In this instance, the answer is brilliant sashimi. And also in this instance, equally brilliant sushi rolls.
About a month ago, my best friend and I visited a restaurant in central London named Yashin. The concept of the restaurant, as decided by its two head chefs and founders Yasuhiro Mineno and Shinya Ikeda, is to enjoy japanese cuisine ‘without soy sauce’, true to traditional Edo-style sushi in which the flavours of the natural ingredients are given center stage. Instead of plain old soy sauce (despite its glory), the chefs have imbued their dishes with fusion flavours and tastebud-popping sauces; combined with high quality ingredients like fresh fish and wagyu beef, Yashin proved to be a wonderful experience.
Seabass Carpaccio with Black Truffle (special dish)
Tuna Carpaccio with Truffle Infused Ponzu Jelly £11.00
Sashimi Without Soy Sauce £25.00
Japanese food is one of my all time favourite cuisines, and my standards of good Japanese food are very high. I’ve been lucky enough to be enjoying this cuisine for most of my life, and especially after a meal at Sukiyabashi Jiroin Tokyo (of which there will be certainly be a blog post!), decked out with three michelin stars and touted as the best sushi in the world, I’ve become very criticical when it comes to sushi. However, the raw fish here was fresh, tasty, and paired perfectly with a selection of condiments and sauces, such as heapings of black truffles or a spicy jalapeno topping. Following these appetisers, we proceeded to have the Ebi Ten roll, stuffed full of prawn tempura and french beans with a chilli ponzu jelly – we had already devoured most of it before I remembered to take a picture!
Ebi Ten Yashin Roll £7.50
But the indisputable star of the show was the Wagyu Sukiyaki roll, to be dipped in an egg yolk and sweet soya sauce. I cannot rave about this roll enough, and I can confidently say it was one of the best sushi rolls I’ve ever tasted (ever)!
Wagyu Sukiyaki Yashin Roll £11.00
The wagyu beef was perfectly cooked sukiyaki style, and the sweetness of the sukiyaki was complemented by the yolk and soy sauce mix effortlessly, to create an explosion of taste. The outer sides of the rice roll had been crisped, and along with the fluffiness of the rice on the inside, the layered and rolled up sukiyaki and the creaminess of the egg yolk sauce, the textural sensation was just as wonderful. It melts in your mouth. I loved these so much I ordered another plateful before proceeding onto dessert – classic green tea ice cream paired with a selection of fruit (Yashin unfortunately didn’t serve matcha ice cream with my favourite adzuki beans).
Overall, I would definitely recommend Yashin to raw fish lovers. It has the benefit of being very high quality without the hassle of needing to book extremely far in advance (we called three days ahead). I’m definitely returning for more of those wagyu sukiyaki rolls!
To find out more about Yashin, visit their website at http://www.yashinsushi.com
Buttery Things 