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Tsuru London
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2
Reviews
Japanese in London
- Southwark
4 Canvey Street
, Southwark, London, SE1 8AN
+44 (0) 20 7928 2228
http://www.tsuru-sushi.co.uk/
Tsuru offers sushi and Japanese foods honestly prepared by our chefs using the best ethically-sourced produce.
Tags:
japanese, sushi
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Tsuru
London
Reviews
Great Japanese joint nr Tate Modern - I came across Tsuru, a Japanese joint when I had just visited the Tate Modern. Located on Canvey Street, Tsuru offers a wide range of super fresh Sushi and hot dishes like their 8-hour curry sauce and Teriyaki Bento and a range of 'Yakitori' which is different types of skewered chicken.
I was intrigued to try ‘Kawa’ which is chicken skin taken from the breast where it's low in fat but full of vitamin A and collagen, apparently renowned for improving your skin condition. So I thought I would give that a try! It was crunchy on the outside and soft inside, served with sea salt. I enjoyed it even if I felt a bit naughty! I also ordered the seared scallops, tiger prawns and asparagus in garlic butter starter which was yummy fresh with just the right amount of crunchiness. I could have had a bit more garlic in the butter and I enjoyed the sliced chilli even though it was not mentioned on the menu. For my main course I plumped for the Scottish Salmon Teriyaki served with steamed rice and salad with a separate sauce. I washed this down with draught Asahi beer. Then I went for the one dessert that Tsuru offers which is Borough chocolate brownie with green ice cream and it was sublime to finish off the meal and accompanied this with a gentle green tea.
Tsuru has high level seating with stools and you can see right into the kitchen as they cook. There was a sushi making class going on when I arrived and it has a buzz about it. Throughout the evening people were coming in from the nearby Bankside Health Club across the way and students for takeaways and next to me a business meeting was going on over sushi and sake. I liked the menu and there are items there that I would like to go back and try including their Japanese cocktails.
10-02-10
Tags:
Japanese, katu, sushi
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The Sake Tasting at Tsuru - This is a review of the sake tasting at Tsuru, which costs £18 and comes with veggie and non-veggie sushi. There are four different sakes to try while expert Ngaire Takano talks you through each one.
The first sake was a Daiginjo-Shu sake, made using rice which has been ‘polished’ to 50% of its original weight - apparently a very fine sake. It tasted surprisingly soft and sugary with a light, peachy fruityness - not at all harsh like the (obviously poor quality) sake I have tasted many times before.
The food that arrives throughout the evening is not to be strictly matched with the sake, although some of it pairs well. With the first drink arrived some light gyoza along with really good, seriously sticky teryaki chicken. I was pretty hungry what with it being dinner time and I could easily have demolished a whole pile of both.
Sake number two was also Daiginjo-Shu. This was crisper with a more intense flavour than the first sake - it also has more alcohol added to it. Apparently some sakes such as these need to be watched for 72 hours straight to ensure that the quality of the drink is maintained. During this time it is constantly tasted to make certain that the delicate balance of ingredients is just right. That’s some serious dedication. I can’t say I wouldn’t nod off. In fact, just how do they stay awake?
Our third sake was a Ginjo-Umeshu, made by preserving plums in ginjo sake (from what I remember ginjo has a little distilled alcohol added to it, to increase the aroma). This was a gorgeous brown colour from the fruit and was very sweet - almost like a dessert wine. Smooth and subtle. Between this and our last drink, we enjoyed some generous veggie and non-veggie sushi plates. A highlight for me was surprisingly the inarizushi (stuffed tofu skin) - sweet, delicious and partly responsible for my recent acceptance of tofu. We also enjoyed the rolls which my friend and I were delighted to find contained pickles. We really heart pickles.
Our fourth and final sake was a change to the advertised line-up - a Genmai aged brown rice sake, which we tried with a piece of chocolate brownie - a bit of a surprise combination to all of us but it worked well. The brownie was good, squidgy and chocolately and although the sake was a little heavy on its own, with the brownie it took on a more syrupy quality, again like a dessert wine or sherry.
Sake is a drink with an interesting history but is very labour intensive to produce and is generally shrinking in popularity due to the influx of wine and beer. There are a few sake lovers out there championing the cause however and we learned how some of these people are even starting to play around with flavours, infusing the sake with ginger, garlic or lemongrass for example. I assume this is intended for use in cooking. Glass of garlic sake anyone? No, didn’t think so.
I shall definitely be making an effort to drink more sake from now on, as I was pleasantly surprised by just how different the various types tasted. I found the evening very informative and the credit should definitely go to Ngaire Takano for this - her informal and fun style is backed up by fact that she really knows her stuff. Personally, I think £18 for four different sakes, a generous amount of sushi and the opportunity to learn a lot is a total bargain. Get yourself down to Tsuru and try it!
23-04-09
Tags:
Japanese, sake, sushi
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