Review: Sushi Samba, Liverpool Street
Style Points: 5/5
Price: £££
Overall: 5/5
Already established as one of the finest restaurants in the UK, Sushi Samba sits at the 38th floor of the Heron Tower. With it's fresh, funky and almost futuristic architectural design, Sushi Samba manages to be extravagant without being intimidating.
However, I'll be honest, when I asked a friend who frequents London's finer restaurants about Sushi Samba, he warned 'great food, great place but bad customer service'. As a result I was extremely worried when although some of my party were on time, the rest of us were running ten minutes late!
Restaurants such as these only hold your table for two hours so as soon as you finish, there's a quick turnaround to have the table perfectly prepared for the next group of diners. The elevator absolutely shoots up with transparent windows so you get a whizzing view of London on the way up. If you're afraid of heights, I'd stand well away from the window, your ears may even pop!
Despite this we arrived late but thankfully we were met with smiles and shown to our table to begin our meal.
Would I Want Seconds?
We started by ordering drinks, which took quite a while to arrive but were great when they did. I had the Nashi Martini which was sweet with a bitter kick. We also tried the Lychee Cooler which they said tasted like piña colada. One guest ordered a Valipolicella red wine which must have been good as they kept coming.
As our last guest was stuck in traffic and running very late, we decided to get started without them. (we were starving, forgive us!) Much like the Peruvian restaurant I visited recently, if it's your first time to Sushi Samba you may wish to do some extensive googling of the menu to establish exactly what you're ordering and if you're lucky enough, you'll get a kind waiter who will explain the dishes to you.
Luckily we had both, a guest who had checked all the google images of the dishes prior to arrival and a waiter who was happy to explain and recommend. Our waiter advised that everything is designed to be shared so it is best to share between two but generally, the whole table will share. The waiter also asked if we had any allergies, to which I responded with my dairy intolerance and my sister expressed her pronounced dislike for coriander.
There is no bread or edamame beans before you order and as soon as your food is ready it comes fresh out the kitchen. This may mean your food does not arrive at the exact same time, which was fine for our group as we were sharing. Also, you are provided with chopsticks but if you're less confident about your technique, you can ask for some cutlery instead.
First up, we tried the yellow tail taquito with avocado and roasted corn miso and the crispy lobster taquito (£12.00). This is like a Mexican taco and I much preferred the yellow tail as the flavours worked better together, especially with the fresh avocado.
I wasn't able to sample the prawn tempura with snap pea julienne, spicy mayo, black truffle vinaigrette, as they were served in a Mayonnaise sauce but I'm told they were tasty but the sauce was quite rich and might have been better served on the side. The salt and pepper squid came in a crunchy white batter, the texture was quite odd and left quite a floury taste in the mouth.
Another guest went for the Californian roll sushi (when in Rome!) and wagyu gyoza and said it was delicious. The kuromitsu pork belly wraps with palmito, orange and Bibb lettuce, were very tasty but a little stringy almost like pulled pork. The Moquca Mista, jumbo shrimp, squid, seabass, mussels, clams, coconut milk, dende oil and chimichurri rice was a seafood dish I'm told was like a cross between a tagine and a risotto and went down very well.
The following selection of meals were cooked on the charcoal grill and served as 'skewers' which just means it's sliced into perfectly delectable chunks. The black cod miso was soft, succulent and flavoursome.
I shared the fillet steak teriyaki grilled scallion and lamb chops red miso lime, both were cooked really nicely; the lamb chops were delicious and tender and the steak had the gorgeous sweetness of the teriyaki sauce coming through. The Churrasco Rio Grande (rib eye, chorizo, Wagyu pichana) was presented beautifully on a slab with hot stones and accompanying condiments and garnishes in small bowls. The chef/waiter kindly served the chorizo on a separate dish as half of our group do not eat pork. The steak was cooked to perfection and I suppose it becomes a real tasting experience as you try the various sauces with the steak slices.
The asparagus sweet soy and sesame was lovely and crunchy with great flavour. The coconut rice chives was a fine tasting sticky rice dish but not my preference in texture. The plantain chips aji Amarillo were a hard texture and crunchy more like plantain crisps. As half of my family are West Indian, I am accustomed to eating plantain mostly fried and eaten for breakfast as a snack (it's a root vegetable although likened to a banana) or boiled as 'hard food' like potatoes and dumplings. So it's very interesting how different cultures prepare or cook the same foods differently (I also learned the hard way that paneer is very different in Middle Eastern cuisine to what it is in Indian cuisine but that's a story for another day).
For desserts, two of the guests had the assorted mochi soft Japanese rice cake filled with ice cream and served with a warm white chocolate sauce. This was a selection of ice-creams served in a jelly-like coating which was nice and light. My guest said it was interesting, they're glad they tried it but maybe wouldn't order it again.
I wasn't sure whether to order the the chocolate banana cake, maple butter, plantain chip as it was dairy but the waiter kindly arranged for me to have the vanilla rum ice cream separate. So the risk of eating this dessert had now been relatively lowered, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. My dessert arrived with a lit candle and "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate which was lovely, it got even better when I tasted it and it was amazing! It tasted a little bit like sticky toffee pudding which is my favourite dessert (with banana fritters a close second favourite if you're asking) and it just ended the whole meal on a high.
Could I Afford Seconds?
As a group of seven who had 1-2 alcoholic beverages each, the bill came to £600 (approx £90 each) so the short answer is no but for a special occasion, it's worth every penny. Maybe I'll return to celebrate my birthday again next year!
Alternatively, Sushi Samba also offer a brunch menu and a special lunch menu, which would work out cheaper than dining here for a full dinner.
Overall: 5/5
I really want to experience Sushi Samba all over again and sample different dishes. I thoroughly enjoyed the sharing starters, main plates, desserts and cocktails!
All in all, I found the food to be beautifully presented in all it's colourful and tradition fused glory, the atmosphere improved as it turned from day to night as the lights became more illuminated and for the most part we had great customer service from the chef and our personal waiter. The only downside is some of the other staff around the restaurant are less polite and accommodating but this doesn't reflect the whole restaurant and I wouldn't let that spoil your evening!
My recommendations: the yellow tail taquito, lamb chops, black cod, churrasco steak and chocolate banana cake but remember there's so much I haven't tried yet!
Website: www.sambabrandsmanagement.com
Address: 38-39 Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate London EC2N 4AY
Closest Tube Station: Liverpool Street station
