We wandered into Arthur’s Market the way you do when you’re early for dinner and looking for somewhere to pause before the evening really begins. The King’s Road was loud. The market wasn’t. It had that warm, end of day glow that makes you feel like you’ve stepped slightly out of your own life and into someone else’s calmer version.
Arthur’s Market looks like the sort of place where people buy perfect fruit on purpose. A proper grocery, well behaved and beautifully stocked. But tucked inside, almost too discreetly, is ASA Izakaya. And as evening settles, the whole place shifts around it. Shelves soften into shadows. Counters disappear. Blinds slide down with a quiet finality. Before you know it, the market has exhaled and a small, intimate dining room has taken its place.
My friend and I arrived right as the room finished transforming. It felt like catching a theatre just after curtains down. Calm. Low lit. Gently expectant. We took our seats at the counter, close enough to feel part of the rhythm without pretending we knew anything about knife skills.
The food arrived with quiet confidence. Squid kasudzuke nigiri with that clean, slightly sharp lift that wakes you up. Scallop that tasted impossibly sweet. Then langoustine brushed with sweet soy and its own miso, a small, perfect mouthful that made us exchange one of those looks where no one needs to say anything.
The menu has plenty of temptation. Caviar glistening in different shades. Roe in every texture. A sake list that reads like someone behind the scenes has very strong opinions. It all adds atmosphere without forcing you into indulgence. You notice it. You enjoy the idea of it. You don’t need to order half the menu to feel part of the moment.
At the centre of it all is Shaulan Steenson. His background stretches from Endo at the Rotunda to Hakkoku to Sushi Jin, but none of it is presented like a résumé. You feel it in the calm of the room. The neatness of the plates. The way everything arrives exactly when you’re ready for it.
Around us, the tables were relaxed in that rare, unforced way. People eating slowly. Talking properly. Leaning in rather than checking out. It didn’t feel like a place chasing hype. Just a place that knows what it’s doing and trusts you to notice.
We drifted through the evening easily. No rush. No pressure. Just good food, good conversation and that gentle sense of time warping in your favour.
When we eventually stepped out, Arthur’s Market was already resetting itself for morning. Counters back in place. Lights low. The shelves lined with its own label wine, made with its Belgravia sibling the Prince Arthur, glowing faintly like a reminder that the whole thing would quietly rewind in a few hours.
ASA Izakaya doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t need to. It simply shifts the room around you until you’re somewhere else entirely.
The fatty tuna is still living rent free in my head.
279 King’s Road, London SW3 5EW
