Japanese restaurant Junsei is championing Tokyo izakaya culture in Marylebone, combining a vinyl speakeasy with grilled skewers and sake. Olivia Palamountain reports

Junsei, a Japanese restaurant in Marylebone, has relaunched as one of London's few establishments combining yakitori dining with a vinyl listening bar experience, designed to recreate the after-dark culture of Tokyo's izakayas.

Traditional izakayas serve as neighbourhood gathering places where workers decompress after long days, combining alcohol, food and conversation in intimate settings.

Junsei echoes this formula by transforming into a Hi-Fi listening bar on Thursday and Friday nights, where guests can get stuck into curated vinyl spanning Japanese City Pop to soulful grooves alongside grilled skewers and sake. The restaurant will collaborate with guest DJs and selectors, expanding its late-night programming and cementing itself as a hub for London’s emerging listening bar movement.

What's on the menu? The drinks programme champions Japanese spirits, led by sake, shochu and Japanese wines, amped up by a concise cocktail list featuring Japanese flavours.
Dining, meanwhile, centres on yakitori kushiyaki omakase featuring more than 20 chicken skewers cooked nose-to-tail over Binchōtan charcoal, alongside seasonal vegetable and speciality skewers.

Sharing plates include wagyu beef rib cap, crab korokke with caviar, flame-seared salmon warayaki and diver scallops with shoyu butter. Claypot donabe rice, simmered to order, anchors the menu in communal style.The late-night menu, available exclusively during DJ nights, offers izakaya-style comfort food designed for extended drinking and listening sessions. Dishes include chicken nanban with tartare mayo, crispy chicken skin chips and soboro don with minced chicken, egg yolk and shichimi.Desserts include seasonal granita with fruit and citrus, milk purin with kokuto sugar and grilled fruit with brown sugar ice cream.

For more on the trend for all things audio, check out Globetrender's report on the Listening Suite at Lake Como's Il Sereno hotel.