Jason Atherton's Japanese izakaya and basement sake den near Farringdon, open from 2016 until its 2018 closure.
Sosharu sat on Turnmill Street in Clerkenwell, a short walk from Farringdon station, and ran as Jason Atherton's full-scale Japanese izakaya from March 2016. The ground floor served Tokyo-style small plates, while the real draw for drinkers was 7 Tales, the basement bar built around sake, Japanese whisky, and highballs.
The Caterer reported the abrupt closure in August 2018, with Atherton calling Farringdon "an incredibly tricky spot" and floating a Soho or Mayfair relocation that never materialized at the same name. We keep this page as a record. People searching for the old izakaya will find what it was, and where to go in Clerkenwell now.
Sosharu has been closed since August 2018. For a similar Clerkenwell night, the directions below point to the former Turnmill Street site and the bars now nearby.
Sosharu split over two floors. Upstairs read as a polished modern izakaya, all blond wood and low lighting, built for plates and pours rather than a long sit.
The basement bar, 7 Tales, was the seat to ask for. Hardens and trade coverage flagged the downstairs room as the more atmospheric half, a dim sake and cocktail den under the restaurant.
The bar's case was sake and Japanese whisky. The team poured highballs with care and ran a sake list deep enough to flight by style, which set it apart from the gastropubs around Clerkenwell at the time.
Cocktails leaned Japanese in spirit and ingredient. With the venue closed since 2018, prices and the exact menu are historic, so treat the notes here as a record of what the bar did rather than a current list.
What to order
- 01
Sake flight
- 02
Japanese whisky highball
- 03
A Japanese-leaning cocktail
- 04
Izakaya small plates
