YO! Sushi

I love sushi.  I love it very much (but you don't get a lot of it around these parts of the west country).  So I was very pleased when I saw a big orange sign pop up in my hometown, Cheltenham this summer.  It could only be YO! Sushi. *Applause*.

Sushi for all, even if you don't like fish - plenty of veg, chicken, beef, noodles and rice dishes to choose!

The shopfitters quickly worked their magic on the old Pizza Hut unit on the Promenade, turning it into a new sushi haven.  Each morning on my way to the office this summer, I've watched the transformation unfold.

And today YO! Sushi Cheltenham opened it's doors to the foodie loving public of Gloucestershire.

Now, if you've not visited a YO! Sushi restaurant before, prepare to be amazed.  YO! Sushi isn't just about the great food, it's about the experience itself - self-serving and picking your plates which drive by in front of you on a conveyor belt (a bit like in the 1980's TV gameshow, The Generation Game).  And all dishes are freshly prepared by the chefs, right in front of you - watching them roll sushi is just so cool!

Basically, this is how it works;  Sit down, choose your plate, pick up your chopsticks (don't worry there are wooden knifes and forks for you folks who can't use chopsticks)  and eat.

Then start again.  If you get stuck (like me) and look at the food in front of you and wonder, 'what's that?'  you're given a handy little manual/menu that shows you pictures of each dish and tells you what it is and what's in it.

Once you've eaten and you've stacked up your plates.  The waitress then adds up your plates and you pay the bill.  TA DA!  The plates are all colour coded by price and if you get stuck, your little manual/menu that tells how much it is too (so you can decide whether you want to pay for that dish before you pick it up and eat it).  It's so easy.

And for you people who are still stuck in the stoneage and think that sushi is just raw fish, you couldn't be more wrong.  Sushi comes for all - vegetarian too (heaps of choice here, I love their fruit salad sushi and avocado sushi).  You see, although sushi is at the heart of the concept, there is a choice of Japanese inspired items too, including delicious soups, rice or noodle-based dishes, salads, tempura and hot classics like best-sellers Chicken Katsu Curry, Salmon Teriyaki and Yakisoba noodles.  Oh gosh there's so much choice!

Great service for Gluten Free and allergies too - they have this manual menu which lists the ingredients for every dish - and if you call ahead and tell the staff what your allergy is they will prepare your sushi especially - yes, they're that awesome.  Even a gluten free soy sauce especially for you!  A lot of the menu is gluten free, so it's a real breeze.

Take you're friends, hang out, have a beer, laugh at each other's chopstick skills and chat to the chefs while they're rolling sushi in front of you.  Saturday night food and entertainment has never been as good.  Enjoy!  (And if you go, can I come too?)

:)