YO SUSHI, WESTFIELD

The other day I made it to Westfield before all the shops even opened – I was desperate to buy an Elsa dress from Disney’s Frozen film for Arabella’s birthday and the only chance I had was to be at the Disney Store when their delivery arrived on a Friday morning. Funnily enough I wasn’t the only mummy there!!

Pascal and I wondered round the shops and then it was lunchtime – normally I would always go to the Lebanese or the Mexican in the food court but Pascal fancied sushi so we went to Yo Sushi and sat at the conveyor belt.

I think the conveyor belt is a brilliant idea and I like the way you can choose your food from there or order it hot. I have never been that enamoured with Yo Sushi before but it is always so popular and packed that I decided to give it another go.

There is plenty of choice from maki rolls to rice and noodle dishes to the usual sashimi, tempura and hand rolls.

We sat down and I ordered a diet coke while Pascal had water from the taps on the table (I think this is great)! From the conveyor belt we chose several items, firstly seared beef nigiri. The beef was rare and succulent as was the rice however it was ruined by a dollop of mayonnaise! Not exactly Japanese & so unnecessary!!

We had the salmon selection - 3 pieces of salmon sashimi, 2 salmon nigiri & 2 salmon maki. This was enjoyable especially the salmon nigiri so we then had a separate plate of that, it was nice and simple with no extra hidden sauces.

My favourite choice from the belt was the California rolls - these were really good and I was tempted to have more.

But by then our hot food had arrived - we had the chicken and duck gyoza. The chicken were good, much better than the duck, as there was more inside the dumpling. It is a pity they are fried rather than steamed.

I ordered my favourite dish - popcorn shrimp - but what a disappointment. I can't even describe what it tasted of, the tiniest shrimps (so small they had no flavour) and then what appeared to be deep fried cereal!! I really wouldn't recommend this dish!!

Pascal's favourite are always chicken yakitori and chicken teriyaki.

These were so so - nothing special.

After our meal, I remembered why I rarely come to Yo Sushi – some of the food such as the California rolls were very good, but others were rubbish – like the popcorn shrimp. None of the food tastes fresh and healthy and some of the things going round the conveyor belt look downright disgusting!!! One maki roll was filled with about 100g of cream cheese – not exactly Japanese!!! After a Japanese meal I don't like to feel stodgy which you do after this.

There are some very good deals - on a Monday all dishes are £2.50 and on Sundays you can order 10 dishes for £20. These are both great sushi deals as Japanese can be so expensive and if you ordered right, this would be a very reasonable way to have sushi. Plus there are restaurants everywhere - all round England and from Norway to Bahrain - and you always know what you will get.

So the meal was quick, easy and filling and not overly expensive. I like the idea and the set up and adore the conveyor belt although I am afraid I wont be rushing back anytime soon. They are constantly adding new dishes to the menus so maybe I will try again in a couple of years and see if I change my mind.

Yo Sushi

Unit 2106

Westfield London Shopping Centre

Ariel Way

London

W12 7GF

Tel: 020 3130 1430