Taro

Ordered the salmon sashimi bento (£10.90). Came with an order of miso soup which I found overly salty.
Sashimi was great. Nice thick slices of fresh salmon, definitely the best part of the whole bento.
There were two pieces of Maki– too much rice. Disappointed.
Side of noodles– large portion but did not come dressed, wasn’t sure what to eat it with?
Beansprouts, edamame, green salad and potato salad rounded out the rest of the bento and were decent.
Overall thoughts– decent meal but I’m in no rush to go back.

I ordered the chicken katsu bento box while my friend had the chicken karaage one and we were both extremely satisfied. The bento boxes come with a variety of things, for example mine came with sushi, sashimi and some vegetables. We also got seaweed salad and Gyoza, the former being a bit pricey for less than a handful of pieces of seaweed and the latter being super tasty. We also decided to order two raspberry shochu moijtos and they were rly nice. They sell all the usual Japanese drinks like cold green tea (which I lovee) and calpis. We spent a little over 50 pounds incl service, which isn’t cheap, but it’s central London. This is a solid and reliable option if you’re craving Japanese and are in the area, staff is friendly and the place is big! U don’t need to listen to other peoples convos or touch elbows!!! Honestly where in central does that not happen

Taro does not disappoint. Massive portions, delicious food, nice ambience. Would definitely recommend, but come hungry and ready to relax. There’s a bit of waiting around, but it’s not unpleasant.

Taro is what I call a B-​spot – the place you go when your first choice (your A-​spot) is not available. It’s spacious and fast, so there’s a pretty good chance you’ll snag seats quickly, even during peak hours. The Tonkatsu ramen is too salty rather than too bony, but the noodles aren’t so bad. The best item on the menu? Probably the totally unauthentic cinnamon ice-​cream, believe it or not. Service, as with most B-​spots, is hit or miss.

The staff is very friendly but… I’ve found it a little bit expensive for what they offer I mean it’s Japanese food but for that same price I can dine in a much better and maybe fancy place.
although they fish slice was very tin it was tasty but I still not sure if I would go back there.

This place is OKAY. Because it’s CHEAP-​ish and will scratch your after drinks Japanese food itch just fine.
Don’t come here searching for quality food, cause we did. And we ended up ordering more than we could eat. Tempura is chewy, and looks aged. Miso is fine, noodles fine, bento boxes are just not worth it and sushi is fine.
The setting is nice though, there is a very relaxed atmosphere in this place.
Also, the staff has no idea there is a check-​in offer on their Unilocal page. And it’s like one free soft drink anyways.

Not authentic, although advertised as such. The food is decent, priced well and usually very quick. It is ideal for a quickie or lunch break. Not a real sit down in-​case you don’t know.

I ordered katsu don and spicy salmon sushi. 80% katsu don was rice and wasn’t that good. Spicy salmon sushi wasn’t impressive as well. Would not recommend those 2

A good place if you’re on a budget I guess. I’d order the ramen and rice dishes like Katsu Don and Unajyu Don, which are fairly decent
However I’d avoid the sashimi and sushi. Hamachi yellow tail sashimi did not look the right colour. Way too brown and not translucent enough, and did not taste fresh. Salmon sashimi which is usually a safe bet was not cut properly as sashimi should be.
Sushi rolls looked like they were rolled by someone just learning to make sushi. Way too much rice and the abundant use of Japanese mayonnaise, although tasty, does hint at the underlying quality of the ingredients.
Come here if you know which dishes to avoid

