good! Not to mention the Matcha Ice cream, I will be coming back!

Loved every bit of it. Lovely staff, very helpful, they explained everything as newcomers and first time experience.
Will definitely return for more.

The third time, as always, super delicious, ah, ah, ah