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Roll with it
Sushi suffers from a relatively low profile in Scotland despite our abundance of great fish produce. Edinburgh's No 1 Sushi Bar is the latest outpost doing special things with seafood
N0 1 SUSHI BAR S7 Home_$treet, Edinburgh, 0131 229 6880
open Sun-Thu noon-1 1 pm, Fri-Sat noon-11.30pm
Axié'rég‘ébfi‘c‘é for-two-icourse evening meal: £15
_ I Stavanger ZOOOAD -t shines as the latest " City of comic to cu ture hit the net PAGEBG PAGE88
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M6589
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$324511
THE MEAL
tories ol‘ line Scottish wild salmon being caught.
l‘ro/en and llown to high end restaurants iti Japan are
closer to the truth than yott might think. Why then does sushi remain such niche cuisine in this country '.’
In Scotland. Japanese cuisine has been the lirst truly new llavour to inl‘ect the Western palate for a decade. Only the l'everish energy ol- nonh Africa and the warming comfort of eastern litiropean cooking haye come close. Moreover. sushi takes the popular mantra of lresh-local-produce-l’or-l'resh- local-people to its most logical but attl‘ul extreme.
Since Yo? Sttshi packed tip its outlet on lidinburgh's Rose Street. smaller scale individual entrepreneurs have been left to innovate in the lield. That's where No l Stishi Bar comes in with its considered menu ol‘ Japanese staples: soups. dishes l‘rom the wok. and ol~ course stishi. Looking like a cross between a style bar and a comfy old-school (‘hinese gall. the
modest surrounds actually help the food. allowing bright. trembling hunks ol' lish. rice
and noodles to emerge as the
stars of the show. And what
a show" it is. There‘s a perception that eating raw lish is pretty odd. ,
That‘s why. as an T introduction to this new DO restaurant the only option
was to pick the most
extreme thing we could
glean l'rom the menu. That
meant barbecued eel. an animal l have consumed only once bel‘ore. in a tnediaeval Italian restaurant. which tell like eating a bicycle tire smothered in lard. worlds away l‘rom this dish of tiny sardine-like lillets. decked out in a honeyed. piquant dressing on a bed of steaming snow white sushi rice: tender. unctttotts and perl’ectly balanced.
That pretty mttch goes for the rest of the menu too, particularly the sushi. Slivers ol' wasabi spiced tuna are paired with avocado and cucumber. wrapped in a sheet of seaweed. Jtist listing the components doesn't do justice to the flavours which combine to make something simple but extremely el‘l‘ectiye. The genteel miso soup acted as a warming anchor to the other tangs and flashes such as breaded chicken on a bed ol‘ tried udon noodles. banks of aubergine. carrot and sweet potato battered l‘or leather-light tempura. ()ne mind blower was a scallop and bacon starter. the l'rilled shell housing a petite scallop engulfed in a heavy. salty. creamy bacon mixture. It felt almost American in its el‘l'usiveness.
.\'o l Sttshi Bar may make heady claims with its moniker but. like Sttshiya in the city's west end and Tang’s on (‘andlemak'er Row. this recent addition provides a credible outpost for something that tastes special without ceremony or intimidating surroundings. And. contrary to perception, tiscally. a Japanese banquet compares favourably to your average steak house three-courser but promises some llavoursome surprises for your buck:
‘ 23%. THE LIST as