It’s bright, spotlessly clean, garish and loud - which is what you want, nay, expect from a Yo! Sushi branch, especially on the launch of their new Tokyo street food menu. What, you may ask, is Tokyo street food? Well, anything goes, with a heavy emphasis on the raw fish, but with a few more western influences.
The humble chicken wing, one of our very favourite things to eat is served deep fried in the lightest and most flavoursome batter we’ve tasted in some time, and the chefs have even gone so far as to separate the two tiny bones before cooking. If you sat us down with a bucket of these, we could very easily disgrace ourselves.
Other twists on gaijin classics include the Fish No Chip Roll, where battered sea bass is forced into a nori roll, pepped up with wasabi sauce and unleashed on an unsuspecting public, in what seems to be an attempt to get the picky eater across the door.
Tuna makes a welcome appearance on the menu, with Yo! Sushi’s commitment to sustainable catch evident in the use of the friendlier Yellowfin variety. We’re less keen on the Maguro Katsu, where the tuna is deep fried in panko breadcrumbs, and seasoned with onion mayo. That’s a personal preference though, tuna cooked through is not for everyone, and there’s tuna sashimi for anyone not afraid of a bit of flavour.
The condiment du jour, Sriracha sauce slips into the menu very nicely, spicing up the Dynamite Salmon Roll and Tuna roll, while for us the big revelation is the Okonomiyaki, a seasoned savoury pancake filled with cabbage and topped with tuna flakes. It’s certainly a unique texture, but once you get your head and tastebuds around the concept it’s a light and delicious treat.
Lastly, there’s two more substantial dishes, a zingy seabass nanbanzuke, which holds as much in common to your bog standard sweet and sour sauce as a 2cv to a Tesla, and a slow braised pork belly that delivers the coup de gras to a belly bursting experience.
There’s plenty here for the sashimi intolerant and all served with the speed and flair we’ve come to expect from Yo!
Shane Horan
Yo! Sushi can be found at 1 Victoria Square in Belfast. Their menu and more information can be found at the link below....
