I had quite a day, yesterday, with trips to the newly resurrected Seadogs and the magnificent Mithas, then a late stop at the newly refurbished Fountain Bar, which certainly had a nice selection of beers, and looked like a visit to try their new menu would be a worthwhile enterprise.

Soup

But onward with today’s adventures, which took regular quester Jane and I to Harvey Nics’ Forth Floor, to sample Yo! Sushi, a conveyor belt Japanese place, which tends to pack in diners looking for a quick, hunger-relieving burst of sushi goodness.

The set-up is certainly unusual, with the friendly staff uttering those words that send a shudder down my spine: “is this your first time dining with us?” The phrase means that “high-concept” rules, of one form or another, are about to be read out, and if you wish to successfully negotiate the menu without making a spectacular fool of yourself, you’d better pay attention.

Beef tataki

Aubergine

Thankfully, with Yo! Sushi, they take the sensible precaution of having a large, brightly coloured panic button, so if you don’t wish to engage with the concept, you can press the button and humans will appear to manage your transaction.

We were shown to seats at the end of the bar, where we were confronted with the conveyor belts of dubious joy. But first, we were asked if we’d like some miso soup. Maybe things were going to turn out alright, after all!

Noodles

Maki and nigiri

Soup promptly arrived and was pretty fair, and a good accompaniment to our menu and conveyor contemplation. Quickly from the conveyor, a rare beef tataki was collected, along with a smartish looking aubergine salad. Jane was minded to add a couple of hot dishes, so we pressed the panic button, and ordered duck dumplings and prawn noodles. To round out our selections, we chose a mixed selection of maki and nigiri.

The beef tataki was nicely seasoned, with the coriander sauce probably the best thing we had, but the beef itself was rather on the chewy side, and lacked delicacy. The noodles were fine, but the accompanying prawns were massively overcooked. The filling of the dumplings was really good, with a lovely aniseed flavour from five-spice powder, but the casing was like cardboard. The aubergine salad was good, with nice notes of ginger. The maki and nigiri selection was rather uninspiring; not actively bad, but rather nondescript. So, it was a completely mixed bag, with a lot of misses, relatively few hits, and a lot of so-so stuff in the middle.

Dumplings

If you are a fan of sushi, which I am to a point (but not to the same extent as MJ, or indeed Jane), you shouldn’t waste your time with this place. The product that’s on offer is completely mediocre.

What Yo! Sushi delivers is a quick and somewhat convenient way to put food in your face in the middle of a department store. And the food is on conveyor belts. If this sounds like fun, and it’s certainly worth trying once to see if it floats your boat, then go for it. Far be it from me to deny you your fun. If you want to eat good quality dishes, freshly prepared to a high standard, go elsewhere.

Interior with conveyor belts

Scores
Blythe scores Yo Sushi:
2/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 11/20

Jane scores Yo Sushi:
3/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
2.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 11.5/20

Today’s questers were: Jane, Blythe

We ate: miso soup, duck gyoza, prawn yakisoba, beef tataki, assorted nigiri and maki, aubergine salad

We drank: sparkly water

We wore: smart brown top, black suit

Total bill: c.£25