SUSHI SHOP, LONDON

If you've been reading this blog long enough you'll know about my penchant for all things Japanese when it comes to food, particularly the raw varieties. I'm also a fan of the odd Deliveroo. Having just moved from south of the river to a more lively part of London my options of Deliveroo have tripled and now include a fair few restaurants where I eat out anyway. But they also include places I'd never heard of, with one particular place, Sushi Shop, making my ears prick up. Beautiful, bright photos of delicious looking sashimi, sushi, tartares, ceviches and pokes had me filling my basket and clicking order before I could even consider other options. And within half an hour or so, one of the most professional looking food delivery packages arrived at my door. Fold out boxes opened to reveal perfect hand rolled and sliced deliciousness. 

Sushi Shop originates from Paris, where it started life in 1988, and they now have over 300 stores worldwide, including three in London, with three more London branches in the pipeline. They only do delivery and make everything to order from scratch by hand. The product is therefore of such high quality and you can tell just by looking at it that it's freshly made from the best ingredients. Each year the company invites a renowned chef to design part of their menu for them, and for 2017 they've collaborated with Michelin starred chef Kei Kobayashi who's put four new dishes on their menu. I went to have a little preview of his creations and they're outstanding.

If I had to choose, my two favourites were the gyu special roll - lightly seared beef lacquered with teriyaki sauce on top of an inside out roll filled with peppers, carrots, sesame oil mayo, rocket and avocado.

And the salmon gravalax roll with carrot, cucumber, white turnip, rocket, dill, mint, salmon roe and black olive tapenade sauce which was so fresh and light.

The other two special dishes from Kei are the garden maki - a vegetable based roll, and the red miso cucumber salad with peanuts, sesame, lime, maple syrup, chilli and yuzu.

Sushi Shop have branches in Marylebone, Westbourne Grove and South Ken and are available on Devlieroo, so if you like really good sushi then I highly recommend ordering from them next time you're eating out at home!