Restaurant Reviews

The Japanese have the highest life expectancy in the world; reason enough, should you need it, to adopt the sushi habit.

And the new Yo! Sushi in the Yellow Mall is home to gorgeous, healthy food, served fast and fresh on a conveyor belt which encircles a team of talented young chefs creating a fantastically varied menu right in front of you.

Funky and fun, it’s ideal for families (my kids, aged 12, 11 and two, loved it), the perfect stop-off point for a solo lunch break and a laid-back setting for a romantic dinner a deux.

Got a raw fish phobia? Don’t worry – while the raw salmon and tuna is best quality and superbly presented, plenty of the 97 dishes on offer haven’t been near a fish, let alone a raw one.

This is a truly varied menu, with hot foods like chicken katsu curry and crispy dumplings with duck gliding temptingly by on the belt, in addition to amazing sashimi, maki, hand rolls, salads and desserts.

It’s a great formula, because you can chat to the chefs as you eat and they work, which adds to the fun. “And if you or your kids want to try making sushi, we’ll drag you into the kitchen and let you have a go,” says Simon Lithgo, head chef and a sushi addict who reckons he alone consumes about a kilo of rice per day. Tall and super slim, he looks well on it.

“And we’re going to start doing sushi workshops here,” adds manager Craig Slater; a man so dedicated to the quality of the sashimi in his restaurant that he recently endured a 14-hour boat trip from Aberdeen to Shetland to check out where the salmon in his kitchen comes from.

He discovered a tidal farm, which ensures superb-quality fish because they swim against the tide constantly. The water is also grade one; the purest you can get. The fish is transported live to a nearby factory, killed and boxed up within an hour and transported to Yo Sushi restaurants within 24 hours, where it is delivered fresh every day.

“It’s got to be some of the best salmon you’ll find,” says Craig. “Better than in sushi bars in Japan even, which also tends to be from Shetland, but of course they have to freeze it. Ours is super fresh.”

Craig is a sashimi freak, though he admits that when he first joined the Yo! chain of restaurants founded by former Dragon’s Den star and serial entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe, he was almost phobic about it.

“But I love it now,” he says. “And it’s okay if it’s not your thing, because we have so much variety.”

 The key to great sushi, says chef Simon, is in using the best quality, freshest ingredients and the right type of rice. “You have to get it sticky,” he says, though he refuses to explain any secret formulas. “I’ll just say that you have to cook it to the right level, and mix it with vinegar to make it more flavoursome.”

 It is also beautifully presented, which adds to the general air of temptation hovering over the conveyor belt. “You throw a cucumber down in front of a kid and they don’t want to eat it, but you put it in a maki, and they love it,” adds Craig, as the chefs replenish the conveyor belt with vividly coloured plates adorned with little works of art comprising emerald green seaweed, pure white rice, crab, duck, beef, vegetables, octopus, eel, and the most amazing tuna; super-frozen the moment it’s caught and best eaten raw, with a dash of wasabi, ginger and soy from the little pots on the counter.

 The counter and tables also have taps containing triple-filtered water (unlimited amounts for £1), and – my favourite – a little button you press to call the waiters.
The food is super fresh, and if it’s not sold within two hours of hitting the belt (which seems unlikely), it’s taken off.

You can look up the nutritional values and take allergy advice from a special Yo! Sushi booklet and you can also have everything on the menu as a takeaway (they deliver also) and they have lunchboxes if you’re on the run.

Yummy cups of Miso soup are served in unlimited amounts for £1.75, you get free refills of deliciously invigorating green tea, the Omega 3 oils in the fish are incredibly good for your body and your brain and – the best bit - the seaweed they use, nori, breaks down fat cells!

They say Victoria Beckham eats little else these days – which is the most sensible thing she’s done in a long time.

*Yo! Sushi, upstairs in the new Yellow Mall, tel 0191 283 2720, open Mon-Fri noon-9pm, Sat noon-7pm, Sun noon-5pm, www.yosushi.com