Chalk Farm’s Feng Sushi

What is admirable about a lot of foreign restaurants in London is the sustained effort they make to nod to their British surroundings. They seem to know that native Brits are famously unsure about trying new cuisines and try to lure them in by presenting familiar dishes done in a new way.

This was on show at the Chalk Farm branch of Feng Sushi, a very swish and laid-back venue. It has a fish tank which is slightly a cruel touch, given the nature of the cuisine that is being served up.

However, on seeing the menu, what immediately jumped out was the dish entitled Japanese fish and chips. This was tempura hake with hand-cut potato chips. Unfortunately there were no mushy pies or gravy. In their place were remoulade and sweet chilli. However, it was an interesting concession to its English surroundings.

I had started with some chilli edamame, a large bowl of runner beans coated in a sweet chilli sauce. They presented a few problems in terms leaving stringy debris in my mouth but were extremely tasty. My companion ventured for some vegetable maki, which were eight packed morsels of avocado, cucumber, pickles and chives. These were very good indeed with a distinct crispness to the ingredients.

He followed it up with some Nippon Duck, which were eight pancakes of crispy tofu, spring onions, cucumber and hoi sin sauce. These had the same delight of having been freshly made with a real zest to what had been packed into the pancakes.

My own choice of yellow tail and chives maki were sumptuous with the fish and the chives coming together to produce a wonderful flavour.

For main, both my companion and I plumped for one of the restaurant’s winter specials, rock shrimp tempura. The texture of rock shrimp is difficult to describe but the dish is a bit like having scampi but with a much more sophisticated batter. I accompanied this with a glass of plum wine, which went extremely well with the fish.

Overall, there is much to enjoy about Feng Sushi. It has a very relaxing feel and provides very decent food. For about £25 a head, you can get a lot of well-prepared food made with fresh ingredients. It is also, as I found out to my cost when I tried to get up to leave, deceptively filling.

Feng Sushi
1 Chalk Farm Parade
Camden
NW3 3QE

Tel: 020 7483 2929