Tipped

Into the sea, you and me.

March 13, 2009

Kulu Kulu sushi is precisely, exactly, and entirely unlike Yo Sushi in every way possible. To the untrained eye, you might be fooled; yes, there’s a lot of raw fish in the menu, there’s a very distinct Japanese theme to the place, and yes, they’ve got the whole conveyor-belt-with-little-dishes-of-food thing going for them. But instead of being a soulless money-grabbing chain restaurant, Kulu Kulu (or should I say Kulu Kulu Kulu –they’ve got 3 branches; one in Soho, one in South Kensington, and the one I visited; the Covent Garden restaurant) has the spirit and quality of a small restaurant.

The dishes are different – not just compared to each other, but plates containing ostensibly the same dish had slightly different composition and garnish on them – the mark of a set of chefs who know their stuff but don’t bother too much to just churn out 600 identical morsels of food. Most importantly, though, it’s traditional Japanese Sushi at its best – with a good atmosphere, reasonable price (you can do lunch for under a tenner - £15 if you’re ravenous) and always a reassuring queue of people eager to enjoy what’s on the, er, conveyor belt.

The food isn’t all fish and sea-food either; they’ve got a delicious selection of meat-based dishes, and even the occasional vegetarian dish (the grilled aubergine is to maim for, and when the chefs can be bothered making vegetarian rolls, they’re pretty amazing, too.

Highly recommended.

Keywords: cuisine: japanese, cuisine: oriental, sushi, covent garden,

Ride the Sushi Train

June 11, 2008

Kulu Kulu is awesome. Its got a long sushi bar that snakes around the whole restaurant which means it can be tricky for large groups. Its got one of those sushi train things where the food goes round on little plates.

I'd definitely recommend their edamame and the little bit of cold spinach you get with satay sauce. They do a really good selection of rolls but their speciality seems to be a soft shell crab temaki roll (the conical shaped one) - its really good but my favorite temaki is the one with a big bit of prawn tempura and some salmon sashimi nom nom nom.

My favorite thing though is the singing chefs - they don't always do it but often when its quiet at lunch they'll be playing the radio and the chefs sing along - there's something awesome about sushi chefs singing 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' whilst chopping fish!!!!

Keywords: sushi, temaki