Sushi of Shiori

Here pictures of very appetizing sushi http://hungryinlondon.com/2011/09/sushi-of-shiori-euston/

I cannot believe that it took me so long to finally eat at Sushi of Shiori! This Japanese eatery has been on my to do list for the better part of 2 years and when I think of all the amazing sushi that I have missed by not trying it earlier…

Sushi of Shiori serves among the best,if not the best,sushi I have ever had in London,particularly considering the value for money equation. Here everything is about quality of the food without the fuss:nothing of the sedate indulgence of Umu, Zuma‘s upscale party atmosphere or Nobu‘s elitism and patronizing staff.

The place really doesn’t look like much from the outside and no one would expect a sophisticated sushi bar behind this facade in a little side street somewhere around Euston Station. Stepping through the door,you enter a tiny room with 2 tables,each with 2 seats (you might be able to fit another chair if you are slim) and 3 more seat at the sushi counter where you can watch the master in action. The head chef and owner has worked for the Michelin starred Umu before setting up his own little family venture with his lovely wife taking good care of the patrons.

I will not go too much into detail about each of the single nigiri that I have tried,most of which were of extraordinary quality. A very good option for Sushi of Shiori newbies is the Shiori Platter which for £19.50 for 8 pieces of nigiri and 3 hosomaki is incredible value for money. The sushi master probably got sick of observing people drowning his little works of art with the rice side in salty soy sauce thereby masking the subtle taste of the different toppings. So we are explained to use the little brush to brush only little soy sauce on the fish side of the nigiri.

I particularly marveled at the scallop nigiri with the truffle shaving on top which was extraordinarily delicious,and the sweet shrimp was unlike any shrimp I have ever tasted. Also the usual suspects such as salmon and tuna put most other Japanese restaurants in London to shame.

The only of the nigiri that I was not convinced about was the Wagyu Beef one. Since I have been lucky enough to experience Kobe beef at Aragawa,one of the top restaurants in Kobe,it is difficult to impress me with Wagyu beef outside of Japan. The Wagyu beef at Sushi of Shiori was nicely flavoured,however,it had nothing of the melting in your mouth character that I had anticipated,and it was in fact quite difficult to chew.

I love Japanese desserts with their range of unusual flavours and delicate sweetness. We tried the Sweet Potato and the Hojicha Ice Cream. Both good,but the ice cream with the distinct nutty flavour of roasted green tea was the clear winner.

And here a mug of Hojicha Tea to accompany this divine mealri. Perfection.

If you are looking for a good Japanese sushi place to eat then this is one of the better ones in town. Every traditional menu is catered for from miso soup to the delights of sashimi with set menus around 49 squid I mean quid (sorry for the pun) and if you like such things as octopus or seaweed salad then you wont be disappointed. Everything is displayed like a work of art on the plate and the only downside is that it is all very pricey and the place is super tiny-so if you want to ensure you get one if the 9 seats available then best to book ahead. Staff here are friendly and have built the business on word of mouth-so always busy.

I would not go back there again; the service was not great at all;
this was perhaps because I am japanese, and the lady did not like talking to japanese? I dont know, but she did not serve us apetizer, which she did to other customers, she didnot explain the sushi on the plate either.
As I was with my non-japanese friend, that really embarrassed me and was intimidating.
I never had this serivice when I go to any other japanese places.
This is rather disgraceful and at the end of the day, what makes difference is the staff who work there.
for this reason, I will never ever go back there again. I was insulted there.

Being a slightly wary sushi amateur, I really enjoyed a chatty set lunch with a friend here. You have to get lucky with space: there are 8 seats. Excellent value.

I've been on a Japanese binge recently it seems and this one was no exception. After hearing so much about Sushi of Shiori, I had to try it.

So on a cold wintry evening, I made my way to the upper side of town for their "Omakase" chef's tasting menu £40pp We were greeted by the wife of this husband and wife team. She was really nice and it was a pleasure chatting with her.

I couldn't wait to dig in.

First course was a ritualistic bowl of miso soup made with red miso. Most of us are used to the white miso version but I actually like red miso. It gives a greater depth and saltiness in terms of flavour. You can even mix both when eating at home. The red miso soup was positively received on such a cold night and its heartiness and warmth was most welcoming.

Next was a bite size dish of squid that has been cooked for a full day and flavoured with dashi and Japanese seasoning. Chewy and juicy. This makes a good nibble.

