The story
Kushi-Ya, at 14a Low Pavement in Nottingham, is a Japanese izakaya that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2026 for good quality, good value cooking. The name means skewer shop, and the menu of snacks, small plates and grilled skewers follows that idea.
The kitchen cooks over charcoal on a Japanese grill imported for the room, and the open kitchen lets diners watch it work. Chicken tsukune comes with egg yolk, and beef is served with black garlic mustard. The specials board sometimes brings less familiar cuts, such as duck hearts.
Order the prawn toasts first. Small barrels of toast are piped with prawn filling and finished with furikake and savoury mayo. The pickles, including red radish, daikon, mushroom and cucumber, bring a sharp edge to the start of the meal. When it appears as a special, the mackerel crudo arrives with shiso and wasabi, bound in a rich mayo.
Blond wood and dark-blue tiles sit under large windows, and there is an outdoor terrace along with a private dining room for bigger groups. The Good Food Guide rated Kushi-Ya Very Good in 2026. The bar pours sake, Japanese whisky and cocktails, including a gochujang Old-Fashioned made with whisky, pineapple rum and gochujang-honey syrup. For dessert, black sugar parfait comes with a charred sesame-seed crisp, and matcha cheesecake comes with lime meringue.
Recognition
Details
History
good quality, good value cooking
Most izakaya restaurants in Japan are in tucked-away locations within the city, and Kushi-Ya, which moved to a new address in 2024, has found its own home along a gated walkway off a side-street in the centre of Nottingham. Blond wood and dark-blue tiles are lightened by big windows, and there's an outdoor terrace too – making the most of the East Midlands sunshine. A quotient of tables is kept free for those who arrive on spec, although it's walk-ins only for sub-£20 lunches. The name means ‘skewer-shop’, and a range of speared items forms the centrepiece of the menu: chicken tsukune with egg yolk and beef with black garlic mustard were both hugely pleasing at our visit. Also look to the specials, where more unusual offerings such as duck hearts are often to be had. Before those appear, do not miss the prawn toasts.We cannot stress this enough. Little barrels of toast are piped full of the prawn filling and served with furikake and savoury mayo. You'll never forget them. A plate of excellent pickles sharpens the appetite in every sense, with red radish and daikon, mushrooms and cucumber, all prickling with acidity. Our special of mackerel crudo with shiso and high-grade wasabi gained from the intensely savoury mayo in which it was bound. A small-plates selection encompasses a clever Japanese/Korean prawn cocktail as well as soy-braised pork shoulder with condiments for the meatily inclined. Finish with the supremely well-balanced pairing of black-sugar parfait with a charred sesame-seed crisp or the sweet-and-sour combination of matcha cheesecake and lime meringue. A concise drinks list includes cups and cans of sake, Koshu wine, Japanese whiskies and an exciting cocktail range. Anyone for a gochujang Old-Fashioned (whisky, pineapple rum and gochujang-honey syrup)?
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