Cape Town Sushi - News Update #2 - Nigiri [Nigiri-Zushi]

Hi All,

As promised, we continue to serve by providing our readers with interesting facts and information with respect to the world of Sushi. Many people and potential patrons find Sushi and other Asian restaurants to be very intimidating. For conservative folks, such eateries are often surrounded with mysticism particularly with respect to cultural and dining etiquette. However all is not lost. For those of you who still believe that all meals should be eaten with a knife and fork, we have decided to provide you with quality tips in an attempt to get you to explore in the delicate exotic delights of Sushi.

Today’s focus is on a Sushi serving known as Nigiri. Also commonly known as Nigiri-Zushi, it simply consists of an oval shaped, hand-formed mound of sushi rice topped with a slice of raw fresh fish or other related seafood. This topping is also called Neta. Nigiri is usually served in pairs and depending on the type of topping you ordered, it may by wrapped with a thin band of seaweed (Nori).

Thus to put it plainly, Nigiri is simply fish on rice. The Sushi Chef may occasionally put a light spread of wasabi between the rice and neta. However, we have rarely seen this done in some of the restaurants we have reviewed.

(pictures compliments of istockphoto and sushi-sushi)

Nigiri Sushi can be topped with most seafod items. The most common is of course salmon, tuna or prawn. Other toppings include clams, squid, fish eggs, scallops, mackerel, eel, sea urchins, bean curd, vegetables and even sweetened egg . Depending on your choice of topping, this seafood can either be served raw, cooked, smoked or cured, grilled or batter fried. Don’t be shy to ask the Sushi Chef or waiter if you are unsure about your choice of toppings.

As with most Sushi dishes, Nigiri is accompanied with the usual condiments of wasabi, soy sauce and pickled ginger. Nigiri can be eaten with chopsticks, although the most authentically correct manner of eating this dish is as follows:

• Pick up one sushi piece between your thumb and middle finger, putting the index finger on top of the nigiri;
• Dip the end of the neta into the soy sauce (not the rice part);
• Bring the sushi to your mouth and bite in half; and
• Before your next bite, dip the neta side in the soy sauce again.

(pictures compliments of foutz and foodiesite)

We recommend that you start with the more common Nigiri toppings and work you way to the more savoured and sought after toppings after a few visits. Of course like everything else in life, we cant guarantee that you will like them all, however life is too short as the saying goes, and you should be happy in the fact that you at least attempted something different...yes maybe even I learnt something new in the living life happily article in the latest Mens Health (sad to hear the Editor Andy Ellis is leaving though).

Enjoy and remember, the discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star :-)

Grant

Noodlebosch (Long Street, Cape Town)

Address: 192 Long Street, Cape Town Central Business District
Tel: 021-4230569
Email: longstreet@noodlebosch.com
Web: www.noodlebosch.com

Noodlebosch, the somewhat new kid on the block. Neatly situated in the ever buzzing and clubbing Long Street. Founded in 2005 at the University of Stellenbosch. Noodlebosch is certainly one of those establishments that has popped out of nowhere, much to the surprise and liking of many Cape Town sushi lovers. Dine in the restaurant or peruse their take-away menu, and you get the distinct feeling that here lies quality with a degree of authenticity.

I often think of Noodlebosch as the "Polka" of sushi bars, because of their simple, unpretentious, yet very colourful and unique theme and menu on offer. You know you going to get good sushi at a good price and that's that. This is of course, not a bad thing. They offer good noodle dishes, however we were only interested in the quality and expansiveness of their sushi menu, of course. Their sushi is very good!

My favourite is the salmon fashion sandwiches, salmon California rolls and salmon nigiri. The sushi is always fresh, and the sushi rice is quite good as well. I am certainly very pleased to notice that their portions are hearty, and you always feel satisfied after an average sushi meal of 10-15 sushi portions. Another positive point is that their prices are very reasonable, and certainly is value for money. Added to that the choice of either 4 or 8 pieces of sushi per sushi-dish.
Noodlebosch do not skimp on their condiments of pickled ginger, wasabi or
soy sauce, including packaging (for take-aways). I have always had left over condiments after a good meal of sushi.

