Sushi. You can love it or hate it.. I guess there aren’t many types of food that can divide people so much or on the other hand, join them 🙂 We are from the sushi-loving group. It’s been a constant flow of love for the last 6 years. How did it start? I remember it as if it was yesterday: a work lunch with my friends who said: “Come and have some sushi with us!”. A simple set: salmon nigiri, some kind of maki, with raw fish of course because if you want to try sushi you shouldn’t go for a baked fish or a duck 🙂 It wasn’t love from the first sight, I didn’t decide to give up on pasta, pizza and other specialties and stick to sushi. But it started to eat me…
There were further attempts. In better places, with better results. And finally I reached the stage when chit-chat with my friends tasted great with some ginger to nibble on and some green tea or plum wine to drink. We had a funny tradition for a while. We used to meet on Sunday for sushi in order to discuss what happened on the Friday’s and Saturday’s parties. Fun times 🙂 When I met Łukasz it turned out that he loves sushi more than I do… And that’s how the long evenings accompanied with testing all possible flavour combinations started. We tried the miracles that our most favourite sushi master did. He even managed to impress my “American” cousin with his innovative combinations. And she’s gone to lots of “fancy sushi bars” in New York or Washington. My love for sushi lasted through my pregnancy as well, even though I had to switch to the baked fish version that’s not necessarily my favourite. That’s the one I had when I went out with Maks for the first time, 6 days after giving birth to him :). I guess that’s why Maks is mad for sushi as well. You better not put your sushi plate in front of him if you want to eat something yourself!
But let’s leave the memories behind… Today, now, Warsaw, sushi. Our “top 4”, quite diverse, dependent on the occasion, but with one common element: great sushi!:)
a classic: raw salmon, cucumber, Philadelphia cream cheese
1) OUR LEADER – SUSHI ZUSHI
There’s a good reason why Sushi Zushi on. ul. Żurawia 6,12 is the first. It’s an absolute best. Creative sushi masters, interesting combinations and what’s most important, really big pieces of fish. Even if there’s a lot of ingredients in a maki (we love crispy cucumber, turnip, mushrooms, seaweed) the amount of fish is never smaller – the slice of sushi just gets bigger. I love them for new ideas – “a bus” for instance – have you heard about it? Perfect combination of raw salmon, shrimp and avocado salad, shrimps in tempura and tamago omelette. No rice, just the tasty stuff. Amazing – for the last few months, every time I went for sushi with my friend, we started the evening with it.
The prices are rather high, but if you look at the size of maki you’ll realise that you’re leaving the place full (no way, you can eat anything more) and the bill is not as high as you thought it will be. The vibe is alright and the place is warm, however it gets a bit snobby if too many trendy and rich Warsaw citizen’s pay a visit – it’s not a place we go to if we want to relax in a calm and intimate surrounding. I don’t care about this parade of expensive clothes and ladies with too much make up on – an evening with a ladyfriend tastes best in jeans and sneakers. I know, I’ve been there last Wednesday. 🙂
I don’t go there with Maks since he turned 8 months old and started crawling underneath the waitresses. There’s too many people there and to little space for a crawling/running child. Maybe we’ll come back when he’s older and able to sit quietly for an hour? 🙂 Right now Sushi Zushi is perfect for lunch / evening with friends or for a date. And on Fridays and Sundays it’s open until 3 am!
If we want to eat something that’s as good as Sushi Zushi but don’t want crowds and trendiness, we go to Zushi Point in Ursynów (ul. Żabińskiego 16A). It’s calm, intimate and good for Maks – they have a children’s corner! (apparently they HAD 🙁 – one of our readers just told me that the children’s corner is gone :() But I guess that it still can work for a child. But without children’s corner it’s not the same! It’s also a place where we order sushi to takeaway – no bummers yet and it happens pretty often during takeaway sushi orders.
Maks – teriyaki salmon enthusiast
2) SUSHI WITH A CHILD? – IZUMI SUSHI Biały Kamień
Here’s the answer to the question – where to go for sushi with a child? Izumi Sushi on ul. Biały Kamień offers a spacious interior full of plants, a playground in the summer, tables outside. It’s definitely one of the most children’s friendly restaurants in town. Lots of high chairs, a changing table, a children’s corner with some toys and a children’s menu with an absolute hit – little sushi set for PLN 1. That’s how you can check if your child likes sushi without spending a fortune! Ours fell in love with it!
