Sakura Sushi, Belfast - I Got It Wrong...

Back in August last summer I posted a blog touting  The Battle of the Belfast Sushi Joints. Back then my favourites, Yo Sushi! Belfast came out on top, but I believe I was a little hasty writing Sakura in Botanic off as too authentically Japanese for me (not necessarily even a bad attribute!).

Sakura's mighty nigiri tray

In August when I went along to order take out from Sakura, I was struck by the distinct lack of pictures of what everything was on the menu. Even as a sushi enthusiast I'm very much still a 'point at the picture of the sushi I want' customer, even dining at Yo! So I just asked Sakura to make me up some sort of takeaway and unfortunately that day they chose a huge platter of only nigiri (raw fish on blocks of rice). No rolls of any sort, or even maki. 

Then, as a Yo Sushi! westernised sushi experience veteran, I was faced with a piece of nigiri that literally had octopus suckers on it.  I concluded Sakura was too rich for my tastes.

It's got suckers on it! 

So, Thursday past, Fashion Week launch, I'm up in Belfast anyway so I take advantage of being near somewhere that actually sells sushi (Bangor is a sushi desert) and with parking easier near Sakura, I decide to have another try.

Hooray! A giant sign outside with PICTURES of three different trays you can buy to takeaway. I immediately go inside and point to the sign with glee. I chose the medium tray on Thursday, but today I picked up one of each of the sizes to show you what you can get. 

Small £4.80 Medium £8.50 Large £12.50

These rolls are especially good, they've crispy bits in them (technical foodie term). 

So Sakura, forgive me, I was wrong and now I love you. The website gallery shows me many wonders I would love to try too. Maybe I should print out the pictures and take it with me to do a bit more pointing ordering. The rolls with the yellow on top, second down left, those look GOOD. 

Battle of the Belfast Sushi Takeaways!

I was talking about sushi over on Facebook and my friend Claire recommended I try Sakura on Botanic Avenue in Belfast next time, rather than Yo Sushi! Michael & I had actually been to Sakura twice a number of years ago, when they were the only place that had a sushi train in Northern Ireland. It was so long ago I couldn't even remember what it was like to compare to our staple Yo Sushi! takeaway boxes. So I picked up a big twelve piece box for £16.50, at Sakura, and a large salmon & tuna box for £7.50 from Yo Sushi!

Top left £16.50 box from Sakura, top right is a little sushi mix bowl from Yo! which costs £1.50, bottom is the £7.50 Yo! large salmon and tuna box.

Firstly ordering at Sakura was trickier than Yo! because there aren't really premade boxes or pick and choose from. Secondly the menu to order from doesn't have images of each piece, and even though we get sushi often I still don't really know all the names of the things I like, or don't like. I know what a hand roll is (I'm not keen on them), California rolls and maki, but everything else is always ordered with a point at the picture on the Yo Sushi! menu. 

So even though the Sakura takeaway menu is more extensive than the Yo Sushi! one, I was a little flustered at what to order and in the end just asked for the large selection.

Compared to Yo Sushi! pieces, Sakura sushi is almost twice the size. I can eat a whole box of Yo! takeaway in one sitting, but I only managed five from the Sakura tray. They give you tonnes of wasabi, soy sauce and pickled ginger too.  

Sakura pieces are BIG

Generous amounts of ginger & wasabi with the Sakura box  

Tastewise I think Sakura is closer to what you might get in a traditional sushi restaurant in Japan, whereas Yo Sushi! is more of a westernised version of the food type, which I think I prefer. You can't say that Sakura portions aren't generous, in fact I've no idea how I'm going to manage to eat it all this evening while the raw fish is still good!

After my Sakura experience I think I'll stick with Yo Sushi! at least for takeaway boxes for now. I think Sakura would be better for sitting in, so that's on my to do list. Now what am I going to do with all this fresh sushi?? I'm off to hunt for some lose trousers with an elasticated waist band.... 

Buy me one of these and I will love you forever