Defune

No nonsense, old school japanese. the best you will get, as far as london goes. staff, if you get to know them, are very friendly, exhibiting traditional japanese hosting and cultural characteristics to the book. the seafood is always super fresh and quality is top notch in terms of london standards.

if you fancy trendy and fusion japanese food, or if you are in the mood for modern decor, or gazing and flirting, then look away. you all know where else to go for that. though you will bump into nice and friendly customers at the sushi bar.

the prices easily match other trendy japanese and michelin marked restaurants in london (whatever those are worth in your opinion). in my humble opinion, defune easily beats most per price-quality ratio, if the purpose is truly to dine, and have a frank and sincere conversation with your companions.
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diner
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, August 13, 2011

Definitely the best sushi in town! I have been to many Japanese restaurants and Defune delivers fresh, authentic and delicious sushi.

We decided to sit at the tepanyaki table and the service was great. The teppanyaki chef was friendly and prepared us a fantastic steak and seafood dinner.
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matt
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Thursday, March 17, 2011

I should have trusted the reviews but I was persuaded to go by some friends. the food quality was very poor. i got the set lunch, chirashi, and the fish tasted no better then an average takeaway. i would also question the freshness of tuna. very disappointed. definitely not worth the money. please trust the negative reviews!
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3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Thursday, September 23, 2010

We have been to Defune after reading the review comparing it with Zuma. NOT EVEN IN THE SAME LEAGUE!! We had a few smaller dishes , which were of decent quality, but not miles away from YO sushi! A miso soup for £4.80 in a cup the size of an starbuck double espresso, was pretty steep. They main courses were utterly dissappointing - we love the black cod at ROKA, which is around the £20 mark as well, but what we received at Defune was nowhere near the quality or nicely presented as in ROKA or Zuma for that matter! I had the Chilli prawns and, honestly, I have eaten a better version of this dish in a chinese reasturant on Queensway! Service-wise, my girlfriend dropped her chop sticks and non of the 3 waitresses which seemed to be more bored than anything else, even flinched. We ended up with a £109 bill and did not even have any wine with dinner. We both left feeling utterly dissappointed and would definitely never go back or recommend it to anyone we like. If you want to try something really outstanding go to DININGS, which is pricey as well, but offers great quality and inspirational cooking for the pound you pay.
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1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Saturday, December 05, 2009

Best Japanese in London without a doubt, excellent sushi and wagyu better than others including Zuma
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Michael Petz
7 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Saturday, September 12, 2009

Service: Consistently awful.

Sushi: Consistently excellent - the best I've had outside Japan.
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6 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 5
Monday, June 22, 2009