Salad
I took a sharp breath when this was presented. What a beautiful art arrangement. It speaks and haunts of exquisite delicate feminity, one of the many reasons I am in love with Japanese cuisine.

I was told that this is Scad with its skin seared and served with ponzu sauce. The flavours and balance follows the same theme as its visual impact, delicately mild with the ponzu sauce adding tartness.

A sashimi platter followed after. Instead of going into minute details of each sushi as there are many of these mentioned in other blogs, I'm going to talk about the visual element.
Again beautifully arranged to depict the sea. Two scallops resting on a big sea shell reminiscent of a pearl oyster. Next to it were three sashimi slices on a bamboo mat, like fish on twigs being barbecued at the beach. Below them are various sushis of salmon, prawns and octopus swimming in the sea with sea corals and vegetables depicted by the cucumbers and such. On a whole, your visual senses will have been very happy with this.

We were told that the scallops had a hidden surprise so this was the first thing I tried. I tasted something mushroomy, it was truffle paste which goes very well with the sweet melting flesh of the scallop. I love how the prawn sushi was served with the prawn tail added for visual effect. This was no ordinary prawn sushi either as it had sea urchin resting on it. There was also fatty tuna minced with garlic and wrapped in nori and milk skin.

Next came a procession of sushi. You can't help but appreciate the details and love that goes into making this. The sushis were great, warm sticky rice with the right balance of seasoning and tartness in the rice. My favourite will have to be the Wagyu beef sushi.

Rounding up the savoury dishes was the Unagi rice wrapped in lotus leaves and smoked. You can smell and taste the smokiness which had infused into the rice. A slight twist on the traditional Unagi don.

The final course was a choice of one of the homemade ice creams. I was curious and ordered chestnut as my choice but could not forego green tea either so we ended up with three, sesame, chestnut and green tea.
Sushi of Shiori is good. I do think that they are one of the better ones you can find in London, dining here to savour the experience and the food comes at a "price". The amount of care and skill and being able to see the chef at work in a small and intimate setting is what sets it apart from the others.

Am I raving about it after? Sadly no.

Teeny tiny sushi place near Euston station that is perfect even in its miniature form. Famous too - we were early for lunch and bagged 2 of the 9 seats. Moments later a cab pulled up with a boisterous - read loud in such a tiny space - American couple arrived, wanted bar seats but they were reserved so sat next to us in the window and he proceeded to tell alll and sundry he was a blogger and he wanted to photograph the chef. Such is international fame!

Can see why it is causing a stir - the food is sublime, delicate and charmingly served. Make your own choices but I think pretty much any choice would be a good choice.

Opens at 5 on Saturdays - am thinking it would make a delightful afters to a couple of hours at the nearby Wellcome Centre.

For full review & photos: http://bit.ly/cDa6PO

I think we probably all have our own particular favourite for Japanese food which we’ll fall back on to satisfy that particular sushi-itch. Over the past month and a bit, we’ve tried Inamo, Atari-ya, Koya (twice), Dinings and now we’ve added Shiori of Sushi to the list.

Shiori of Sushi is tiny! With at most 9 seats (3 at the counter, 5 to 6 facing the store window), it looks more like a take-away store than a proper sit-in restaurant. The menu is also quite limited, with most of the items being either some form of sushi/sashimi or donburi (sashimi on top of bowls of rice). Still, a specialist sushi restaurant should serve some pretty good sushi eh.

We opted to go for the Omakase menu, whereby the chef essentially chose our menu depending on what produce he had to offer. It starts at £30 and I’m not sure what the ceiling actually is. After looking at Lizzie’s £50 menu and Kang’s £40 menu, we figured there wasn’t a huge difference and opted the £40 Omakase in an attempt to keep more money in my wallet.

Well, except that didn’t really work because the PigPig was enticed by the sake list and wanted some too. Sadly, we were complete noobs at sake but the waitress (there’s only one, they used to have someone else but she broke her legs -_-;;) was very helpful. She basically recommended them all as she chose them all herself but did pick out a couple and we ended up choosing the “Nanbu Bijin Gin Ginga (Iwate)” one as she said it was very light and easy to drink for beginners (that’s us alright).

We’re probably not the best people to comment on sake, but we enjoyed our choice as it was indeed very light, easily drinkable with a fresh almost bubbly feel to it. It was also nice that they sell sake by the carafes since I doubt the two of us could have finished a 70cl bottle.

