“Sushi bar pick up please”
Having booked a table ten minutes prior over the telephone, the waitress informed us that the only table we could be seated us was at the bar. We graciously accepted but were stunned by the size of the place on arrival. The main restaurant is located at basement level but “the bar”/entrance area encompasses the sushi bar itself, 8 bar stools, the reception table, a row of clothes pegs and an overwhelming fishy smell.
The Japanese tapas style menu was contemporary and varied but the first thing that struck me was the prices. Dishes average between ten and twenty pounds per head so it is fair to say that I had automatically high expectations.
We started off with yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno salsa, caviar and yuzu garlic sauce. It was lightly seasoned which was unusual but allowed us to savour the flavour of the fish itself.
We moved on to seasonal vegetable gyoza dumplings with chilli ponzu sauce. The vegetable filling was earthy and fresh but I was hypnotised by food envy. The beautiful sushi dishes passing over the counter left me thinking about my erroneous order.
We finished with the char grilled wagyu beef and vegetable with Korean chili-miso and the grilled chili garlic black cod. The black cod felt incomplete; as if the chili and garlic had not been given enough time to infuse into the fish and unfortunately, the wagyu beef was fatty and chewy.
Nevertheless, our seats at the bar gave us a prime location for every sushi/sashimi dish that was being served across the restaurant and the presentation was exquisite; the best I have ever seen.
I would like to visit this restaurant again, but I would like to sit downstairs in the main restaurant and I would focus on their speciality – sushi and sashimi only. I would only visit Dinings after payday and I would sit in the basement to avoid the gusts of cold air from Harcourt Street, the disruptive dishes being passed over the bar (pretty though they were) and the constant hum of the sushi chefs shouting “sushi bar pick up please!”
Rating: 3/5
http://www.dinings.co.uk/
Having booked a table ten minutes prior over the telephone, the waitress informed us that the only table we could be seated us was at the bar. We graciously accepted but were stunned by the size of the place on arrival. The main restaurant is located at basement level but “the bar”/entrance area encompasses the sushi bar itself, 8 bar stools, the reception table, a row of clothes pegs and an overwhelming fishy smell.
The Japanese tapas style menu was contemporary and varied but the first thing that struck me was the prices. Dishes average between ten and twenty pounds per head so it is fair to say that I had automatically high expectations.
We started off with yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno salsa, caviar and yuzu garlic sauce. It was lightly seasoned which was unusual but allowed us to savour the flavour of the fish itself.
We moved on to seasonal vegetable gyoza dumplings with chilli ponzu sauce. The vegetable filling was earthy and fresh but I was hypnotised by food envy. The beautiful sushi dishes passing over the counter left me thinking about my erroneous order.
We finished with the char grilled wagyu beef and vegetable with Korean chili-miso and the grilled chili garlic black cod. The black cod felt incomplete; as if the chili and garlic had not been given enough time to infuse into the fish and unfortunately, the wagyu beef was fatty and chewy.
Nevertheless, our seats at the bar gave us a prime location for every sushi/sashimi dish that was being served across the restaurant and the presentation was exquisite; the best I have ever seen.
I would like to visit this restaurant again, but I would like to sit downstairs in the main restaurant and I would focus on their speciality – sushi and sashimi only. I would only visit Dinings after payday and I would sit in the basement to avoid the gusts of cold air from Harcourt Street, the disruptive dishes being passed over the bar (pretty though they were) and the constant hum of the sushi chefs shouting “sushi bar pick up please!”
Rating: 3/5
http://www.dinings.co.uk/
