Sushi

[Vanessa]

I've only ever had it from the supermarket Not a great experience.

So, please, advice on where & how to begin on the real stuff.

And, has anyone ever been to that Japanese place (modest, unthreatening looking) on the Upper Richmond Road in Putney.

v

[Kikujiro]

Vanessa,

The sushi I've had in London has never compared to HK, LA and NYC, but you can certainly do better than a supermarket ...

My favourite in terms of quality v price (sh! Plotnicki will hear) is Sushi-Hiro, opposite Ealing Common station. However, it has the most bizarre opening hours so you need to double-check in advance unless you happen to be passing.

I haven't been, over here, to the high-end places around St James etc., but I assume you can get decent advice on those. Nor, have I yet been to Nobu or Ubon, or Tsunami in Clapham, though I intend to. Defune in Mayfair wasn't bad the one time I went.

Of the conveyor belt places, avoid Yo!. I have an odd fondness for Itsu, from the Pret people, which actually has a very limited range of somewhat fusioney sushi, but at least it tastes fresh. When I used to work around there, I sometimes ate at Moshi Moshi in Liverpool St station, which was fine when you got the new stuff. The trouble with all these is that they have a very limited range of actual fish, having worked out how to either produce multiple variations on a limited palette of ingredients (Itsu) or that lots of people really want silly vegetable inventions and small plates of noodles and teriyaki chicken (Yo!). (Oddly, I actually rather liked Miyabi, the Conran place in the Great Eastern hotel, except being Conran people were smoking cigars in the tiny room.)

In Soho, I've posted on Sohojapan, far from bad. I sometimes go to Ten Ten Tei, an unpretentious place on Brewer St, but mainly for non-sushi food (nasu dengaku, grilled aubergine with soy paste, is heaven on a plate).

My fantasy is that someone will open a place over here that has the excellent quality, sake list, informality and affordability of Blue Ribbon Sushi in New York. They could call in Birringusugaito.

Edited December 22, 2002 by Kikujiro (log)

[Vanessa]

I have walked past Sushi-Hiro a number of times (it's my end of town), but always put off by the sex shop style blanked out windows. I guess I'll have to overcome my inhibitions....

By the way, if you turn right out of Ealing Common station and walk 5 minutes or so, past the Tesco garage thing, there is a very nice Arab supermarket on the right hand side.

v

[Kikujiro]

I try not to turn in any direction out of Ealing Common station very often

[Miss J]

I like Sushi-Hiro, too. And it has the enormous benefit of being inexpensive as well as good.

Kiku, have you been to Kulu Kulu on Brewer Street? I've heard good things about it (that is, I've heard it's good in spite of being a kaiten sushi bar).

I still haven't found anything like the variety of good, inexpensive sushi places here in London that Vancouver offers, though. My brother lived off sushi during his studies at UBC - not a bad dining option for a poor student.

[Kikujiro]

Miss J, I went to Kulu Kulu once, but it was a bit late in the evening I think. Under those circumstances just thought it was okay, but maybe an unfair test. Not to be confused with gulugulu (?) near Seven Dials, which is an all-you-can-eat kaiten sushi place

[Gavin Jones]

Kulu kulu - ok, no more. K-10 in Copthall Avenue is pretty good.

[Charlene Leonard]

not that I imagine you will ever come to Willesden Green but Sushi Say is first rate (but expensive).

[Simon Majumdar]

not that I imagine you will ever come to Willesden Green but Sushi Say is first rate (but expensive).

Although it is far out of town, this is one place I would travel for.

Sushi in London generally stinks ( literally ) and has never been close to NY which, with the exception of my recent meal at Jewel Bako, has never compared to LA.

In terms of cost, I think you get what you pay for. Only London could support the abomination of YO in all its machine rolled horror

S

[Stone]

I'm curious, do they boil sushi in England, like everything else?

[Miss J]

Speaking of sushi, I was looking at my mini-sushi set yesterday (thanks again, Santa) and wondering about the availability of sushi-grade fresh fish in London. Has anyone sourced any? Are there any particular fishmongers you recommend, or should I just head straight for Borough or Billingsgate?

[Simon Majumdar]

steve hatt and only steve hatt

Sorry can't type well. I have a nephew doing an impersonation of a "wriggly worm" on my lap as I type.

Now onto the Thunderbird Website

S

[Kikujiro]

Miss J, there's a place on Wandsworth Road, more or less opposite what used to be South Bank Poly, that's pretty good. I forget the name; been a while. (Edit: never made sushi at home so wouldn't say it's recommended for that particular purpose.)

Has anyone here done Billingsgate? I haven't, but keep meaning to.

Edited December 23, 2002 by Kikujiro (log)

[Miss J]

Has anyone here done Billingsgate? I haven't, but keep meaning to.

Hmmm...Jon and I both mean to as well. Maybe a fieldtrip is in order? Nothing like a trip down to a cold, wet fish market at the crack of dawn on a chilly January day...

Simon: I'm jealous. At the moment I'm sitting in a office that's so empty it appears to have been suddenly evacuated. Wiggly worms would brighten things up considerably...

[Kikujiro]

Hmmm...Jon and I both mean to as well. Maybe a fieldtrip is in order? Nothing like a trip down to a cold, wet fish market at the crack of dawn on a chilly January day...

Count me in. I could do with moral support, plus someone to blame when I'm sweet-talked into buying five-day-old fish by some deceitful purveyor.

[hollywood]

Super market sushi is for tourists.

[Kikujiro]

Hollywood, I think you mean 'office workers'.

[hollywood]

Hollywood, I think you mean 'office workers'.

Office work is for tourists.

[Kikujiro]

Tourism is for office workers.

[sandra]

The Japan Centre on Picadilly has a supermarket downstairs which incorporates a fish counter - it is specially sourced for sushi and is usually very fresh. Bonus: you don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn...

While you are there, try the lunch counter on the ground floor - great katsu-don.

sandra

[Miss J]

Thanks Sandra, that's precisely the sort of info I was looking for. I envisage a trip to the Japan Centre in my future.

That said, I still think a group Billingsgate trip would be a good idea, mainly because I need serious peer pressure to get up that early in the winter and I'll never make it on my own...

[Simon Majumdar]

I'm in

5am aint so early.

S

[Kikujiro]

Enough of us and we can do a Reservoir Dogs walk.

5am is fucking early.

[Miss J]

Especially if you have to leave your flat at 4.

(Bloody hell, am I going to have to cycle? The tube won't be open yet. But at least the streets will be clear...)

[Kikujiro]

4 is substantially closer to going-to-bed-time than getting-up-time. Especially when you've found yourself on eGullet past 3am several times in one week