‘Taro’ is a ‘TaishuShokudo’ 大衆食堂 in Japanese meaning ‘an everyday dining room in Japan’. It was founded by Mr. Taro who visited London for the first time in 1979 and dreamt of making Japanese food popular by bringing authentic Japanese cuisine and culture to the city of London.
Our mission is to give our customers a place to celebrate life’s special moments by offering the best authentic Japanese food. We aim to open more branches across London and local community to reach every customer living in this city.
Twenty years later on 10th of September 1999, Mr Taro was able to open the very first Taro restaurant in Brewer Street with a mission to give customers a place to celebrate life’s special moments by offering the very best authentic Japanese food.
After three years of remarkable success, he opened the second branch of Taro on Old Compton Street in 2002 (now moved to Balham). The third Taro restaurant opened in Kennington followed by the fourth opening in Finchley Central in January 2021. In December 2022, He opened the fifth branch in Pimlico.
In January 2023, Mr Taro took over a grade II listed building which is a local
heritage site previously known as L. Manze Pie & Mash Shop. He has lovingly and carefully restored the interior of the building to respect to its rich history without altering the precious tiles and floor of the shop. The shop will be now be known as Taro Walthamstow, our 6th Taro restaurant.
Taro began its journey with 10 staff that has now increased to around 100 members of full-time and part-time staff. Mr. Taro created Japanese dishes, such as Chicken Teri don, Beef Teri don, Salmon Teri don, and Tofu Teri don that have became popular dishes across all Taro restaurants. These dishes are authentic creations of Mr. Taro and because of their popularity in London, they now the inspiration of many Japanese restaurants across London and beyond.
At taro restaurants, we work with amazing teams across our restaurants that really care and love what they do. We are happy to serve and we take pride in handcrafting authentic Japanese food for our customers to experience and enjoy.