sushi

Last night I discovered a few things, most of them in the ‘eat as much as you want’ deal bracket. It seems that many restaurants, after sucking you dry in the summer months are feeling the pinch through winter and to honour your patronage they are giving their food away for a very meagre amount.

I have a rather high tolerance for raw fish and sticky rice. I am sure that when most proprietors see me enter the door they think 'oh this little one will be easy' only to be left in tears after my ability to consume vast quantities of their product...

The charge for raw fish seems somehow disproportionate to a cow or vegetable as freely available in modern society. Knowing the endless void within my tummy that simply cannot be sustained by the usual serving of 8 maki and maybe 4 nigiri with one or 2 other rolls, that would usually leave the bank balance a little undernourished, I had to take advantage of this deal. I admit I was hesitant as these deals are usually limited to barely anything on the menu…

The sushi I had last night was amazing, from the freshness, to the cute little boat that it came served in. While there is quite a wait for you hearts delight at Sauls, it is well worth it. The waiter is friendly, always keen to offer suggestions and somehow seems to take pride in getting you your food. The reason for delays between portions is how popular this place is and the fact that everything is freshly prepared, no conveyor belt crap, it comes straight from the chef to your mouth. The choice is also endless. There is the unfortunate but understandable exclusion of sashimi, eel and caviar but everything else is for the picking. They offer all types of nigiri, maki, a few adventurous kaisama maki (line fish, honey &dukkah goats cheese and spring onion, admittedly not sampled), sandwiches with assorted fillings, gunkan, inari (the spicy prawn and spring onion inari was yummy) and what looked like massive temaki. The portions are more than generous and the chefs clearly don’t hold back.

There appears to be a pride in filling you up and nobody makes you feel uncomfortable ordering another round of tuna nigiri with some salmon maki and ok a prawn nigiri if you insist…

To round off the appeal of Sauls you have to sample one of the 12 teas on offer. The vanilla was beautifully scented and served in a delicate oriental teapot with matching cups that was reminiscent of your own private tea ceremony. An excellent find…