Sharmila on Food

Sushi of Shiori, Drummond Street

I read about this tiny, tiny sushi place in Time Out and had  great opportunity to try it out on a Friday night before a late train up North from Euston.  It does really only have nine seats, and a fair few people got turned away as we ate our meal, so it makes sense to book.

Anyway, this was a wonderful meal, and definitely some of the nicest sushi I have had a in a long time, presented in a way that really was pretty as a picture.  This was a lovey experience also made even lovelier by the welcome of the owner who’s name I unfortunately didn’t catch.  She was eager to make sure we were comfortable, and eager to get our feedback.  She also gave us free ice cream.  You can’t go wrong really. Anyhow, on to the food.

We kicked things off with some thick slices of yellowtail sashimi.  These were great - super fresh, creamy and generous in portion size.  Alongside, some eel and egg Oshi-zushi.  I love eel, and this was a good rendition, especially alongside that rich egg.

To follow, a couple of skewers of chicken yakitori.  Tasty, but I definitely think the strength here is most certainly in the raw fish department.  Similarly, some chicken kara-age was tasty (who doesn’t love deep fried battered chicken), but nothing mind blowing.

However, the sushi set was definitely more wow.  The scallop in particular was wonderful, but everything smacked of freshness (often so hard to actually find in London).

By this point, we were quite sated, but I definitely wanted to try some of the homemade ice cream we’d noticed on the menu.  Being greedy guts, we plumped for three - one of green tea with adzuki beans, sweet potato and then chestnut.  They also have black sesame (one of my favourite things) but this is brought in rather than homemade.  We got going with the green tea first, and this was just fantastic.  A brilliant earthy flavour that was perfectly complemented by the slightly syrupy adzuki beans.  The sweet potato was also nice, but more subtle in flavour by comparison. We then got on to the chestnut.  The owner was worried as this had just been made and no one had tried it yet.  Fearing it might be horrible, she said she would give it to us for free.  We tried to desist, but she wasn’t having any of it.  She need not have worried though, as this was the most sublime of the lot.  This is one of the best ice creams I have had in a long time.  It managed to have that slightly mealy texture of chestnuts without being granular, and it had that wonderful richness of roasted chestnuts.  I can’t wait to have it again.

All in all, a really great meal made even better by great service.  I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face and thank the owner and her husband (who is the one in the kitchen) profusely for such a lovey evening.  Thankfully I work down the road, so I won’t have to wait long to go back.

Details:
Sushi of Shiori

144 Drummond St

London

NW1 2PA

0207 388 9962

Nearest transport: Euston Square, Warren St, Euston tubes

Price: average (we paid £25 each with a generous tip)

NB.  This place is BYO, but there is a Costcutter over the road.