Moto Sake Bar Near Me: Covent Garden's Maiden Lane Sake Room

Moto sits at 7 Maiden Lane, a short walk south of Covent Garden station, and it is the sake bar near me answer when you want Japanese rice wine poured by people who import it themselves. The room opens at noon Tuesday to Sunday, stays open until 12:30 am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and sells every drink on its list to take home as well. Expect a slim, pale-wood bar rather than a restaurant.

Brandon Chin and Erika Haigh soft-launched Moto on 26 November 2019, taking over the former Sibarita site on Maiden Lane, according to Hot Dinners' pre-opening report. Haigh holds a WSET sake qualification and is a certified International Sake Sommelier, which explains why the list leans on producers rather than famous labels. The bar marked its first birthday on its own blog on 30 November 2020, after a year that tested every small London opening.

The name is a small lesson in itself. On its own site the team explains that moto is the yeast starter that kicks off sake fermentation, and that the word also means origin, a nod to the fact that they buy direct from the breweries. That direct-import model is why the back of the room doubles as a shop, with a retail fridge where bottles you tasted at the counter can be bought to carry home.

Start with one of the three flights, Kunshu, Soshu or Junshu, each served as three 60ml pours so you can compare styles side by side. When Time Out reviewed the bar in January 2020 a flight cost £15, though that figure is six years old. The current list names bottles such as Rairaku Junmai Nama Genshu, Jokigen Junmai Daiginjo and DAN Yamahai, which gives you an unpasteurised, a polished and a wild-yeast style in one evening.

On a cold night, ask for hot sake, which Moto serves in 60ml glasses or as a 180ml tokkuri for sharing. The food is built to soak up a few rounds rather than to fill you up: chicken fry, which is karaage, an onigiri fry, chawanmushi egg custard, yakitori skewers and nekomanma, a homely rice bowl. Obento boxes come in vegetarian or vegan, chicken, pork and prawn versions if you want something closer to dinner.

Cocktails are where the bar's head bartender, who the site says built his reputation in Taiwan, gets to play. They run from 5 pm Tuesday to Thursday and all day Friday to Sunday. Time Out's 2020 review thought the £15 cocktails were pricy, and its writer also felt the tasting-note cards might be overkill for seasoned sake drinkers, so regulars tend to skip both and stay with the flights.

Hot Dinners counted 25 seats plus the bar when Moto opened, and The Nudge described the space as a slender sleeve with banquette seating along one wall. That size shapes everything. With so few chairs, the noon opening on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday is the simplest moment to walk in and choose your spot, while late Friday and Saturday evenings are when a 25-seat room in the middle of theatreland is most likely to be full.

Monday is not on the published timetable, so plan Moto for Tuesday onwards. Sunday closes earlier at 10 pm, which makes a late afternoon flight a sensible end to a weekend in the West End. If you are a group of six or more, the team runs bespoke private tastings and events on enquiry through info@motoldn.com, which is a better route than hoping a long table frees up on a busy evening.

Moto describes itself as a sake bar, shop and eatery, and it behaves like all three at once. Anything poured at the bar can also be bought to take away, so it is normal to finish a flight, point at the glass you liked best and leave with a bottle. Flights arrive with tasting cards that explain each pour, which suits first-timers; if you already know your yamahai from your kimoto, say so and the conversation gets more specific.

Non-drinkers should go in with clear expectations. A January 2026 TripAdvisor reviewer who asked for a mocktail was told there was none, and left disappointed, so this is a room for people who want sake or Japanese spirits. Everyone else gets a menu that runs from light sparkling-style junmai to rich aged bottles, plus Japanese whisky, and a counter where asking the bartender to compare two breweries is the whole point of the visit.

The bar's retail arm, store.motoldn.com, lists the prices the counter does not print. In October 2026 Raifuku Junmai sold for £41, Gunma Izumi Yamahai Honjozo for £43, Nagomi Nama-Chozo for £56 and Tenmei Junmai Daiginjo Yamadanishiki 50 for £77, with a Japanese Junenmyo Half Decade whisky at £79. Orders over £100 ship free within the UK, which is handy if a flight converts you to a brewery you cannot find elsewhere.

A practical habit from regulars is to taste first and buy second. Order a flight that includes the bottle you are curious about, then ask the bartender to pull the same one from the fridge at the back. You avoid paying £50 or more for a style you might not enjoy, and because the team imports directly, they can usually tell you the brewery's region, rice and polishing ratio on the spot.

Maiden Lane is one of the quieter streets between the Strand and the Covent Garden piazza, and it has a neighbour with serious history. Rules, at 35 Maiden Lane, was founded in 1798 and calls itself London's oldest restaurant, and it runs its own cocktail bar if you want a classic martini before or after your sake. The two doors are a minute apart on the same pavement, so they make an easy double bill for an evening.

If Moto is full, London's other dedicated sake room is KANPAI's taproom at 48 Druid Street by London Bridge, where the UK's first sake brewery pours its own sake from the tap. It opens Wednesday to Sunday, so pair them across a weekend: KANPAI for brewing on a Saturday afternoon, Moto for imported bottles in the evening. KANPAI is under ten minutes on foot from the south side of London Bridge station.

Address: Moto, 7 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA. Hours on the official site: Tuesday and Wednesday noon to midnight, Thursday to Saturday noon to 12:30 am, Sunday noon to 10 pm. Nearest Tube: Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line, with Charing Cross and Leicester Square both within an easy walk. Cocktails start at 5 pm from Tuesday to Thursday.

Bring a friend who likes to share, because flights and the 180ml tokkuri are built for two. Ask the Karpo APP for a nearby late dinner if the snacks are not enough, and for the fastest route home when the bar closes at half past midnight. The bottle shop at store.motoldn.com lets you reorder anything you tasted, and Moto announced in spring 2026 that its Moto Sake School tastings were back for anyone wanting a structured introduction.