TRIED AND TESTED
SUPERMARKET SUSHI
More than just lumps of uncooked seafood, sushi is now on a level to compete with BLTs and pasta salads for our lunchtime attention. The List teases its discerning tastebuds with four of the more appetising selections. Words: Mark Robertson
Tesco, fish sushi, £2.99 lesco rlas l)l‘£l‘.(}l‘:. reiauncl‘ixl its sushi range and this is a l).{}l’liilll a":l waned ‘nox of tricks. A chicken a'l<l ri‘ango "oil (1) s slight but tast‘. and the (ital: stick (2) ar‘d egg; n'gi (3) l)"::‘.i<le t'.'.':: other £1‘.(Ell;i(:f§ili t(‘-><t;i't:-a":l flaxoui‘. A t;< o:l :;ta't-::-.I nox To hell) (lime-'1‘. .'.’l‘.l(?l‘i nits
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The Sushi Company, £2.99 The premier Scottish take on the Japanese snack is a bag of li‘lXOU delights. It goes for variety too wrth a healthy eight pieces. even nianaging a lusty smoked haddock nigrl (4) fora local twist but the rice and veggies are still a little on the filth side. 0..
Sainsbury’s Yo! Sushi prawn lunch set, £3.20 Yo! Sushi is the priciest ‘.'.’lll‘. the smallest range. but the rice lives up to the ‘sticky name and the fish is flavoursome. Best is the mar; pocket (8). a block of seasoned rice in fried bean-curd which combines sweet and savoury to a succulent degree. .0000
5pm
Fine dining at a fraction of the price
Eat out for less
Food & Drink
UNDER £15
ICHIBAN NOODLE CAFE 184 Dumbarton Road. Glasgow. 0141 334 9222
One the genuine bargain places to eat in the city. lchiban now has a new, larger cafe in the West End. The formula is the same: long informal wooden tables and benches in a completely non-smoking space. The waiting staff zip about with wireless electronic devices to take your order and zap it straight to the cooks. Food usually arrives not too long later.
Unlike the Queen Street Original where the kitchen is in plain view. you see less of the chefs here. The overall feel is a bit more design conscious: the lchiban icon (stylised bowl rim and chop sticks) glows in neon. an exposed stone wall serves as a feature and contemporary photos of Japanese streetscapes hang on the bone white walls.
The menu is full of deals: steaming bowls of ramen. udon and soba noodles with a variety of meat and veggie goodies that start from £5.40. While that's specral enough, lchiban serves sushi selections. Japanese finger food such as gyoza. tempura and bento boxes. To drink. y0u can choose from Asahi and Sapporo lagers. sake and oolong cha tea. too.
Little wonder The Guardian's food editor Matthew Fort tips lchiban in the top 40 UK places to eat for less than $215. Hell, you'd work hard to spend a tenner on a meal. (Barry Shelbyl
WINE BAR
GREAT GROG
43 Rose Street. Edinburgh. 01312251616
Imagine being able to buy quality mail order wines over the counter in a bar. That’s part of the idea behind Edinburgh’s new Great Grog Wine Bar. Its goal is to be the ‘most innovative, fun and dynamic wholly wine- merchant owned wine bar’ in the country. The stock is about 95% of what Grog, the independent Edinburgh- based wine merchant, sells by the case by mail order. So, if you like something, odds are that you can obtain some for home consumption.
For Rhys Moult, manager of the newly opened Rose Street bar, life has been ‘awash in wine’. Married at a winery, part of the team that founded Subiaco wine bar in Perth, Western Australia, and once an employee at Majestic Wine Warehouses UK, Moult prides himself on his grasp of grape. Like others at Great Grog, the 27 year old brings both a passion for his product and an approachability for the average punter.
Grog specialises in new world wines, often from smaller producers: Deakin Estate in Australia or Veenwouden in South Africa. Moult plans to sell fine wines not necessarily suited to retail sales, some straight from the cellar of Grog’s director Richard Meadows. What you won’t find here are £6 bottles and bog-standard brands. The bar’s mark up is modest, but it doesn’t apologise for its prices, either. ‘Good wine at a good price’ is the ethos. (Barry Shelby)
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12 Ashton Lane Tc] 0141—334 5007
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