So much more than raw fish! (Yo! Sushi)

Member Name: Leolover

Product:	Yo! Sushi
Date:	10/01/02 (838 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: delicious, healthy food, refreshingly different eating experience

Disadvantages: Costly

I’ve been a sushi fan for quite a while now, but I’d always stuck to takeaway packs from supermarkets and hadn’t tried an actual sushi restaurant. It was, therefore, with some excitement and curiosity that I entered Yo! Sushi in The Trocadero at Leicester Square, having heard intriguing stories of talking robots that serve you drinks and conveyer belts that deliver you your food, effectively removing the need for waiters and waitresses.

Well, there are no talking robots at this particular outlet, more’s the pity, but the conveyer belt story turned out to be correct.

How does it work?

A smiling host showed my partner and I to our table, which is actually the same table that all other customers sit at too. The kitchen is located in the centre of the room, and is surrounded by a huge square table, a bit like a bar, where customers sit to eat. Around the outside of the table a conveyor belt moves around continuously. You select the plates of food you want and apply as much wasabi, soy sauce and ginger as you like, then use chopsticks to delicately transport the food to your mouth (or clumsily hurl it in, dropping bits along the way, if you’re as useless with chopsticks as I am!). The plates are colour coded – from green, which is £1.50, up to pink, which is £3.50, and several variations in between. When you’ve eaten your fill, you call over a waiter who counts your plates and works out your bill.

First Impressions

I was delighted by the idea of selecting what I wanted from the array of food available. There’s no fussing over a complicated menu, you can see everything on offer and make your decision there and then. The restaurant is clean and attractive, the staff are smiling and gracious, and the food looks lovely. I couldn’t wait to get started!


The Food

There is just so much choice! Little plates trundled past me at high speed and my first insti
nct was to grab one of everything and get stuck in. However, I restrained myself, selected one plate at a time and savoured what was on it before seeing where my tastebuds led me next.

For those of you who are fixated on the ‘raw fish’ reputation of sushi bars, let me assure you that raw fish is only a very small part of the menu, albeit a delicious one, as I quickly discovered. Raw fish is called Sashimi, while sushi is actually a combination of cooked rice and fish or vegetables. There is also a good selection of hot dishes such as noodles, soups and meat, a couple of curry ‘specials’ and small bowls of salad vegetables. For dessert, you could choose from custard pancakes, chocolate cake, fruit salad or a small plate of traditional Japanese sweets.

I chose two plates of sashimi – citrus crusted tuna, which was superb, and sea bass, which was slightly tougher but very flavoursome. I also had a couple of plates of sushi and a small bowl of noodles with king prawns, which was scrumptious. I could easily have gone on eating, but I was getting slightly worried about the cost, as I’d mentally worked out how much I’d spent and it was about ten times what I would have spent in Mcdonalds for a similar quantity of food, although a much tastier experience, I have to say!

It’s worth bearing in mind that sushi is an extremely low fat food, so it’s excellent for slimmers or the health conscious among us.

The Drinks

There isn’t a huge selection of drinks. You can choose from bottled beer, fruit juice, Japanese green tea or still or sparkling water. The bottled beers are extremely expensive - £4.50 a bottle – but the water and juice is reasonably priced at £1.00 a glass.


The Ambience

It was a surprisingly relaxed eating experience, once I got over my embarrassment at my complete lack of skill with chopsticks and the pile of plates stacking up b
eside me. You eat what you like and as much as you’d like of it, so you never feel rushed – you can eat at your own pace and are always in control of what you’re eating. Watching the chefs make the sushi in the kitchen was interesting and entertaining. We were probably only in there for about half an hour – but it was fast food with style!

The Price

It wasn’t cheap. My partner and I clocked up a whopping £38, and we weren’t even full, just comfortable. It’s deceptive - you don’t realise how much money those little plates are costing, and the food is constantly trundling past you, so the temptation is just to eat and eat.

If you’re a sushi fan, it’s worth the money, as the food really is lovely and very healthy and low fat too – much better for you than a pizza or a trip to one of the Burger bars.


Overall Impression

I enjoyed the experience, and would definitely go again. It would be the ideal place to pop in for a quick lunch while shopping, or if time is limited, say, before a trip to the theatre or cinema. The food was exquisite, the approach was refreshing, and I left the restaurant happy and contented.

Yo! Sushi also do takeaway boxes and offer a delivery service for customers in London. Call 0207 841 0750 to find out more.

To find your nearest Yo! Sushi outlet, log on to www.yoshushi.com and click on the ‘where to find us’ link.

To find out more about sushi and other Japanese foods, try www.sushi.infogate.de

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