On the topic of organics and chemicals, Noodlebosch's commitment to serving fresh ingredients with no preservatives or MSG is certainly a very, very welcomed and well-worthy bonus (We hope other Sushi-Chef's and Restaurant-Owners take note of that fact). This is more than enough reason to lure any grass-eating Kauai-patron to their doorstep.

As mentioned, Noodlebosch is quite a small venue. The downside of being that good and small (or customer-focused as the intellectuals call it) is that the Sushi Chef is always busy. Noodlebosch, as the name eludes to, is primarily an establishment offering noodle cuisine. The addition of a sushi offering, which in my opinion far outsells their other dishes, does place significant pressure on their staff to keep a reasonable consistent pace with serving customers. That said, it may also explain why our orders are sometimes a little late (approximately 20 minutes in the restaurant and at least 1 hour when ordering take-away). It could further explain why they only receive take-away orders
during certain business hours.

Regardless, Noodlebosch has been quite an impressive and pleasant surprise to our review. We can understand why Capetonians are going "noodles" for Noodlebosch. This one is definitely a "keeper" and they are quietly making their way up the Cape Town Sushi-Leaderboard, as long as they continue doing what they do best, providing good quality sushi at value-for-money prices - Grant

Tong-Lok (Voortrekker Road, Parow)

Address: Parow, Don Centre, Voortrekker Road
Tel: 021-9304791
Email: tak@mweb.co.za
Web: www.tonglok.co.za

I have long since been skeptical of the Tong-Lok franchise, however we decided to treat our taste buds on what they had to offer. Tong-Lok is considered a household name as far as take-away sushi goes. The Goodwood venue was not the best, nor was it the cleanest that I have seen, even considering that it is really a take-away restaurant. A very dirty and poorly maintained back-end kitchen could be seen through the serving windows. The venue was tacky and is in serious need of cleaning and maintenance to the decor. Personally the red on yellow theme doesn't really do it for me.

I always find it a bit weird when a predominantly Chinese restaurant serves sushi on their menu. Politics and authenticity aside, we ordered prawn and salmon california rolls, together with salmon and tuna nigiri. Much to our disappointment, we were told that they were low on sushi rice, and we would have to wait 30 minutes in order for them to prepare more rice. Yes folks, like you, my initial thoughts were, how would they prepare sushi rice, which normally takes 1.5 hours in 30 minutes?...Our response was for them to do the best that they can do with what they had available. I wish that they would have taken us up on our offer. I was further disappointed to see that the rice was stored in an empty ice-cream bowl in the fridge. It made me wonder how old or how long this rice had been stored.

Regardless, we ignored that fact that a lethargic-looking sushi chef prepared our order. He at least was well dressed in the appropriate attire, keeping to tradition, and his fairly skilled and experienced hand was well noted. And at least he washed his hands and used clean utensils and kitchenware. At this point, we were still fairly optimistic as what would be produced.

In terms of pricing, Tong-Lok is value for money. In other words, if you looking for average sushi at a good price, then their menu would always be found on your refrigerator door or close to the telephone. However, this is not a place where you will find premium quality, artistic perfection and cultural authenticity.

Our order arrived in 25 minutes. A bit late in my opinion. However we paid our respects to the chef (always good etiquette I believe, regardless of any issues).
When we arrived home to savor on the raw delights, we were found ourselves wanting. No, I don't mean wanting more, but rather a wanting of disappointment. The sushi rice was undercooked and cold. The salmon and tuna were "sweating" and quite limp. A sign that it had been standing out for too long. The only item that met a reasonable standard was the prawn california roll.
The portions of pickled ginger, avocado, prawn, salmon and tuna were small in proportion to the sushi rice it was served with, giving us a distinct impression that the franchise was skimming in order to increase profits. The soy sauce supplied was very, very salty. I personally prefer the light sauce.

Overall, I was left very disappointed in what this well known local restaurant had to offer in terms of sushi. They definitely do provide you with a value for money sushi meal, but at a great cost to quality. Therefore do not expect any customer satisfaction from this establishment. I would not recommend the Goodwood Tong-Lok to any of our sushi-lovers out there.

Lastly, the Goodwood franchise can learn a lot from its "big brother", Tong-Lok in Long Street with whom I am somewhat impressed with. Look out for my review on the Tong-Lok Long Street restaurant - Grant