Ed eats

Yoshi Sushi
5, Ponsomby Street,
Gżira
Tel: 9922 9877

Food: 5/10
Service: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

I have a recollection from my early childhood that was disturbing back then and only mystifying (and, it turns out, largely incorrect) to me now. I recall hearing about a black hole for the first time and being intrigued by the description. What had disturbed me was being told that should our beloved planet decide to stray too close to one, it would shrink to the size of an orange.

A large menu board behind the counter is brightly decked in red and yellow, with cheerful callouts and illustrations

I recall trying to wrap my head around the notion of a planet the size of an orange and how heavy this fruit-sized globe would be. To the mind of an inquisitive little boy it was like trying to smell the colour nine.

It isn’t any easier today but we have much more information at our disposal, packaged into attractive and informative books and documentaries rather than the account of a well-intended adult who was probably as spectacularly far from comprehension as I was.

The notion of a planet that can fit into the palm of our hand has since become startlingly real without the need for any celestial acrobatics. Practically everyone has access to every corner of the earth. I’m not writing this to extol the virtues of the internet because you know about them. I’m merely pointing out that insularity and its unfortunate side effects have become inexcusable.

If you act like you’re the only person who has ever been beyond our shores or who has access to the internet, you’re bound to be caught out soon enough. So, for instance, if you’re seeking a name for a sushi restaurant, contracting Simon Woodroffe’s brainchild Yo Sushi into Yoshi is bound to be seen through quite quickly.

I was lucky enough once to hear Mr Woodroffe’s account first hand. His first stab at conveyor-belt sushi in London turned into a hugely profitable franchise for him. I visited a couple and enjoyed the experience, even if they don’t serve the best sushi around. The approach was innovative, if a little cheesy, and once the novelty wears off, one tends to sacrifice the colourful dishes for a better product.

When I heard about a sushi takeout in Gżira called Yoshi Sushi I was intrigued. I was betting on conveyor belts and would have lost that bet had anyone bothered backing it.

I swung by one evening, heading home from the office without any dinner planned and a gaping void in my stomach. I’d skipped my second lunch and pre-dinner snack and in this ravenous state figured that a truckload of sushi would quickly put paid to my misery.

My first reaction was a pang of longing and a hint of guilt. The little takeout is a couple of doors down from Ali Baba and I couldn’t possibly picture any better food in this area. It was a little early and I’d promised a takeout, so popping in for a quick solitary bite was off the cards.

The tiny place actually has a couple of neatly laid tables so it is possible to consume their sushi on the premises. A large menu board behind the counter is brightly decked in red and yellow, with cheerful callouts and illustrations. The typical takeout sushi fare is all there, with a range of maki (rolls) and nigiri (finger sushi) and no mention of sashimi.

Rolls and nigiri are priced individually and platters that combine a number of menu items are available to help keep the ordering process quicker.

As is typical for me when I’ve gone too long without a feed, I picked the one that looked like it would contain enough food to feed four. The Yoshi Special Platter packs 42 maki and nigiri items onto what looked like a large, circular tray.

I suppose I phrased my order like a question, somehow seeking reassurance that there would be enough food. The man at the counter assured me that the presentation would be lovely. Not quite what I was after. He also assured me that everything would be freshly prepared and then proceeded to assemble the dish from rolls and nigiri that were inside the counter.

As he prepared the dish, he chatted away. He asked whether I’d been to a particular sushi takeout in St Julian’s and happily told me that he’d poached a chef from there. I’m not quite sure what reaction he was expecting. He then went on to tell me that he was off to China to obtain recipes from there.

I meekly suggested Japan as a better alternative but he assured me that the Chinese are Asian so they know how to prepare sushi. I stared as he said this, facing an express train of certainty that I wasn’t bothered to derail. As he went about creating his masterpiece, I had second thoughts about the quantity I’d ordered.

I asked whether they served sashimi and he told me they served salmon and tuna sashimi, with a portion composed of five pieces. I ordered the salmon and he passed this on to the kitchen, then went back to putting my dish together.

By the time he was done, it was evident that he really cares about the presentation of the dish because it looked lovely and symmetrical, with the tiny petal-shaped hosomaki in the centre arranged to resemble a little flower. He was generous with the wasabi and packed chopsticks, soy sauce and the separate tray of sashimi into a neat package.

I paid €35 and drove home like I’d just robbed a bank, pausing only for a wistful glance in the direction of Ali Baba.

I started dividing the platter equally into two plates until I noticed that there was one roll I had no intention of trying. The spicy tuna roll turned out to be made with canned tuna. I’m afraid that’s not my idea of sushi. I understand that this keeps the price reasonable but I never asked for canned tuna. The spicy chicken roll was also a mush of shredded chicken, so I kept away from it as well.

I did make very short work of the rest of it though and it was all very fresh and impeccably prepared, so not only did it lift me out of starvation, but it also made me quite happy as it did so.

The sashimi was fresh and thinly cut, all the nigiri topping was great and the sheer quantity of it all had me stuff piece after piece until I finally discarded my chopsticks and sat back, staring at the forlorn bits of green paper that had decorated the immense tray.

Yoshi isn’t the best approach to sushi I’ve encountered but it was quick, relatively inexpensive and for the most part perfectly enjoyable. We don’t visit sushi takeout seeking haute cuisine.

We do so for a quick approach to food that we don’t eat every single day at a price that won’t break the bank. Yoshi, like many others, does just that. I just wish they’d taken a little more trouble naming the place.

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