Fried aji (scad). For the opening course, we started with some fried fish marinated in a tart vinegary sauce. The scad itself (never had it before this) was quite a meaty fish with a distinct but not overpowering fishy smell (apparently related to mackerel). I liked it as a starter and appreciated it visually but it didn’t rock my socks off.

Miso soup. Umm yeah it was miso soup. There was some seaweed and tofu skin.

Seabass usu zukuri with ponzu sauce.Basically, it was seabass hand sliced so thinly (usu zukuri) you can see the pattern of the plate behind the fish with a little dollop of sourplum to set it alight. It also came with some home made ponzu sauce (normally made with vinegar and soya sauce, but chef added a trace of yuzu as well) which we added some fresh spring onion and spiced grated mooli (the stuff on the leaf beside the fish). It looks amazing, but tastes even better – the delicate seabass flavour was complimented quite well with the sour, slightly salty ponzu. I think I would have been happy enough eating it with just the sourplum, but the sourplum in addition to the ponzu was a bit wasted since the ponzu tastes very similar to the sourplum anyway.

Sashimi platter. there is the scallops, scad, prawn, chu-toro. They source their seafood from Atari-ya so the quality and freshness is a given. The scallops were incredibly sweet and contained a little surprise dollop of truffle oil which is a new combination for me, but it worked oh so well. The scad felt a bit out of place amongst its more illustrious neighbours and it was easily the weakest link here; the firm meaty flesh with the distinct fishy taste was a counterpoint to the tastes of the other fish on the plate, but wasn’t a personal favourite. The prawn seemed half-cooked which I think brought out the sweetness of the meat while still giving that raw soft feel to the flesh. Lastly is the minced chu-toro with some spring onions mixed in, wrapped in seaweed and yuba (tofu skin). To be fair, I didn’t really taste the yuba but I didn’t really care when I can eat chu-toro. Ahh, to eat fatty tuna all day…

Sushi platter. Salmon and avocado hosomaki which was a nice simple little thing if not particularly amazing. The rice itself was really good, one of the better seasoned sushi rice I’ve had recently and nicely packed without being too dense. squid (tad rubbery), unagi (felt a bit thin), Japanese chilli (a personal favourite of chef’s wife, it wasn’t spicy at all and had a nice smoky taste from the grill) and the last on the right is something I forgot about already but I don’t think it was anything too special. chu-toro (on nom nom nom… excellent fatty tuna), salmon with salmon roe (it would have been a perfectly adequate if normal salmon sushi but adding the roe on top made it into a real treat for the mouth), yellowtail (the small addition of grated ginger gave it a little more freshness), surf clam (I think that was a little dot of sweet miso on top).

Wagyu beef sushi with ponzu jelly. All the sushi before was really good, fresh, a joy to eat. But they saved the best for last. First you learn to make some really tasty and seasoned sushi rice. Then you get some wagyu beef, cook it just a little to leave the inside still pink and tender. How to bring out the taste some more? Some ponzu sauce then, since it’s a little sour, a little salty, that goes well with both beef and sushi rice. Hmm it’s gonna get soggy then, ok, lets make it into a jelly so it doesn’t make a wet mess. Finally, just a little bit of mildly spicy grated mooli and some spring onions to give it a fresh zing.

Can you imagine how it’ll taste like? I hope so, because altogether, this was a really amazing piece, a work of art for the mouth to savour.

Ice cream. Lastly, for dessert we get to pick any of the home made flavours they have available (green tea, sweet potato, pumpkin, black sesame and plum wine sorbet). We chose the first two options, both of which were really smooth and creamy. The green tea ice cream also came with a little red bean which always goes well with matcha flavour. The nutty biscuit was pretty good on its own but served its purpose for textures better.

Altogether, we paid about £50 each excluding service charge, £40 for the omakase menu and another £10 each for the 300ml bottle of sake. Sadly, we didn’t get to sit at the counter but apparently the chef is great to watch in action. The store is exceedingly tiny but that is more than made up by the friendliness of chef’s wife who is definitely stretched at times between serving plates, taking orders and answering the phone.

Best sushi/sashimi in London? Yeah, probably.

Best bit: toss up between the scallop/truffle and the wagyu sushi.
Worst bit: I used the picture of the sashimi plate for my wallpaper, now I drool at my tv.

Decided to try this for lunch as it is fairly close to my office. I saw it mentioned on a blog, I have been on Drummond Street many times but never seen this before. I asked and they said they have been there for about a year. If you come from Euston station you will have to walk to the other end of Drummond Street, it is located at the very end.

