sushi e

sushi e
252 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9240 3041

After a "drinks and nibbles" tweetup at the bar at Lauren’s Felix for the visiting Luke, a group of us ended up nearby at sushi-e, as the perenially popular Felix was full, with no spare tables. The food (and saké) choices were left up to the chefs.

Prawn shu mai (4)
Chinese influenced steamed prawn dumpling with ponzu dipping sauce

Wondefully delicate in texture and taste. Unexpectedly, probably one of my top two items for the evening.

Sashimi (large) 18 pieces

Fabulously fresh fish, it was hard to pick my favourite, but it was probably the kingfish.

Steamed pacific oysters 

(oysters steamed with soy, mirin, shallot and peanut oil then finished with eschallot)

Freshly shucked sydney rock oysters - served with ponzu or a tomato salsa

I only had one of the fat and juicy shucked ones with the ponzu, which I enjoyed, but I’m told that the steamed ones were even better.

Beef tataki 
Nature’s Choice grain fed seared Angus tenderloin thinly sliced on dressed salad greens served chilled with garlic and onion soy dressing

I admit that I haven’t knowingly come across Nature’s Choice beef before (though I may have eaten it without knowing), so here's some information about it. Wonderfully tender, and I loved the baby salad greens.

Nigiri - scampi and prawn

I particularly liked the scampi - the flesh was firm and sweet, and flame searing it made it just that much better.

Atlantic roll 
salmon, cucumber and chives all rolled inside out then smothered with juicy salmon, salmon roe and mayo. The roll is then flame seared.

Great fresh salmon lightly seared, salmon roe, what’s not to like? A great example of a classic salmon roll.

Fried Snapper

By this point, we were fading, but I soldiered on. Crispy skin, the flesh sweet and still tender (I got the cheek meat), I could have probably done without some of the batons of vegetables, though the shredded leek gave a nice fresh contrast.

Vanilla Pannacotta and Raspberry Coulis

An unexpected sort of a dessert at a sushi bar (it would have been good to have had something more Japanese influenced) but a good pannacotta is always welcome, and this was small enough for us to manage it without too much difficulty.

Overall, sushi e was an enjoyable meal. A nice large space with dark ‘mood’ lighting and a comfortable atmosphere (it wasn’t very busy on that night), good service (including very diligent hand towel attention) and some really good sushi. It’s not on the 'inexpensive' end of the spectrum, but neither is it intended to be your “everyday” type of sushi bar.

[AP]