The Araki

Is The Araki worth booking in London?

Yes, if you are looking for one of London's most serious Japanese dining experiences. The Araki holds a 90-point score from La Liste's 2026 Leading Restaurants ranking, placing it in the upper tier of London fine dining; and in the narrower world of high-end Japanese restaurants in the UK, it has very few rivals. For a first-timer considering whether to commit, the short answer is: this is a destination booking, not a casual option.

What to expect on your first visit

The Araki is located at Unit 4, 12 New Burlington St in Mayfair, a short walk from the Oxford Circus and Green Park tube stations. The address puts it in one of London's densest concentrations of fine dining, which means the surrounding streets are well-served by transport and familiar to anyone who has visited the neighbourhood before.

The format here is omakase; a chef-directed tasting sequence where the kitchen makes the decisions and the diner follows. If you have not experienced omakase before, the key practical point is this: you do not order from a menu. You arrive, you sit, you eat what is prepared. This is not a format suited to diners who want control over their meal, but for those willing to commit, it is the most direct way to encounter what a kitchen at this level is actually capable of.

Because the venue database does not include specific dish details, we will not speculate on the menu. What the La Liste 90-point recognition does confirm is that the kitchen is operating at a level that justifies the experience on credential alone. For context, La Liste's scoring system aggregates global restaurant guides and critic sources, so a 90-point result reflects sustained multi-source recognition rather than a single award cycle.

The wine program and what it means for your booking

The editorial angle worth raising for first-timers is the wine pairing question. Omakase venues at this level in London tend to approach sake and wine quite differently from their European fine dining counterparts. Whether you are planning to drink sake, a paired wine selection, or nothing at all, it is worth contacting the restaurant ahead of your visit to understand what is available and at what price point. Do not assume the beverage program will mirror what you have experienced at, say, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay or Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library. At a Japanese omakase counter, the drink program is often structured around the progression of the meal in a way that differs from conventional wine-list browsing. Arriving with a plan, or at least a question, will serve you better than arriving with assumptions.

When to book

Based on the booking difficulty rating for The Araki (Easy), securing a table here is more achievable than at some of London's hardest-to-book venues. That said, easy booking difficulty at a venue with La Liste Leading Restaurants recognition does not mean walk-in availability. Book at least two to three weeks in advance for weekday visits, further ahead if you are targeting a Friday or Saturday. Because phone and website details are not confirmed in our database, check current booking availability directly via the venue's own channels or through a concierge service if you are visiting from abroad.

Practical details at a glance

Pearl picks: more leading dining in London and beyond

If you are building a broader London itinerary, our full London restaurants guide covers the full range of the city's leading tables. For stays nearby, see our London hotels guide. If you want to compare The Araki against the best of UK fine dining outside London, profiles worth reading include L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, and Waterside Inn in Bray. For international omakase and precision tasting comparisons, see Le Bernardin in New York City.