SUSHI

I’ve spent all of fifteen minutes now, thinking about what my first words should be on my first blog post ever. I could have eaten exactly five pieces of unagi nigiri (eel sushi) in this time (UGH!).
I’m just going to go right ahead and admit that I’m just a noob trying to help all fellow sloths who find themselves in the search for some food or the other to obsess over.
So, today I’ll talk about all the sushi I’ve tried in my humble capacity, within my city (and a few special mentions outside the city), and where I think you’ll find the best rolls! (Stay tuned for a million days till I make it to Japan and give you an authentic review).
The first time I ever tried sushi in Calcutta was some takeaway joint tucked away in the corner of a mall, which sold boxes of pre-packed sushi. Needless to say, I don’t remember what that tasted like at all! However, I remember being apprehensive of the bespoke “raw fish”, but it wasn’t intimidating or icky at all, and that’s when I knew, I could really go out and try it.

Calcutta

Years later, the first time I went out, sat down, took a pair of chopsticks and finally had a real piece of sushi was at Fung Shway, Southern Avenue. Here, I tried the sake maki (salmon roll with seaweed on the outside) and the ebi tempura uramaki (batter fried prawn roll with the rice on the outside). Both came in 8 pieces for ₹600, which was comparatively not that steep, and it was worth it. Later, we went back and tried their tuna maki roll and the calamari nigiri. I wouldn’t go too much into this place, because, to my utter disbelief, it has recently shut down. Nevertheless, I owe it to this place for introducing me to the demanding world of sushi.

Fact: Sushi is NOT raw fish. It is fermented, or cured, and sometimes cooked (in countries outside of Japan). The word ‘sushi’ refers to the vinegar rice, and not the fish at all! Raw fish is ‘sashimi’. And people who find sushi fishy are often put off by the taste of nori (seaweed) which has a stronger flavour than the fish itself.

The next place I tried the sacred roll at was Mamagoto, Park Street. Two of my most trusted sushi partners—my college best friend and my sister—were dragged down to Park Street for an afternoon of soy and sangria coma. We ordered a non-veg Maki’s Platter, which included 4 pieces each of ebi tempura, California roll, and chicken katsudon (I cringe at the thought of chicken in sushi, but David Chang taught me that food has no fidelity discourse). Note: They got the name wrong, because these rolls had rice on the outside, which is called ‘uramaki’, meaning ‘inside out’, whereas ‘maki’ is the type of classic sushi rolls with the nori on the outside. This platter was priced at only around ₹799, which I thought was great for 12 pieces! We paired this with a pitcher of green apple and cinnamon white wine sangria!

Next up was The Fatty Bao, Camac Street. I went here with an inauspicious ally—my boyfried—who will never fail to shoot a diss when I order sushi (in his defense, only at every possible place ever!), but will always pop one in his mouth and critique it. WHY?! Too hard to resist 🙂
So, here I called for the Spicy Salmon, Cucumber, and Cream Cheese uramaki and the amazing Crabmeat and Tobiko uramaki. Pro tip: Tobiko is THE best sushi topping if you have an acquired taste for all things fish. Tobiko is simply flying fish roe (fish eggs) whose texture is best explained as tiny tapioca beads that just explode on your palate. The cream cheese and salmon sushi had a wonderful creamy texture. A half plate of each type comes only at around ₹365 for 4 pieces. The rice at Fatty Bao is made rather well, unlike many other places where the chewing process is tedious, no matter how good the roll tastes in itself.
Go in the day to get the perfect photos with the natural sunlight from the large windows that give you a spectacular view of the city!

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The Orient, Salt Lake, is another new-ish Asian joint in City Centre 1, serving up some real unique fares (more on this in a different post!). Ironically, on my boyfriend’s birthday, we went there and I ordered a plate of Salmon, Ponzu Aioli Sauce and Tempura Flakes maki. This comes in 6 pieces for ₹675, which is on the expensive side even for sushi. Now here’s the thing, I can never hate sushi unless it absolutely sucks, so I’d say you should give this a try among other fabulous things at this place, but if you give it a pass, I wouldn’t hold it against you. A few days later, we tried the Assorted Nigiri Platter with Maguro (tuna), Ebi (prawn) and Hamachi (salmon), which I admit was a better deal at ₹675. If you’re a seafood junkie, try their delectably refreshing seafood salad (this is off the menu, so ask for it!)

