If ever the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ was appropriate, it would be here at Ebi Sushi

From the outside it really doesn’t look much and is not in the best part of town, but having heard only good things about the place, it was finally time to give it a try…

We booked last minute on Tuesday and the restaurant was full the entire time we were there, but would it live up to the hype…?

The interior is pretty basic, but on the evening we visited it was gloriously warm and sunny, the door was open letting a light breeze blow in and the sun was streaming through the blinds – it felt as if we were on holiday! The simplicity of our surroundings added to their charm

The first thing you notice when you arrive  is that you can see the chef preparing all the sushi, nigiri & sashimi behind the fish counter – this just added to our dilemma of what to choose as everything he was preparing looked so good!

We were given a complimentary appetizer of white fish in a sesame marinade which was unusual but not unpleasant!

After some deliberating, we decided to start with the deluxe platter which included 6 tuna sushi rolls and 8 varying nigiri – mackerel, salmon, prawn, scallop, sea bream, salmon roe & two types of tuna. Served with firey wasabi & pickled ginger, each of the pieces were exceptionally fresh, and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such melt in your mouth raw fish! A surprise favourite was the salmon roe nigiri – we were both expecting not to like it and for it to be overly fishy but it was very subtle and a little sweet

Chicken thigh yakitori skewers were deliciously juicy and sticky, glazed with teriyaki sauce

We both chose an udon noodle soup, mine with tempura battered prawns and his topped with tempura batter crumbs. The noodles were thick and perfectly chewy but in no way heavy, and the light broth was crystal clear but packed with flavour

The teriyaki salmon was nice, but was a tiny bit overcooked for our taste – we actually wanted the miso cod but unfortunately they didn’t have any, I’d definitely like to try that instead next time

After the salmon and being notoriously greedy, we ordered more sushi rolls – tuna is my absolute favourite fish to eat raw so naturally we had to choose the tuna rolls!

I did some very questionable chopstick manouvering which only seemed to get worse as the night went on! Maybe that means I should keep coming back to practice…?!

For our final savoury dish we ordered some gyoza with sesame dipping sauce. The piping hot steamed parcels had a crisp goldon bottom and were filled with a lovely light combination of pork and vegetable

We couldn’t leave without trying the ice cream – we eschewed the wasabi ice cream this time and chose black sesame for me, green tea for him

I have to say that service was great, there was always someone nearby should you need anything but it wasn’t in your face. The timing and spacing of the dishes was also spot on – we never felt rushed or like we were waiting ages for anything – and plates were changed between dishes

It’s certainly not the cheapest place but the quality of the food certainly justifies the price tag and we’ll definitely be back!

Have you visited Ebi Sushi?!