Clapham · March 2026 · 4 min read
Voltaire Road, then and now.
Twenty-five years on the same Clapham corner. What's changed, what hasn't, and why we never moved.
When we opened on Voltaire Road in 2001, Clapham was a different neighbourhood. The High Street was thinner, the Common was emptier on a Tuesday, and the only Japanese food south of the river was takeaway sushi at the supermarket.
We chose the corner deliberately. Five minutes from the tube, three from the rail, on a quieter side street that locals had to find. We wanted somewhere people came on purpose, not on the way to somewhere else.
Twenty-five years later, the corner is still the corner. The High Street is louder, the Common is busier, and there are good Japanese kitchens on every block. Our table is still booked out by Thursday, mostly by people who live within a mile.
We've redrawn the room twice — most recently in 2015 — but we've never thought about moving. The lease is what it is. The team is here. The regulars know the door.