The place is quite small inside but a very nice relaxed atmosphere, calm and quiet. The sushi is all very fresh, the salmon I had there was probably the best I have had in London. In addition to the sushi they have a few other dishes like the Iberico ham shabu-shabu salad, yakitori and various flavors of ice cream.

When it comes to the food I have to say that it is very good. I don't mind paying for quality but I found the portions too small. Want to go back and try the ice cream though. Also, the Omakase (where you tell the chef how much you want to spend and get a mennu based on that) should be very interesting.

Will be coming back here for fresh, healthy and tasty lunches.

Sushi of Shiori is not new, it’s been around for a couple of years I believe, tucked up on Drummond Street around the corner from Euston Station. It’s actually been on my “to eat” list for the better part of six months but I hadn’t managed to get there. Well shame on me, look what I’ve been missing out on all this time!

Their website declares that they specialise in “high quality made to order sushi and sashimi”. All I can say to that is…. yes. Yes, they most certainly do.

Above and beyond the deliciously fresh food, Sushi of Shiori create fantastical pieces of art with their sushi, like the special pre-order-able canapé set of temari sushi, rolled into the most adorable bite sized little balls... Mmmm.. little temari scallop with truffle and chu-toro sushi… come to mama.

We started with the canapé sets (at £23 a set, it’s not cheap but has to be done at least maybe on your first visit), and it gave us a taste of the wonders to come.

Even the greens were good ~ the seaweed salad as strikingly beautiful as it was deliciously tasty, even if they did sneak some watercress eewwww into the mix, and the yaki-nasu (aubergine) oozed a tender and surprising smokeyness.

But really, we’re not here for salads.

The sashimi platter came next (£25 for 18 pieces), delivering the freshest of fresh tuna, salmon, yellow tail, sea bass, octopus and scallops. I don’t really need to elaborate on this. It was just brilliant.

Following the platter, we ordered some nigiri off the a la carte menu. One would normally assume sashimi to be a more exciting culinary experience than nigiri, but I think for the first time in my life (again, totally not exaggerating), I actually enjoyed the nigiri more than the sashimi. For realz.

From the selection of chu-toro (fatty tuna), sweet prawn, prawn, hotate (scallops) with truffle and spicy tuna hosomaki, I thought that hands down the chu-toro would be my winner…

… but the hotate (scallops) stole the show and then some. Sweet, silky and laced with the tiniest of tiny drop of truffle, it Blew My Mind and goddamn we only ordered one serve. I can’t even explain why the hotate nigiri was so inexplicably good, but for some reason it was better than the temari hotate sushi and even better than the sashimi. Weird, but so very very non-exaggeratingly true.

Moving onto the cooked dishes, I’d been crazy looking forward to the wagyu beef sushi with yuzu ponzu because lord only knows how much I love the one at Dinings. And after all this anticipation, I have to say that the Dinings version is still my favourite, probably because the beef is rarer there, or that they top it off with truffle salsa or maybe because the Dinings ponzu is presented as little cubes of jelly, and you’ve got to be mad not to like cubes… of JELLY.

Having said all that, Sushi of Shiori’s wagyu beef sushi is pretty darn good, it’s just that it’s kind of hard being compared to Utter Culinary Perfection.

We also ordered the karaage futomaki, which was probably the most “ordinary” thing we had all night, but even then the chicken was crispy and the futomaki rolls were giant.

Rounding off a meal which we really didn’t think could be any more perfect, Sushi of Shiori’s simple home made desserts trumped again. We ordered a selection of ice creams ~ matcha, black sesame and sweet potato ~ and a plum wine sorbet. The sorbet was a little on the strong side but the ice creams were smooth, rich and full flavoured and to trump the trump, that sesame/almond biscuit thing on top was divine.

If you’re wondering how much all this cost, it topped off at £40 per person, with no alcohol but a steady stream of cold mugicha (roasted brown rice tea). For £40 I think it’s a steal considering the sheer quality and very decent quantity of food you get… and remember, best sushi I’ve had in London. No exaggeration.

Oh one more thing ~ make sure you make a reservation! Sushi of Shiori is teeny tiny with only nine seats (three along the bar, six along the window) so make sure one of them seats has your name on it!

Proper Japanese sushi served here, fresh fishes and very impressive presentations of sushi, sashimi platters. And awesome scallop which I do not normally eat as sashimi that recommended by my fiance.. definately going back!