It would be daft for a sushi restaurant not to include tuna in its menu, right? Or, would it be a commendable approach to offering quality food while still adhering to sustainable ethics? On the road to joining the SRA, Award-winning Sushinho is the first high-end sushi restaurant in London to completely remove tuna from its menu.
As bluefin and bigeye tuna are now endangered and yellow fin tuna is currently being overfished Sushinho owner, Oliver Girardet, reckons that “With half of the fish eaten in Europe dished up in restaurants, it is time that restaurants such as Sushinho took the lead and stopped demand at source We owe it not only to this generation, but to generations to come.” Should global tuna stock return to a healthy level, or a source be found from which Sushinho can obtain sustainable and responsibly caught tuna, the restaurant will then consider putting tuna back on the menu.
As yummy as tuna may be, it's not much missed from Sushinho's menu. On our visit, we were more than pleased to sample this upscale restaurant's blend of Japanese and Brazilian cuisine, a dining concept that's not as unusual as one might initially think. With an estimated 1.5 million people of Japanese decent, Brazil has the most populous Japanese community outside of Japan with their own unique mash up of flavours.
We adored Sushinho's spider roll featuring five pieces of soft shell crab, jalapeno, lettuce, tobiko and chilli mayonnaise (£12) and couldn't get enough of the warm shredded pork and crackling salad with mango, green shoots and burnt orange & chilli dressing (£7.50). For our pudding, a passion fruit crumble with toffee ice cream and sesame tuille (£6.50) certainly hit the spot as did the Sushinho Sakeirinha house cocktail featuring Honjozo Akashi-tai sake with muddled pink grapefruit and passion fruit (£8.50). Other potent potables we hope to sip soon include the intriguing Venison & Dark Chocolate Rob Roy (venison infused Monkey Shoulder vatted malt whisky, stirred - £9) and the fruity Brazilian Coconut Martini (Brazilian coconut, organic cachaça Abelha Silver, Koko Kanu, Frangelico, garnished with a Marasca cherry - £9.50).
Of course, it's not just about the yum-yums here. Foregoing the convey belts and minimalism, this King's Road joint is as swank as it is inviting. With a cosy bar as well as a downstairs lounge, its a welcoming place to tuck in for a exotic and tropically-infused evening.
Sushinho is located at 312-314 King's Road (SW3 5UH) visit them online at www.sushinho.com.
