Review of 'Sushi Hiroba'

I have to admit that this small restaurant has intrigued me ever since it opened. I have passed by but it never appeared to be open. The menu always looked so intriguing and refreshingly inexpensive.

The interior is quite dark and cozy with the conveyor belt full of gorgeously presented sushi lit up - A wonderful sight. The elegant blacks and reds throughout with the elegant interior full of tightly grouped stools at the conveyor and a few small tables around the outside wall. I am told there are also private rooms in the basement.

Visiting for dinner on a Friday night we queued before opening (at 6 pm) outside the door with a number of others. Once opened we decided to sit at the conveyor so that even if we ordered from the very good a la carte menu we would still be able to look at the wonderful sushi as it made it's way around the restaurant. The restaurant very quickly filled up and it was nice to find that it was not too noisy even though it was quite small.

The sushi was very good with only a few complaints - The takoyaki was cold (and not very octopus-sy) as was a lot of the “hot” items on the conveyor (but this, I suppose, is to be expected). We ordered some vegetable tempura (3 pieces, £3.80, 6 pieces £7.50) only to find it had a very heavy batter (a mortal sin in Japanese cooking) with an odd slightly sweet radish dipping sauce - Not entirely satisfying (the tempura on the conveyor looked far better - much lighter). The soft shell crab hand roll (£3.95) was disappointingly non-crab-by but tasty nonetheless. A lot of the sushi was beautifully presented but tended to have a lot of mayonaise throughout which meant that a lot of it tasted only of mayonaise - It would have been nice to taste more of the ingredients. When we were able to taste the fish (in the maki rolls, for example) it was a perfect temperature and very delicious.

It was a bit more expensive than we were expecting but we did enjoy it. The service was quite understated and very courteous.

On our next visit, for I am sure we will be back, we will try ordering off of the a la carte instead of the slightly disappointing conveyor. It might also be a bit cheaper…

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2011-03-12

Cuisine: Japanese (Sushi)

Address: 50-54 Kingsway, Holbourn, London WC2B 6EP ENGLAND

Public Transport: Holborn

Location: London (England) - Covent Garden

Map:

Telephone: +44 (0) 207 430 1895

URL: http://www.sushihiroba.co.uk/