Japanese Kitchen SORA Café & Izakaya Tapas — Restaurant in Broxtowe

Authentic, high quality Japanese food with a wide variety of choices on the menu. Very friendly and attentive service. There’re some special dishes you hardly find in typical Japanese restaurants in the UK. I ordered the foil packed wild mushrooms and oysters grill. Basically the food was cooked in foil on the table, which was an interesting experience. On the side, I tried the Ocha Zuke, which was actually a bowl of hot green tea poured over steamed rice with some seaweed sprinkles. It tasted exactly what I tried in Japan before! I haven’t seen this on menu in other Japanese restaurants here. Definitely a must-try! My partner ordered the Una Don. I could see the portion was very generous with two large pieces of grilled eel. The set came with miso soup and pickled veg. Despite big portion of food he had, there’s always a room for dessert to him… He got to try the matcha cheesecake. The cake was displayed on a rabbit-shaped plate and decorated with sprinkles of matcha powder and strawberry pieces. Yes, that’s Miffy! So cute! Taste wise, the cake was very creamy with intense matcha. The taste is very well-balanced, neither too bitter nor too sweet. They also offer DIY Takoyaki as well. They provide you all ingredients and you can make your own Takoyaki on the table. Of course there’s an instruction sheet for your reference. Unfortunately we haven’t got room for this. Will try next time. Highly recommend this hidden gem if you’re around Nottingham. Would suggest reserving a table in advance especially on Saturday evening. The restaurant is fully...

I can say with confidence as a regular customer for the last year or so that Sora is my favourite dining experience in Nottingham. The atmosphere is one of family and community, fostered by the owners who regularly host local Japan-themed events outside the scope of what you'd expect from a small restaurant.

The food is as authentic as it comes, offering a wide range of options that you won't often find in most UK-based Japanese restaurants that tend to focus more on well-known elements of the cuisine (sushi, noodle broths etc). For those willing to branch out I will always recommend the tamagoyaki (sweet egg omelette) and array of agedashi dishes.

Additionally, while the quality of the regular menu is both consistent and outstanding, Sora regularly keeps things fresh by running bespoke menus for seasonal events such as Valentine's Day and Christmas. During the summer and autumn of 2023 they also ran a stall outside the restaurant selling snacks which I recommended stopping in on if you regularly attend the Sunday market at The Garage.

Finally, you will always find the service at Sora to be incredibly flexible and accommodating. Whilst they are regularly booked up they will always endeavour to find a spot for short notice bookings/off the street custom where possible and are highly...

I was really looking forward to this meal as I love Japanese food, and this restaurant seemed quite authentic, especially with Japanese owners. However, I was very disappointed.

First, the salmon nigiri was shockingly small, thin, and looked a bit grey around the edges, which made me question the freshness of the fish. To make matters worse, I noticed residue from another type of fish on my nigiri—very unprofessional for a dish priced at £7 for just two pieces.

I also ordered the oyako don, a dish that should never go wrong in any Japanese restaurant, especially at £15. The egg was fully cooked, rather than having the slightly runny texture it should have, looks like diluted egg mixture as well. My friend’s Nasu don, the aubergine was way too sour and the portion of rice was small. It honestly felt like a subpar home-cooked meal, not something you’d expect from a restaurant at all, especially at this price in Nottingham.

Overall, I can’t recommend this place and won’t be returning. Sarcastically, seems like the Japanese restaurants run by Hong Kong owners offer much better quality in the UK. If this restaurant wants to represent authentic Japanese cuisine, they need to seriously...