What do we like it for? For the nature of the place, cosy interior in the winter and a vast garden in the summer. For being “pro children”, for a lamp baked salmon with sea grass on top (you really have to try it!) and for weekdays lunch sets at good prices.
What don’t we like it for? For the staff that’s becoming absolutely disappointing at times, unfriendly, wry, not paying attention to the customers.. and for the teriyaki sauce (Maks’ love) that they charge you PLN 5 for! Hello, that’s an outrage! Get it together Izumi!!!
What occasions is it best for? A family lunch on weekend, lunch/dinner with friends with children, a little lunch with a friend with her child, in the summer it’s a good stop on bike trips in the neighbourhood – parents rest and Maks who is bored after travelling in his seat plays on the playground!
As it is not as good as Sushi Zushi when it comes to the taste of food, we don’t go there without children. But for a visit with a kid, it’s the best compromise.
Zushi Point, Ursynów – shrimp and avocado salad served in an orange
3) A CLASSIC – SAKANA
Sakana in Plac Teatralny (ul. Moliera 4/6) is a classic. It’s been there for years and I guess that everybody who likes sushi has been there a least once. We used to go there more often in the past – I liked it the most when we got there in the evening after a weekend out of town in the easy times before Maks. Then we switched to Sakana on ul. Burakowska 5/7 (“accidentally” Mielżyński winery is next door) and nowadays if we go to Sakana, we choose the one in Kabaty (ul. Wąwozowa 6/10B). It’s intimate, calm and tasty. An ideal place to chill out after a long day. Some time ago we got amazed by Sakana on Plac Teatralny again but it’s rarely on our way…
What we like it for? For high standards (usually), for memories, for calm Sakana in Kabaty. It’s also good that you can visit Sakana in Wrocław, Poznań, Katowice and Cracow.
What don’t we like it for? The prices are too high, the level of sushi masters is not the same everywhere, and the one on Burakowska is especially reckless… the impression depends on who makes your sushi.
What occasions is it best for? With a ladyfriend, with friends, sometimes together… definitely not as often as Sushi Zushi or Izumi.
Zushi Point, Ursynów – shrimp and avocado salad served in an orange
miso soup – a good start of most lunch menus
4) GOOD QUALITY AT A GOOD PRICE – SOTO SUSHI
Soto Sushi… one in Ursynów and one in the city centre on ul. Wilcza 26. Usually visited with my ladyfriends or with my ladyfriends and sushi-hungry Maks. Definitely the cheapest place from the list, but still tasty and with good amount of the fish and nice, sometimes innovative combinations. The menu is long (which is always an advantage for me when it comes to sushi), the lunch menus are more than attractive. That’s what I like it for! And I guess that there’s not much I don’t like Soto Sushi for – maybe I don’t go there often enough? 🙂 Anyway, I recommend it to anybody who wants a sushi lunch at a good price and is close to Wilcza street!
Have a nice, fishy Friday and weekend!!! 🙂
PS. Most of the pictures are from Zushi Point in Ursynów – I made them in the garden and it felt a bit like the summer 🙂
PS2. Tell me what are your favourite sushi places, because I can’t stand it that there are 4 places on the list instead of 5 🙂
And that’s how Maks learned to eat sushi (here, he is 12-13 months old:)) – check his bib! 🙂
first sushi-attempts
Practical information:
1) Sushi Zushi
Żurawia 6/12
tel. 22 420 33 73/74
2)Zushi Point Ursynów
ul. Żabińskiego 16A
tel: (22) 390 44 60
tel: +48 669 868 687
3) Zushi Point Centrum (I haven’t been there but I expect level similar to the Ursynów one)
ul. Świętokrzyska 32
(entrance from ul. Bagno)
tel: (22) 114 01 14
tel: (22) 114 14 44
tel: +48 667 760 000
4) Izumi Sushi Biały Kamień
ul. Biały Kamień 4
tel. 22 424 51 00
5) Sakana
Sakana Warszawa
00-076 Warszawa
ul. Moliera 4/6
tel. 22 826 59 58
Sakana Sushi Bar
ul.Wąwozowa 6 lok. 10B
tel. 22 498 88 99
6) Soto Sushi
Ursynów
Al. KEN 84 (metro Stokłosy)
tel. 22 648 03 03
Centre
ul. Wilcza 26
tel. 22 629 – 94 – 85
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