Eel Sushi Bar — Restaurant in London

If you’re doing some research ahead of a potential visit, Eel is a bit of an anomaly, being held in high esteem in foodie circles but maintaining a subpar rating on review platforms like Google (3.5 stars at the time of writing). The same goes for sister restaurant Dorian. This strange deviation doesn’t seem to be food related but more directly attributed to their strict reservations and table turnaround policies. For example Eel requires a £10 deposit for online bookings, has a stated 1 hour time limit on tables as well as a rule about having to order all your food upfront (no top ups). For a casual sushi bar it all seems rather extreme.

Let’s put that aside for now. I visited solo for lunch on a Monday. Definitely off peak hours with most seats unoccupied at the time I arrived. I was able to choose where to sit and naturally went for the chefs counter (if I counted right there are 6 seats here, another 6 along the window and 6 more on mini tables outside). They did have an attractively priced summer lunch menu on offer for £30-ish but I was keen on trying their nigiri selection and ordered 13 of the 14 options here (skipping the pricy caviar one), along with a miso soup. The miso soup was delicious, I’m usually not a fan but I really enjoyed this one. The nigiri all looked beautiful and were clearly very fresh. The majority of these were very enjoyable but a couple leaned more towards average, and one of them was very chewy. I tried a glass of white wine as well and this was very nice.

The servers seemed very friendly but perhaps they liked the fact I was a speedy eater, with my meal being consumed within 30 minutes. My bill came to £137 of which £20 was spent on drinks. I fully appreciate that high quality sushi doesn’t come cheap but still felt a bit surprised to incur that much expense within 30 minutes. Overall though the sushi here is well above average and I did enjoy my lunch. As always, it was fun to sit at the counter and observe the chefs in action.

Circling back to the start, while I of course understand the need to make a profit, I find the more blatant approach taken by Eel and Dorian with their deposits and table turnover times to be a bit off putting. In fairness I have had good food and friendly service in both venues (Dorian in particular), but if I was going to repeat I’d rather give my business to places which have a more welcoming stance on...

We found the quality of sushi good, but the atmosphere feels more reflective of somewhere fast food. It’s all bar seating and quite loud. We were in there for 30 minutes and spent £120 for the two of us and left still feeling hungry. For that price I’d expect to have least been there for an hour and a half and leaving remotely full.

The seating isn’t comfortable and the tables and counters don’t feel clean because the wooden tables are so textured with divots its going get filthy over time as it’s so difficult to clean.

Once more, the menu is slightly limited and should maybe have some other starters that feel more substantial to pad out the menu like karage, gyoza or a vegetable dish. They just had miso soup. For the size of that sushi you’d have to eat a lot and spend a great deal to even feel remotely full. I believe there was also wasabi embedded in the sushi, which in a traditional Japanese sushi restaurant, they would ask you if you’d like wasabi when ordering (I lived in Japan for 3 years). The restaurant, atmosphere and portion sizes didn’t feel worth the expense. There are far better sushi restaurants locally with just as fresh sushi with better atmosphere at a fraction of the price. Cocoro in Bayswater is a much more authentic experience with better food...

My friends and I had a lovely time overall — the food was delicious and the atmosphere was great. Most of the staff were friendly and very helpful, which we really appreciated.

However, we couldn’t help but feel a bit looked down on during our visit. A couple of staff members made rude comments under their breath, saying things along the lines of “hurry, kick them out” or “get them to leave.” While they may have thought they were being discreet, it was quiet enough that all of us heard and noticed it — which was quite disheartening.

We spent nearly £300 and weren’t overstaying or preventing other guests from being seated, so we were surprised to be treated that way. Even if the restaurant had been busy, that kind of attitude would still be unacceptable.

It wasn’t clear whether the comments were directed solely at us or if it’s something other customers experience too. For instance, the woman seated next to me was handed the bill immediately after finishing her meal. She seemed upset and told the staff member she’d call him over once she was ready, as she hadn’t even had a moment to let her food settle.

We left feeling disappointed. It’s such a lovely venue with amazing sushi, but unfortunately, the experience was ruined by a few staff members who were...