Sushi Makers to the Stars Mark 14 Years in West Acton
YoYo Kitchen's chef has prepared meals for Madonna, Kylie and De Niro
Sushi chef Yoichi ‘Yoyo’ Iguchi (right) with his wife Tanya
June 13, 2024
YoYo Kitchen in West Acton has been serving authentic Japanese food opposite the tube station for the last 14 years.
It was founded by celebrated sushi chef Yoichi ‘Yoyo’ Iguchi and his wife Tanya and has become a local favourite, due to its freshly prepared sushi, bento boxes and side dishes. It 4.7 average star rating on Google from over 220 reviews speaks to the high standard of its offering.
Yoichi has over 20 years of experience as a sushi chef. Born in Tokyo and inspired by his chef father and grandfather, he trained at the prestigious Ginza Asta, one of Japan's top Chinese restaurants.
In 1995, he moved to London, where he worked in various Japanese restaurants, including Nobu on Park Lane. There he prepared sushi for celebrities, such as Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Robert De Niro, whose signatures are all proudly displayed in YoYo Kitchen on his chef knives and hats.
In 1999, he became the main fish buyer for most of the top Japanese restaurants in London. But it wasn’t until 2010 when Yoyo was able to achieve his life-long dream of opening his very own Japanese deli & cafe in West Acton, where he now lives with his wife Tanya and their four children.
He said, “We had been looking for a location for Yoyo Kitchen for a while and were in talks with the leaseholders of the Post Office across the road, but they were unsure if they were ready to retire. As I was talking to the owner, I saw the Wine Rack across the road had a closing down sale, so we put in a bid for the leasehold. This was accepted just before Christmas 2009 and we opened on 17 May 2010. The rest is history!
“We enjoy being at the heart of the local West Acton community and its residents, employees and business owners have become more like friends than customers and acquaintances. It also gives us great pleasure to share our expertise about the preparation of Japanese cuisine and its health benefits with our customers. It is also lovely to hear customers say that they think our sushi is the best and that is what they want to eat on special occasions.”
The venture didn’t have an easy start because one of its main rivals tried to stop Japanese food suppliers from taking it on as a customer. However, it was Covid which provided the biggest challenge. They had to put staff on furlough, so between Tanya and Yoichi, their 16-year-old daughter Hannah and 18-year-old son Kai, who had had their GCSE and A level exams cancelled because of Covid, they managed to keep the business running after the first lockdown. Despite the challenges, they say it was a positive experience to come together as a family during a really difficult time.
One of their employees, Nekoda Davis, was balancing her training at the Ealing Judo Club with working at Yoyo Kitchen. She went on to become a Commonwealth gold medallist and participant in the Rio Olympics. The family had planned to travel to Japan to watch her in the Tokyo Olympics, but that was sadly not possible due to the pandemic.
Yoichi says, “Pre-Covid, our business was thriving and the majority of our new customers came through word of mouth. However, since Covid, we have had to build a website with an online ordering facility and generally increase our online presence and it has been difficult to compete with bigger companies. The business’s running costs have also spiralled since Covid!
“In addition, many people saw our success and so many similar businesses have opened in the west London area, but we are still confident that we are experts in our field and never compromise on the quality of our food and service.”
Yoichi and Tanya say that the business has given them lots of happy memories over the last 14 years. When they first opened, their 6-year-old daughter used to come to YoYo Kitchen before school to help set up the shop.
They also look back with pride with raising funds for the orphans of the 2011 Tsunami in Japan and helping the Ealing food bank.
Another particular pleasure is the queues outside the shop on a Saturday lunchtime, when local people and students from the local Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Polish Saturday schools and their families would come to buy their lunch. It delights them to see that lunch at Yoyo Kitchen was a special treat for families from so many different backgrounds.
One of Yoichi’s highlights is famous Japanese stars in Japan, such as guitarist Hotei and his singer wife Miki Imai, actor Akira Koeiyama and footballer Shinji Okazaki, coming in to buy his sushi.
Yoichi’s dream is that being a sushi maker passed through to the fourth generation of his family. His son Kai is a budding chef and Yoichi hopes that he might be able to balance a career in civil engineering with running the business, thus ensuring that YoYo Kitchen continues to remain a family business.
YoYo Kitchen is at 4 Station Parade, Noel Rd, West Acton, W3 0DS.
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