In life, there are times for wordy introductions and meandering discussions. Then there are times when it’s best to cut to the chase. So let me tell you that Yashin Sushi is good, very good indeed.

From the moment you step inside the sleek dark interior, you know you’re in safe hands. You also wish you’d dressed up a bit more. Behind the spotless glass of the sushi bar, a selection of perfect glossy vegetables, artfully arranged, stare back at you. You get the feeling they spent more time getting ready tonight than you did.

Above the bar, neon lights on dark green tiles spell out the restaurant’s apparent mantra: ‘Without Soy Sauce… But if you want to.’ This refers to how the sushi chef, after deftly forming then searing each nigiri on a raised stone, will brush each morsel with the lightest touch of soy sauce, as a parting statement. A statement that says: don’t mess with my work.

But if you want to.

It’s a brave person who’d chance the end of that particular sentence.

The menu pretty much consists of three omakase options: 8, 11, or 15 pieces of nigiri, along with the maki roll of the day — for £30, £45, or £60, respectively. There are various side dishes and rolls that can be ordered separately, but you’d be hard-pressed to put together a meal from just these alone. And why bother?

 

We both opted for the Omakase Eleven, and if we weren’t blown away, it was only because we  already came with high expectations, which were more than amply met. Eleven pieces of top-top quality sushi, topped with modern yet exquisite garnishes: a minuscule mound of ponzu jelly, delicate circles of jalapeno, tiny roasted rice puffs, slivers of foie-gras.As to the fish itself: fatty yellowtail, fatty tuna (twice, with different toppings), a fleshy botan prawn, a regular prawn, wagyu beef, sea bass, sea bream, salmon, razor clam, fresh crab meat. And unagi-and-cucumber maki. Scallop was prominently absent from our plates but present in the room, so I can only assume it formed part of the Omakase Fifteen (aka The Yashin). As to the other three mystery nigiri included in the uber-set: please go, eat, and report back, so we can all make up our minds as to what to order next time.

Surprisingly, Yashin is open on Sundays. (All with me now: Yay!) There’s also a lunch menu, featuring more affordable sets such as the salmon nigiri and maki set (£12.50) and a £20 omakase menu.

Any low points? Well, after ordering, we were offered a plate of amuse-bouches: monkfish liver, beef jelly, and cubes of Japanese omelette. Two of each. Try one, we were urged. Predictably, we both went for the monkfish liver (which wasn’t bad, as far as cold fish liver on a skewer goes). The plate, with its remaining morsels, was then whisked out of sight.

Please. Don’t offer me food then take it away. Wanting what we can’t have is one of the worse aspects of human nature. Don’t tease me.

I recently downgraded my (material) life to go to culinary school. And, for the most part, there’s not much that I miss. I can now walk through a department store during the pre-Christmas sales without the panicky feeling that I should be buying everything, now. The metal bars present on every window of the new flat pose an interesting challenge to my food photography. My one vice, cookery equipment, is fortunately reined in by current space limitations (read: in my kitchen, two is a crowd/imminent riot).

‘But don’t you miss all this?’ asked my friend as we perched along the sushi bar, watching the chef work his precision knife skills on a block of marbled wagyu. By this, I assume she meant spending more than a week’s food budget on a single plate of sushi.

And I did. Just a little.

Because, unlike many many other expensive eateries in London, Yashin Sushi is actually worth the price.

 

Around £50pp – ordering the Omakase Eleven and one cup of houjicha tea.  Big eaters, be prepared to spend more.

Yashin Sushi
1A Argyll Road
High Street Kensington
London W8 7DB
020 7938 1536