This is a list of the Best Japanese Restaurants in Nairobi. Japanese food is becoming more popular around the world, including in Kenya, as people become more aware of its health benefits. UNESCO added Japanese food to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2013.
Nairobi’s Japanese restaurant scene is thriving. It has grown over time, and the number of Japanese restaurants in Nairobi is increasing by the day. If you are looking to explore this scene, this is a list of the best Japanese restaurants in Nairobi.
Best Japanese Restaurants In Nairobi
1. Furusato Restaurant
Furusato is the birthplace of the best Japanese cuisine. They provide friendly service and high-quality food, making your dining experience unforgettable. They specialise in authentic Japanese cuisines, such as Sashimi, Sushi, and Teppanyaki. Furusato is a charming little house turned restaurant with unique and funky furniture that adds to its charm. They have both outdoor and indoor seating, as well as several Teppanyaki tables, so you can choose the eating style you prefer on your visit.
Location: Ring Road Parklands, Westlands
Phone: 0722 488 706
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (12 pm-10 pm)
2. Hero Restaurant
Hero is the first establishment of its sort with a Superhero-themed menu to launch in Nairobi. Hero is a unique restaurant that combines design, fantasy, indulgence, and individuality. The space and food celebrate heroes from comic books and our community: thought leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, authors, do-gooders, champions of humanity, and environmental protectors.
Hero’s mission is to serve delectable food, presented with theatre and whimsy, in a creative setting by a team of professionals with personality and a great smile. The sushi form is used in the cuisine, but it is removed from its original context to allow for more flavour, colour, and fun. The team has adapted the format of a popular global cuisine. The small plates take inspiration from superheroes and their superpowers. The Prohibition-style cocktail menu is equally adventurous for vegetarians and vegans.
Location: 9th Floor, Trademark Hotel Village Market, Limuru Road, Nairobi
Phone: 0732 186 666
Opening Hours: Mon (closed), Tue-Sun (11.30 am-10 pm)
3. Haru Restaurant
Haru Japanese Restaurant, located in Karen, has proven that fresh, innovative, and healthy Japanese cuisine has taken pole position as one of Nairobi’s trendiest culinary frontiers. Every dish at Haru Japanese Restaurant has its own distinct flavour, and each is expertly prepared and refined to leave you wanting more. Chef Park considers Japanese cuisine to be an art form. He creates a marriage of simplicity, skill, and taste to ensure your taste buds are satisfied by offering an endless selection of enticing dishes to choose from. A multi-sensory dining experience awaits your palate, with extravagant melt-in-your-mouth Sushi, Sashimi, and a plethora of other authentic Japanese culinary treats.
Location: Karen Road, Nairobi
Phone: 0720 945 400
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (11.30 am-9.30 pm)
4. INTI – A Nikkei Experience
INTI is a Japanese restaurant in Nairobi that combines Japanese and Peruvian culinary traditions. The restaurant is located on the top floor of One Africa Place in Westlands and offers spectacular views of the cityscape. Sashimi, sushi, robata (a type of Japanese barbecue), and other Japanese classics prepared with Peruvian ingredients are among the menu’s highlights. However, there is a dress code to adhere to, and reservations must be made in advance to ensure a table.
Location: 20th Floor, One Africa Place, Waiyaki Way, Nairobi
Phone: 0735 065 945
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (12 pm-11 pm)
5. Tokyo Restaurant
Tokyo Restaurant is a Japanese/Korean restaurant in Nairobi with over 20 years of experience serving high-quality food. Mr Youngho (Philip) Shin, the restaurant’s founder and Head Chef, is one of Kenya’s only licensed Japanese chefs. He has over 30 years of restaurant and hotel experience. He spent ten years in South Korea working for a five-star hotel, where he learned his trade, before coming to Kenya. With his level of experience, you can be confident that the food he prepares will be among the best in the country.
