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| REVIEW | THE GOOD LIFE |
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You could have Korean prime-cut, marinated beef bulgogi with a side of Chinese beansprouts or fried noodles, or things like crispy duck or sweet and sour chicken wings. There’s also a range of set dishes like the deep fried Japanese gyoza dumplings, served with Miso soup, salad and rice for £8.50, while the green tea ice cream (£2) has a very good creaminess akin to the Cornish dairy cream variety – and by growing up on the north Cornwall coast, I spent many hours eating lots of that! But it’s the sushi that is the mainstay here, and for that reason, office takeaway lunchtimes are very popular. There are a clutch of tables for those who prefer to sit and stay, and these regularly attract groups of Japanese tourists who can’t get enough of Samurai’s creative sushi. And the sushi is good. Neat, and tidy, fresh and healthy, and tasting as it should. There can be very little better for you than a plate or two of these. The Samurai’s sushi comes individually packaged at 85p a roll, but best value comes in the shape of the 10 piece value boxes, which start at £8.50 for the vegetarian version. Then there are the half dozen maki cut rolls. Here the lightly vinegared rice goes with a choice of filling like salmon and avocado or tuna, wrapped in a glutinous looking, bottle green sheath of nori seaweed. Despite the pre-packaged, fast-paced consumerism of Japanese society, Sushi is so very natural, and the way Samurai does it seems to enhance that fact. Ingredients are fresh and raw, and mixed with the vibrant colourings of things like deftly shredded red pepper, rather than food colourings. This end result of bright, eyecatching red decorates and dominates the middle of the fresh tuna cherry blossom. There are over 50 different types of sushi here. Ingredients like tuna, avocado, crabstick and sesame seed form the basis for much of it, as does the caviar like topico. This Icelandic flying fish roe is a sushi staple, adding colour and crunchy to the sheer rawness of say, octopus strip sushi. The accompanying bowls of spicy wasabi and sinus-clearing raw ginger augment the enjoyment further. A bowl of two of their soybean based Miso soup is recommended too. It comes with a smattering of spring onion, and a good and savoury chicken taste and thankfully it isn’t as salty as it can be in other places. With a bottle or two of refreshing Japanese plum or honey and Ginseng juice, a two person meal comes to around the £25 mark. Paul Cowling |
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