I'd heard great things about Yama on London Road and, after craving sushi for quite a while now, me and a friend decided to go along for supper.
It's very small, seating maybe twelve people, with low lights and elegant decor - my ideal kind of place to eat.
The waitress smiled when we arrived and let us choose where to sit. We decided to sit by the window. She handed us our menu and we ordered green tea that was served in a big pot with beautiful navy ceramic beakers to drink from.
The menu has a wide choice of sushi as well as a few noodle, soup and rice dishes - as well as tempura.
We opted for Unagi maki, a crab California roll, prawn and vegetable tempura, and some tofu miso gaku off the specials board.
We didn't have to wait long before our food arrived. It was beautifully presented on the black plates. The grilled eel maki (Unagi) was delicious: crispy eel, crunchy strips of cucumber and perfectly made sticky rice which complimented the oily fish very nicely. The finishing flavour being of the nutty black and white sesame seeds that the sushi has been rolled in.
The crab maki was very good and I loved the flying-fish roe: popping it between my front teeth, as I often do with the seeds in wholegrain mustard.
The tempura was just perfect. The accompanying dipping sauce was sweet and tangy with a hint of miso.
Our waitress brought us the tofu, and told us it was a new dish so any feedback would be appreciated. I was expecting a miso soup with tofu, but it consisted of two squares of fried tofu on sticks with a sweet miso paste spread on top. I loved it, and my friend (who isn't a fan of tofu) also enjoyed it.
I finished off with a bowl of miso soup, which had no faults whatsoever and was a perfect end to the meal.
Overall, I love this place. The food is so fresh, clean and light, and so well-made that I went back again the next night on my own. It will definitely not be my last visit. In fact, I'd go as far as to say this is my new favourite restaurant!
Keep up the good work, Yama!
