Tsuru Sushi in The City

The comedian Jerry Seinfeld once had a routine about salsa and why people were so keen to have it. According to him, the reason why people love that combination of tomato and spices is because they just love saying the word ‘salsa’. ‘Could I get some of that salsa?’ ‘Boy I could do with some salsa.’ ‘Is there any salsa around, ‘cos I just got to have some salsa with my Yorkshire pudding?’

I feel the same way about sushi. It’s there in the vowels, the combination of the ‘u’ and the ‘i’, which makes saying the word ‘sushi’ both an act of cooing and expressing glee. When I was growing up, sushi was the ultimate luxury food. You can stick your caviar and your quails’ eggs. For me it was all about the sushi, because it was so new and exciting. And for the simple fact that they used seaweed.

Now it’s everywhere. You can get it while in the aisles of Tesco. It’s delivered like a fast food and there’s chains that specialise in the stuff. The newest player in the market is Tsuru Sushi which has three branches, the latest to open being in The City.

I started off with the soft shell crab tempura uramaki: a crisp soft shell crab with wasabi mayo and spring onion. The batter was delicate and the accommpanying mayo really added a wonderful delicacy to the texture of the meat.

I then ventured for the free-range chicken crispy katsu with the chain’s eight-hour curry sauce, steamed rice and crunchy green cabbage salad. A Japanese curry is quite different to its Indian counterpart, much less piquant and dare I say, a little plain.

However, one food that the Japanese have made great innovations with is ice-cream. The green tea mochi ices, pounded sticky rice balls with an ice cream centre were rapturous. It’s like biting into a baseball but with fantastic results.

Sushi might have started off in London as a ’90s fad but it has matured alongside the culinary sophistications of the city’s English palate. Tsuru Sushi is not exactly breaking new ground with sushi but the chain delivers food with a consumate attention to detail. Their prices are not exorbitant; not too expensive and not so cheap that you might worry about how much has been spent on hygiene. Which is always important when thinking about eating raw fish.

Tsuru Sushi
201 Bishopsgate
The City
EC2M 3AB

Tel: 020 7377 1166