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Too late for TLDR, because this next place is the BEST place for sushi of all shapes, sizes, textures, and colours, in Calcutta. The entire point of writing this post has been THIS place — WASABEE! This one’s located at two places, Deshapriya Park and Prince Anwar Shah Road. We only visited the one at Deshapriya Park and that was enough to make this chain our absolute favourite. Three of us made our way there on a quiet afternoon while their sushi festival was on in May 2019. We sat right next to the sushi chef’s work table, where we could see the spectacular precision of every movement that goes into making a roll. We ordered 7 plates of sushi/sashimi—the chef was surprised or drained, or both. We joked among ourselves that he didn’t expect such a wild afternoon when he came in that morning.
Here is what we got (you might not find a few of these on the regular menu because these were part of the festival, but you can try your luck by asking the chef whether he can make these for you—all unmissable!): Cheu sushi (prawn, crab, and cheese uramaki), Futo maki (salmon, spinach, tamago, and sweet shitake), Salmon Roe maki, Unagi nigiri, Spicy Maguro (tuna) uramaki, Tempura Sake maki (deep fried salmon and seaweed rolls), and a Squid Sashimi! Everything was incredibly affordable. Each plate has a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 sushis, priced between ₹350 to ₹800.
All in all, we had 38 pieces of sushi that day, and they were all unbelievable.
Our absolutes favourites were the Futo maki (which came in a boat!), unagi nigiri (eel has a beautiful texture), tempura sake maki (the entire roll is deep fried and then cut, leaving a delicious crispy batter on the sides of the seaweed), and the salmon roe maki (slightly overwhelming with all the fish eggs, but an experience you won’t regret). Every ingredient used is fresh like it was bought from the Tsukiji Market that morning!
I don’t know with what stomach we ordered a plate of yakitori and one of omurice after this audacious affair! I’m only saying this because they were absolutely perfect! (More on this later)

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If there were any other places I’ve tried sushi at in Calcutta, they probably weren’t good enough to remember. We did try a spicy salmon uramaki from The Japanese Restaurant and Garden (located at Eco Park, Newton) counter at Ahare Bangla, a fantastic annual food festival that has been occurring for the last couple of years, attracting all the ‘ahaare’ bangalis for maach, mishti, and more. The sushi wasn’t too special but the 8 pieces were worth the ₹400 we paid for it—although the roll was narrow. I wouldn’t mind having it again! If you go to the ITC Royal Bengal Grand Market Pavillion buffet, which costs just 1475 (incl. of taxes) for lunch or dinner, be sure to fill up on the unlimited salmon uramaki rolls besides the breads and cold cuts. Further, the gimbap (Korean seaweed rolls count too, if you love sushi enough) at King’s Bakery in Rosedale Plaza, Newtown, is the cheapest sushi-adjacent serve-up you can get and it’s amazing too!

P.S. I’m aware that there are several other places that more experienced foodies will talk about and I’m only starting out—🐻 with me. I hope this list helps too.

Other Cities

If you’re in Pondicherry and you’re craving sushi, head over to Buddha by the Bay on the rooftop of The Promenade. It’s expensive, tasteful, and the sushi is whatever but it’ll get you through. The view and the mosaic tile floor is to die for.

BOMBAY – I’m sure there are numerous gourmet places for sushi here but we only had an hour before our flight after attending a Cigarettes after Sex show the previous night and we went to Kofuku on Linking Road! The best sushi experience I’ve ever had. I ordered a yellowtail maki, my first ever, and it was perfect. Complete with pink cherry blossoms and Japanse-style dining table options, warm and cold sake and the perfect ambience and service, this place served up more than sushi. You can’t miss this pretty place. I packed some sushi up for the airport and spilt soy in my bag, but it was all worth it.

Once again, this is Korean, but do not miss the gimbap at Shimtur, Paharganj, Delhi. So cheap, you’ll love discovering this place and the thrill of steel chopsticks is boundless. Tip: their kimchi is so satisfying!

For research and recollection for this post, I searched up the word sushi on my Whatsapp chats. There are 112 results. How many would you have?