Inside Mitsu: The Design-Led Izakaya Bringing East Tokyo to Shoreditch
Aethos London's new Japanese restaurant trades hushed luxury for charcoal smoke, red light and a flying bar: a Tokyo street fantasy designed by Barcelona's Astet Studio.
There's a particular kind of pleasure in watching a space find its true character. At the heart of Aethos London Shoreditch, the Swiss lifestyle hotel that took over 50 Willow Street in late 2025, sits Mitsu, a Japanese restaurant with no interest in hushed luxury. It seeks to transplant the energy of east Tokyo's street culture into the streets of Shoreditch, and it does so with conviction: where the building once housed a cavernous, moody dining room, Mitsu is loud, warm and determinedly fun. This is a restaurant that wants to be a scene, and on the evidence so far, it is one.
The Design: A Tokyo Street Fantasy in Filtered Red Light
The restaurant is the work of Astet, the Barcelona-based studio behind the interiors, and it's the design that announces Mitsu's intentions before a single plate arrives. From the street, the raw concrete façade of the Aethos has been marked with the restaurant's name in oversized lettering; once inside, guests arrive through an entrance corridor of LED arches and throbbing beats.
The reference points are precise. “What truly influenced specific design elements was the essence of Japanese heritage and the urban character of Tokyo in the 1970s and 80s,” says Astet co-founder Ala Zreigat. “It was a period marked by glowing neon signs and dynamic graphics that shaped the city's visual landscape.” That nocturnal palette runs throughout: traditional shoji screens, reinterpreted as large backlit panels integrated into the walls and above dining booths, radiate a soft red glow, while the colour red forms a theme across the restaurant, evoking the vivid street lamps and signage of Tokyo at night. Even the exterior carries the concept, with concrete panels that resemble charred, aged Yakisugi, the ancient Japanese technique for preserving wood, and guests entering through a courtyard garden resembling a Tsuboniwa.
The studio's cleverest move is temporal. The whole room is built around the Japanese concept of utsuroi, or gradual change: an environment that evolves throughout the day through subtle changes in light, rhythm and perception. By day, the bar area stays bright and open via its connection to an outdoor terrace; as evening falls, the mood shifts into an intimate, high-voltage social dimension where red lighting and a dedicated DJ booth take centre stage. Overhead, soaring ceilings and dramatic ceiling-height drapes create the illusion of a “flying bar,” with a central island surrounded by semi-private dining areas.
The Food: Robata Smoke and Izakaya Energy
Photography, Steven Joyce.
If the design is the theatre, the open robata grill is the stage. The kitchen, led by executive chef Aaj Fernando, blends Japanese dining and authentic izakaya culture with an emphasis on confident technique, bold flavour and theatrical moments. The structure is built for sharing and momentum: it runs through classic izakaya dishes such as nigiri, kushiyaki skewers and kamameshi rice dishes, before the robata grill takes over with larger plates such as sirloin, Angus T-bone, hanger steak and whole sea bass.
The smaller plates are where the fun lives. Early menu highlights include spicy edamame, shishito peppers, gyoza, chicken karaage, kushikatsu and hamachi sashimi, and the early notices have been warm, with Tripadvisor reviewers singling out the gyoza and a black sesame cheesecake as standouts. The Guardian's Grace Dent, no easy mark, judged the room “determinedly fun and delicious,” noting the Aethos team has deftly brightened the space, adding a twinkly central bar, an open robata kitchen, roomy booths and a pretty Japanese garden.
The Drinks: London Firsts and a Sake Down the Road
Photography, Steven Joyce.
The bar matches the kitchen's ambition. The drinks programme, curated by Soul Shakers, features a Japanese-style sake produced in partnership with the UK's Kanpai Sake Brewery, and, in a genuine novelty, Japanese whisky highballs on draft in association with Suntory, a first for a London venue. Music is a central part of Mitsu's identity, with DJs shaping the atmosphere from entry to exit, and the late-night programme stretches to karaoke and dancing.
The Hotel: Aethos London Shoreditch
Mitsu doesn't stand alone. It's the dining heart of Aethos London Shoreditch, the Swiss-owned “lifestyle hospitality brand” that took over the former Nobu hotel and reopened it in late 2025. Designed for modern-day explorers, creatives and city lovers, the hotel blends thoughtful design with the energy of East London, and runs a members' club alongside the rooms.
Beyond Mitsu, the Aethos Café offers Mediterranean-inspired dishes, good coffee and easygoing cocktails, while the wider property leans into the brand's wellness-and-community ethos with a steam room, a Japanese garden and a fireplace in the lobby across its 164 rooms. It's a neat circularity: a building that introduced London to a certain kind of polished Japanese dining two decades ago, now home to a scrappier, more design-forward successor that feels far more in tune with its postcode.
FLUXX THOUGHTS
Mitsu is a restaurant that knows exactly what it wants to be: a scene, in the best sense. The Astet design gives it genuine architectural ambition, the robata kitchen gives it tasty substance, and the overall experience pulses with energy. Enjoy.
Photography, Steven Joyce.
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