London's First Handroll Bar Has Landed in Mayfair: Inside Temaki's New Maddox Street Home
London's First Handroll Bar Has Landed in Mayfair: Inside Temaki's New Maddox Street Home
Temaki has opened its doors on Mayfair's Maddox Street, bringing the cult handroll bar that began life in Brixton into a bigger, more central home. Founded by A.M. Dupee in the summer of 2021, Temaki quickly built a devoted following as London's first dedicated handroll bar, inspired by the relaxed handroll counters of California.
Now, with a new creative team behind it, the concept returns with elevated Japanese cooking, a broader small plates menu and a setting built for two very different registers of dining.
Photography, bottom right, Crispy rice Akami Tuna, Justin De Souza.
A bigger stage for a cult favourite
The move from Brixton to the Crown Estate's Maddox Street marks a significant step up for Temaki, placing it firmly within the West End's dining circuit. Sarah McLaren, Hospitality and Leisure Leasing Director at The Crown Estate, described Temaki as a strong example of an independent operator ready to establish itself at the heart of London, part of a wider push to bring a mix of new, growing and established names to the area.
Founder A.M. Dupee has spoken warmly of the Brixton years while making clear that Mayfair marks a genuine evolution rather than a straight transplant. The signature handrolls remain at the centre of the offering, but they now sit within a considerably more ambitious menu built around sharing.
WhatS on the menu
Photography, Justin De Souza.
Photography left, Trout Tetaki. Right, Wagyu slider, Justin De Souza.
Temaki takes its name from the Japanese te, meaning hand, and maki, meaning roll, and the handroll remains the heart of the experience. In Mayfair, the format has grown to include a fuller selection of Japanese small plates designed for the table rather than the individual diner. Expect crispy rice topped with premium cuts of fish, A4 wagyu sliders and a rotating edit of sandos and toro, all built around the same Californian sensibility toward produce and atmosphere that shaped the original Brixton site.
The drinks list has been developed to match. A curated wine list and Japanese saké sit alongside a tight, considered cocktail menu, favouring precision over volume in keeping with the restaurant's overall approach.
The space
Temaki, Justin De Souza.
Temaki spans two levels on Maddox Street, each with a distinct character. Upstairs, an intimate fourteen seat dining room wraps around a counter overlooking the chefs at work, a direct nod to traditional Japanese dining practice and the kind of theatre that counter seating does best. Downstairs, a twenty eight seat room takes its cue from Japan's listening bars, offering a lower, more atmospheric register and doubling as a private dining space for larger bookings.
The result is a restaurant that can flex between a fast, precise counter experience and a slower, more immersive one, without either feeling like an afterthought.
The Fluxx verdict
Photography, Butterfish, Justin De Souza.
Temaki's move to Mayfair is a useful marker of where London's Japanese dining scene is heading, away from single-format novelty and toward considered small plates programmes with a clear point of view. A cult Brixton handroll bar reappearing on Maddox Street, backed by the Crown Estate and expanded well beyond its original remit, is exactly the kind of trajectory worth watching.
Book the upstairs counter for the theatre, or the downstairs room for something slower. Enjoy!
11 Maddox Street, London, W1S 2QF, temaki.co.uk
Daily, lunch 12pm to 3pm and dinner 5pm to 10pm
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