Spider Roll Spider Roll

Spider Roll: A sushi roll filled with soft-shell crab, avocado, cucumber, and spicy mayo, often wrapped in rice and seaweed.

Drgnfly Pan-asian Restaurant Bar

Drgnfly Pan-asian Restaurant Bar

1 Bournemouth Road, Poole I-BH14 0EF, United Kingdom

Sushi • Asian • Fusion • Asiatic


"Booked a table of 5 for my birthday dinner. We were promptly seated then immediately asked for drinks orders before even being offered a drinks menu or water. After we had ordered drinks we were being rushed into ordering some food, every two minutes different waiters coming and asking if we are ready to order (at least 7 times). After we did order and the food was brought out, we were then just forgotten about and nobody came over anymore to check if we needed any more drinks (4 out of 5 glasses were empty) or if the food was ok. (It was- but no one checked). After we had finished dining, we still had empty glasses and had to wait 20+ minutes until we eventually stopped a waiter walking past and asked if we could order more drinks. The drinks then took another 15 minutes to come. It was also very disappointing that although we had mentioned on the booking itself that it was for my birthday, there was no acknowledgement of this (I have been before and had received a plate with ‘happy birthday’ written on it in some kind of sauce with a sparkler). My sister even went to ask the woman working on the front desk and received a standoffish attitude back saying no. When the £235 bill came, it even listed ‘birthday plate £0.00’ on it!!! That really let the evening down. The interactions with the staff themselves were great, they were very polite and personable but the actual level of service of being rushed to order and then totally forgotten about really dampened what could have been a fantastic evening."

Life

Life

2-4 Old Street, EC1V 9AA, Islington, United Kingdom

Sushi • Coffee • Asiatic • Seafood


"Life is a bit of an oddball of a place. When you first walk in you are greeted by a somewhat worn-off interior of what could be a bar in any standard English pub but that impression is immediately shattered when the attentive and charming Japanese staff approach you to seat you next door. Now this is when things become pretty and a little strange.Next door is the actual restaurant seating area, a wide open space with seats arranged against the walls, leaving ample of space for the waiters and guests to navigate the area. Decorated to minimalist Japanese style, enhanced with random Star Wars figurine decor on the window ledges this place has a quiet, quirky, yet composed charm about it. The service is flawless and always at hand to advise and recommend. Extremely attentive the only flaw we could find was the unwillingness to amend the nigiri platter we wanted to order to include Eel but as most Japanese restaurants, and restaurants in general, don't allow changes to set meals, this was to be expected. Nevertheless, it was a little disappointing as we offered to pay the difference for the more expensive Eel to be added to the mix. We ended up ordering the Eel nigiri separately and it was absolutely worth fighting for. Delicious, succulent, tender meat with a buttery-lemon flavour palette to it. If you have to get one nigiri from the menu, get that one. We ended up ordering the duck breast houba yaki in walnut-miso paste, a sashimi set and the aforementioned nigiri sushi set. The duck was gorgeous, especially dunked in the nutty-earthy flavours of the walnut miso paste. The sashimi, as good as it was, it paled in comparison the wholesome and delicate flavours the Eel nigiri and the duck brought out. Dessert was served as Matcha Brûlée with Vanilla Icecream. Delicious. The food presentation left little to complain about.I cannot comment on the downstairs bar but I found the area in and around the downstairs toilets rather random, sporting a somewhat creepy industrial site atmosphere with run-down toilets to go with. Overall, great experience, lovely food, on the pricier site but not as expensive as many other Japanese places I have been to. I'd come again for sure."

Sushi Makoto

Sushi Makoto

57 Turnham Green Terrace, W4 1RP, HOUNSLOW, United Kingdom

Wine • Sushi • Asian • Japanese


"Apart from being a very common male and female name in Japan, Makoto also means ‘sincerity’ or ‘truth’. The sushi and sashimi served at Sushi Bar Makoto are certainly a true taste of Japan, nestled away in Turnham Green. A girl I’m dating is a fan of the restaurant and she was excited for me to try their food. The sushi bar was closed to visitors because of Lockdown 2.0 so we ordered our food to be delivered to her place via Deliveroo one Saturday night in November. We chose the salmon combo, which consists of two pieces salmon nigiri, six pieces salmon roll, and three pieces salmon sashimi. We also had the spicy tuna inside-out roll (uramaki and a side of edamame beans. When researching this review, I was surprised to learn that salmon has only been used as an ingredient in sushi since the 1980s and was introduced by a Danish businessman (one of the only Western sushi variations that has been adopted in Japan . It’s hard to believe the Japanese didn’t include salmon before this because it is so delicious when served as an ingredient in sushi. For those unfamiliar with sushi, salmon nigiri comprises an oblong of vinegared rice with a slice of salmon draped over it. Salmon rolls are wheels of rice with salmon and spring onion stuffed in the centre, contained in an outer wrapper of nori (seaweed . The spicy tuna rolls look similar to the salmon rolls, however the rice is on the outside and the nori is wrapped around the tuna and vegetables in the centre. Lastly, salmon sashimi (which, strictly speaking, is not sushi is simply thickly cut pieces of raw salmon. It’s all very good. The fish in each of the dishes was really fresh and full of flavour. Fat grains of white rice are used and the vinegar used to hold the rice together gives it a lovely, slightly sour flavour, while also being satisfyingly sticky and starchy. I adore salmon so, for me, my favourites were the salmon nigiri and salmon sashimi. Our food came with several knobs of wasabi, which I enjoyed smearing on the salmon rolls and tuna rolls to give them some extra heat, and we got four sachets of soy sauce that I used to dunk my nigiri in. (If you’re like me and enjoy lots of soy sauce, I’d recommend having a bottle on standby because four sachets wasn’t really enough for two of us. We got a pretty generous portion of edamame and it’s always fun to bite the beans straight out of the pod to eat. The sushi was attractively presented in boxes with clear lids to show off the neatly prepared and colourful contents, and was even more beautiful eaten nyotaimori-style. Our food took about half an hour to arrive, was reasonably priced and was surprisingly filling. Chopsticks are provided if you’re feeling adventurous, or do like the Japanese do and simply eat it with your fingers. Sushi Bar Makoto is a hidden gem in west London and one you should truly try."