This place is like Pizza Express for Italian food, a place for a quick easy Japanese fix but not for it’s quality. It is a small chain after all with one near Cannon Street, Hampstead and one nearer to Piccadilly Circus. Nothing was particularly great and ranging from standard to below average.
One thing I do like is it’s simple décor, below in the basement so when you’re looking outside from above you see the heads of hungry diners eating. Of course when you’re actually a diner below you’re quite oblivious to this unless you look up and catch eye to those sneaky peepers,
Like most Taro it consist of lots of small wooden tables, quite closely packed and yellow and white contrasting painted surroundings. The noise levels was quite high in the small spacing and being located in Soho so definitely not one for a romantic setting.
We started with a few small plates although everything came together. The spinach was fresh, served cold and well seasoned. I wish they had the other variety served with sesame paste but they stuck with the more simple version, cooked with salt and sprinkled with sesame seeds which was good as it was.
Being fans of Takoyaki we knew the ones we ordered were not freshly made in a takoyaki maker but probably bought frozen and then deep fried. The benefit of these ones were that they were more crispy than the usual and perfectly shaped but you don’t get the same ooziness and soft texture as those grilled.
Sadly the yakitori were a bit disappointing being dense and quite dry. They did not taste as fresh as we would have liked them to be and a bit overdone on the grill. The sauce was also quite overpowering.
The tempura maki rolls were quite below average, probably like the ones you get from Wasabi. As the prawn wasn’t fresh you really can’t taste much making the roll itself was pretty bland. The batter was also quite thick so it took away the texture of the prawn itself and became the most dominant in taste. At least the rice held together and cooked well.
The unagi nirgri was slightly better although still lack that bounce if the eel was more fresh. The texture was not the same but I do love the taste of eel in it’s sauce which is hard to get wrong so that made up for it.
The most disappointing part of the meal turned out to be my main, Tonkatsu curry udon. In fact nothing was right. Firstly it was presented so poorly that it was even appetising to look at. The pork was sliced but mixed around with the udon as if someone had played with it. It was also overdone so the meat was tough around the edges and the batter very thick and greasy. The curry itself was watery and bland and could be because they didn’t drain the udon well enough when they cooked it. But it was also flavourless, very one noted and I can say I will never order this dish again.
I seriously don’t remember Taro being so poor at their other branch in Brewer Street so it could have just been this branch. I definitely do not associate the food being Japanese but more a fast food chain replica. Presentation usually plays a vital part in Japanese cuisine and this place lacks it.

Fui con un amigo que trabaja cerca y suele comer allí, comimos unos dumplings, yakisoba de marisco, teridon de pollo, una coca cola y una cerveza Asahi de medio litro, nos salio todo por 28 libras que para Londres es un precio buenisimo (el dia anterior en Shoryu, también por la zona, por 2 ramen, 2 pintas y un aperitivo pagamos unas 40 libras). Los dumplings estaban ricos, y los fideos yakisoba no estaban mal pero tampoco eran ninguna maravilla, lo que mas me gusto fue el pollo teridon, es un plato con arroz y verduras y por encima pollo que estaba súper crujiente y sabroso. Cuando vuelva seguro que repito!

I’ve been here a few times, it’s great if you want to have a casual meal. I usually order the don — have tried the spicy chicken don and the una don which was tasty. The don usually comes with a bed of small bed of vegetables, except the unagi one which came with some pickles on the side.
I also tried the soft shell crab sushi rolls, but wasn’t quite a fan of it — a bit big and clumsily made.
Overall good value for money, and great stop-​by to satisfy any sudden cravings.

Perfect for cheap, filling Japanese food. Service is fast and efficient. The only reason that this doesn’t get five stars is that I prefer the Taro on Brewer Street!!!

I’ve been to Taro Brewer St. a couple of times before and had a nice enough experience (not outstanding by any means, but decent food and really basic service for cheap enough) which is why I’ve given the place two stars instead of the one yesterday’s visit deserved. Yesterday I went with two other people to the Old Compton Street branch. It was busy but not rammed, and we ordered gyu don, ebi bento and salmon teriyaki bento. Well, our three meals came 10 minutes apart from each other, so that when the first person had already finished their meal, the third person hadn’t even received theirs! Nobody apologised, or even acknowledged this.
Really bad, slow and inattentive service went on throughout the night.
Salmon teriyaki bento was pretty bad, the slices of salmon were really thin and the sauce was overly sweet. The tuna sashimi in the box tasted awfully old and was more of a fatty chunk than a delicious, thin slice.
Gratuity was added despite the horrible service received, which we paid because we don’t like to kick up a fuss, but were not happy about.
Overall definitely not recommended, will maybe give the Brewer Street branch another chance, but Old Compton has really not much to offer!

Consistently good Japanese fare in a stealthy wrapper… Taking a walk down Old Compton Street it’s easy to miss the hidden gem that is Taro! Even then first impressions don’t count décor wise as the place is always busy with those in the know about the tasty array of Japanese goodness within.
Anywhere this central that can feed you two stonking great bento boxes and beers for under £40 for two gets a lot of love in my books!
I am a creature of habit and their Ebi Fry bento is something to behold: four mouthwatering fried king prawns in Panko drizzled with a thick sweet sauce, salmon & tuna sashimi, crab stick and avocado rolls, edamame & bean sprouts plus a bowl of rice and a bowl of miso…
Not finished yet: for under £15! Throw that down your neck with an Asahi or Ramune retrospective lemonade ;) and you’re in Heaven!
The staff are attentive but not overpowering in my experience (go atleast twice a month!)
Give it a bash…

very tasty food, quick service and reasonable prices make this Japanese restaurant a place not to be missed! I’ve been eating here for the past 6 years and I never had an issue :)

