Like many food lovers, I regularly crave high-quality sushi. Sadly, though, I’m often disappointed by the hyped-up spots in London. For example, in 2010, Sushi of Shiori sounded like the second coming. But when I finally snagged a counter seat there, I was disappointed. Never again will I allow my expectations to rise like that, I vowed. I’ll stay content with my perfectly good, friendly, local sushi joint, Sa Sa.
But then Yashin appeared. I saw this glowing review by London Eater, and this one by Tamarind & Thyme, and my vow didn’t stand a chance. Blow torch sushi. Have you heard of it?
Jon and I had an 8 pm booking last weekend, and sadly, although there were open seats upstairs at and near the sushi bar, we were told we could only sit downstairs. Oh well. The downstairs is wood-panelled, small and kind of quiet. You’re close to the bathroom and coat check, though, in case those are pluses for you.
Sake tasters are available at reasonable prices. My takeaway: test tubes are weird to drink out of.
Yes, I know I’m visiting a restaurant staffed by skilled itamae. But I still want a prawn tempura roll. Yashin takes pride in flavoring its rice and sushi so that you *don’t need or want to drown it in soy sauce*. This first taste of what the kitchen could do lived up to that promise. The prawns were sweet and still slightly warm, and the rolls were packed with peppery and citrus-yuzu flavor. No need for mayo, much less soy sauce.
I haven’t had a soft-shell crab this juicy and fresh in *years*. The crispy mizuna greens and accompanying rice wine vinaigrette were a perfect foil.
And then the main attraction – omakase. Jon and I had foolishly eaten a late-day snack, so we played it safe with Yashin’s smallest omakase option: the eight-piece.
Much has been written about Yashin’s omakase, so I’ll just note generally:
1. The blow-torch thing is genius. It adds a wonderful charred, smoky flavor to silken raw fish. Let me emphasize: the fish does not get ruined/cooked. It’s just flavored.
2. The different seasonings pair well with the various fish. Salmon with some ponzu-and-wasabi kick, for example. Delicately-sweetened eel. The guys doing the flavor pairings are spot on.
Overall, I loved our food. Definitely worth the pricetag. We paid £94 for two people, and that’s without drinking much.
Downsides: the downstairs room is kind of depressing, and the service, while seemingly well-intentioned, was not the best. We were in and out in under 40 minutes, partly because our sushi arrived quickly, and mostly because the second we took our last bite of sushi, a woman cleared our plates and then nobody asked us if we wanted anything else. In fairness to Yashin, we really didn’t want anything else that night, but blowing almost £100 for a 40-minute meal just feels really weird. As if you just stopped in for a quick bite to eat in the neighborhood, yes?
Yet clearly Yashin aspires to be more of a destination restaurant, so turning a table in less than an hour just seems wrong. i know this is going to sound petty and slightly weird, but it would have been nice of Yashin had spaced the food out a little more and made us feel like we were welcome to linger over a coffee or tea.
So. Fresh, creative, delish sushi. Decent decor and buzz if you’re upstairs. Polite-but-too-fast service.
I’ll be back for the food, and next time, maybe I’ll line up a movie or show after dinner.
Yashin Sushi, 1A Argyll Rd, W8 7DB; 0207 938 1536; closest Tube station: High Street Kensington
It does sound fantastic, but I think I’d have to pop into the fish n’ chip shop on my way home…
Based on your review, it would seem that Yashin might be more of a lunch place rather than somewhere for a leisurely dinner.
BTW – you’re so spot on about Sushi of Shiori. I went there for take-away rather than eat-in because of your review. And it was whilst I was waiting for my take-away, I realised that I was tuning into the conversation of the couple dining at the counter facing the chef.
Without trying, I could hear every word. Obviously they didn’t care or were oblivious but like you, I’d be wary of having any kind of meaningful conversation sat at the counter.
Who wants to drink out of a test tube?! Dunno what they were thinking there.
I think it’s a better deal at lunch as you get the miso soup and salad thrown in with the omakases. And yeah… sorry you had to sit downstairs. 😦
Gotta get me that crab salad next time though!
@Lizzie – Is that a comment on sushi dinners, generally, or Yashin, specifically? It’s true that we didn’t order a lot of food, but what we ate was excellent.
@Mr. Noodles – Yes, I think returning for lunch would be a good plan. And good to hear that you shared a similar impression of Sushi of Shiori . . . did you enjoy your takeaway lunch there?
@Helen – My sentiments exactly.
@Su-Lin – Jon was expecting salad and miso soup, actually, based on your and London Eater’s posts, but I guess the fact that those accompany lunch only would explain why he got no such freebies at dinner.
I thought the food here was excellent when I went in December – beyond the fab sushi, the homemade tofu was really something. However, it is pretty damn expensive (though I don’t mind paying for good quality fish) – lunch definitely feels a more sensible, wallet friendly option!
The take-away at Sushi of Shiori was good if a tad expensive – it’s a place for a bit of a treat rather than an everyday lunch.
[…] life on this trip. I should have known better, but it was Chinese New Year! Back in London, I loved the blow-torch sushi at Yashin but hated sitting in the basement and being shuttled in and out in under an hour. Having started […]