Location: Kolloh Road, Nairobi
Phone: 0722 485 556
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (12 pm-10 pm)
6. Teriyaki Japan Grilled Chicken
Teriyaki Japan is yet another popular Japanese restaurant in Nairobi and one of the most well-known for its Japanese cuisine in the country. It’s a stylish fast-food restaurant with several menu items that are grilled and glazed with Teriyaki sauce. Teriyaki, which has locations on Mama Ngina Street and at Two Rivers Mall, River Front, offers Dine-in services, Takeaways, and Deliveries, with popular meals like Salted Fried Chicken.
Location: Mama Ngina Street, Corner House, Nairobi
Phone: 0727 837 043
7. Chiq Japanese Restaurant
This is a casual, chic dining space ideal for a long lunch, indulging on their popular sushi platter or slurping on a savoury bowl of ramen. ChiQ’s traditional Japanese cuisine is delicious, healthy, and affordable. The restaurant is well-known for its signature dish, Tonkatsu. The Japanese are masters at discovering incredible things and then making them their own. Thus, katsu, a crispy fried meat or seafood cutlet made with flaky Japanese panko breadcrumbs, was adapted from the German schnitzel well over a century ago and has since become a staple of Japanese cuisine. In addition to their Chiq set, a popular sushi platter allows you to enjoy five different types of sushi at once: nigiri, gunkan, California roll, cucumber roll, and vegetarian roll.
Location: New Muthaiga Shopping Mall, The Hub Karen and Sarit Centre
Phone: 0112 783379
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (9 am-9 pm)
8. Shokudo Japanese Cafe
In Japanese, “Shokudo” refers to a diner or casual eating establishment. Shokudos can be found throughout Japan, where residents enjoy daily Japanese home dishes. Customers at Shokudo Nairobi can enjoy a variety of Japanese favourites such as donburi, ramen, curry, sushi, and Japanese desserts such as mochi, all washed down with some delicious sake, which is Japanese rice wine. Shokudo Nairobi offers the same casual café atmosphere where customers can unwind and enjoy Japanese home cooking and sushi.
Location: Kilimani and Gigiri
Phone: 0777 188 002
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (10 am-9 pm)
9. Sushi Soo
Sushi Soo is one of Nairobi’s best and most popular Japanese restaurants, a place that will satisfy your craving for Japanese and Korean cuisine. Try your favourite Sushi, Teppanyaki, or a variety of Korean signature dishes. Sushi Soo is East Africa’s first food train restaurant, and it also serves major continental cuisine. Sushi Soo is best known for dinner dates that provide an amazing live cooking experience under warm lighting and for the most generous sushi boats with the most remarkable services.
Location: Oloitoktok Road, Nairobi
Phone: 020 2320000
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (10.30 am-10 pm)
10. Misono Japanese Restaurant
Misono Japanese is Kenya’s ultimate authentic and localised Japanese dining experience. Misono is located in Nairobi (Established in 1995), at the Kilimani Adams Arcade, and in Mombasa (Established in 2006). Misono Japanese Restaurant is a formal Japanese dining experience in Kenya that reflects the creative and simple nature of Japanese cuisine and philosophy, while also being adaptable to their clientele through the vibrant use of seasonal local ingredients. They combine the freshest and most premium picks and catches, whether from land or sea, to create a subtle but rich oriental dining experience that is sure to reinvigorate your palate.
Location: Kilimani Adams Arcade, Ngong Road (The Green House)
Phone: 0722 511229
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (12 pm-9.30 pm)
11. Chekafe Restaurant
Chekafe is a simple, laid-back Japanese restaurant in a big garden with a simple menu that’s dedicated to quality Japanese cuisine and incredible coffees. Chekafe is owned by a Japanese chef who has years of experience at sushi restaurants in Japan and spent nearly ten years perfecting his taste in Nairobi. Chekafe is unquestionably Nairobi’s best ramen restaurant, with homemade noodles and dumpling skin as well as impressive sushi. Cheka Pork Ramen is their most popular dish.
Location: Kauria Cl, Lavington Nairobi
Phone: 0711 336 688
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun (10 am-7 pm)