There’s undoubtedly something to a Hayao Miyazaki film that, at some point, makes you crave a bento box. And when you want a bento box, you want something that is going to be as good as how you see it in a Miyazaki film.
This is what happened to me while I watched Satsuki make lunch for her little sister Mei and her father in the award-​winning Totoro.
My boyfriend didn’t skip a beat in suggesting Taro on Old Compton Street in London. Like other things he has great taste in, he has great taste in picking sushi restaurants.
Taro has the typical-​style menu, with fonts all array and pages that could be better designed. I also didn’t care for the overly-​warmed saturated photographs. Some of the menu items offered in the bento box are not available individually, like the shrimp (prawn) tempura. You can’t substitute items in the bento box — so forget trying to barter with your server for a quick swap of seaweed salad in for bean sprouts and pickles. It just won’t happen. If there was a bit more flexibility with the menu, I’d quickly raise this to a 5 star. I’ll let the horrible design of the menu pass on account that the owner, Mr. Taro, is really freaking old. (Mr. Taro, I believe you to be quite the busy old man running a few sushi restaurants in London, but perhaps we can make a deal. Private message me if social media has reached you.)
The plum wine coats your palette like a fine Moscato. The sushi rolls look like fluffs of fresh rice and fish. The tempura is prepared in a traditional Japanese-​style. The chicken teriyaki was roasted to perfection. This all came out very quickly, too, so arrive hungry.
For an American coming from a flailing, shitty economy — expect to take a bit of a karate chop, or shutō-​uchi, to the wallet. A dinner for two – 2 plum wines, 2 bento boxes (including two delicious bowls of miso soup), 1 seaweed salad, and 3 pcs of California roll – came to £45 (including gratuity).
That’s $ 70.33 USD. Yeah. (How you loving your military-​industrial complex warmongering now, America?)
But seeing how it’s Miyazaki-​quality Japanese food, it’s well worth the price. Just don’t watch a whole bunch of Miyazaki films at once because you will go broke.

this place is a good place to hit in soho if you want good, cheap, quick sushi! Me and my friend both had the chicken katsu curry. It was good! the actua chicken tasted really cheap but the potato, rice and sauce were nice!

Sehr authentisches, einfaches japanisches Restaurant mit Garküche. Die Karte ist gut sortiert. Ich hatte als Vorspeise gute Gyoza und als Hauptgericht einen Raman Suppe. Diese war von der Brühe her etwas flach, da habe ich schon bessere gegessen

I was just working on my list of Japanese hits and misses and went searching for my Taro review, and it turns out I’ve never written one! Senior moments.
Taro was there when I first moved to London and was looking for a proper bowl of noodles (udon is my favorite in this case, although my husband is a big fan of their ramen). The ambiance is terrific – a near-​constant stream of people filing through the door, sitting to eat during lunch and dinner hours, and hurrying off again. It’s a hive of bustling waiters maneuvering between closely packed tables. The room is bright and spartan, and the open kitchen only adds to the frenetic energy. It really does hold a special place in my heart.
Besides the noodles, the tonkatsu and the simple nigiri options are solid picks. I’ve never had a bento, but they’re seemingly a hot item as well. Word to the wise, however: they put single diners at the counter, and it can be hard to get the attention of a waiter once sat there. Don’t be afraid to throw up an arm to get some attention. It’s definitely that type of place.

Not much not to like – big wooden tables with benches and lots of them, extensive Japanese menu, mega bento boxes, beer and cheap prices.
I enjoyed some sushi rolls and Udon and looked on with envy on the b-friend’s bento box.
Service was slightly spotty because we were in the extension room, but for cheap, fast, filling and friendly Japanese you can do no wrong.

It’s not a celebratory or a trophy place. You can’t show off London’s Japanese offerings by taking your guests to Taro, but it is a great great place for a quick and cheap bite with what looks like almost fresh food and reasonably flavoured.
The gyoza is a sharing portion (6 or 7). Average. Along with that came Asahi beer.
I felt like Katsu curry but ordered a portion of the chicken Teriyaki don instead, which comes on a bed of rice. Cabbage, carrots, onions, sprouts and green pepper. Very wholesome with a not so unreasonable compromise on freshness. Portions are generous and I couldn’t finish all the rice (having had a skinny latte half hour before)
Despite anything above that might sound negative, I can’t imagine you would get significantly better value for your money in this part of the West End.