Writer Sanjuna Budhani raises her chopsticks in favour of Danish-Japanese restaurant Sticks’n’Sushi’s brand new Islington site after an evening in the compellingly delicious surrounds
Sprouting from Copenhagen’s world class food scene comes the brain-child of Danish-Japanese brothers Jens and Kim Rahbek Hansen.
Sticks’n’Sushi combines the two most famous exports of their homelands; Danish design and Japanese food. I had the chance to go to the soft launch of their newest outpost on London’s Upper Street and experience one of the most decadent evenings I’ve had in a while.
Hygge on Upper Street
The interiors at Sticks’n’Sushi are so cool in a muted, effortlessly Scandinavian way. There is no one single level the decor rests on, the eye moves up and down; to the low hanging lights above each table, the chefs work on a level higher and are visible to the diners, the dining tables sit lower than the bar, soft luminescent curtains hang just above eye level.
The design is compelling and the designers have got the Danish hygge-esque lighting down to a tee.
The sticks and the sushi (and sashimi)
I think all restaurants should grill their edamame. The soft smokiness with the umami supreme soy and nutty sesame dressing makes edamame even harder to stop eating. The Japanese take on potato salad is creamy and slightly sweet which takes a moment to get used to, but it does help to enhance the potato salad’s vegetable sweetness.
The salmon sashimi is rich and buttery, the yellowtail kingfish (hiramasa) is delicate and the maguro tuna is satisfyingly meaty. The wagyu bites were so good, I was sent away to – very casually and nonchalantly – grab some more from the roving server before they disappeared, but unfortunately I was not the only one who had this idea.
The kaburimaki – the maki rolls filled with wonderfully curated fillings like black cod and crispy kataifi – were so packed they could easily have been a meal in themselves. Meticulously shaped and uniform, it’s a representation of the standards at Sticks’n’Sushi.
Sweet and sour plums
Plum, in my opinion, is a seriously underutilised ingredient in Western cuisine. In the East it’s fermented and pickled and steeped and syruped. Umeshu plum wine is a fragrant and tart liqueur made of sour green plums and features in one of my favourite drinks at Sticks’n’Sushi, the Umeshu Hana.
Like the perfectly sweet-sour treats of childhood, it’s invigoratingly tart but still sweet enough to take the edge off and complex enough to keep it interesting. A very close contender for my favourite tipple is the sparkling sake, the Mio Takara of Hyogo Japan. It’s zesty and so apple-like it’s astounding to think that a flavour like that can come from rice and yeast.
The Wordrobe Verdict
We got a chance to speak to the CEO of the restaurant group, Andreas Karlsson, who gave a speech and was funny and honest about the journey it took to not only get the Islington restaurant open but also the Richmond branch which was opening concurrently.
You know, I don’t think this will be the last time the team will be toasting the opening of a restaurant with a glass of Champagne.
Make it happen
Where: 77 Upper St, London N1 0NU
How: Find out more and make a booking via sticksnsushi.com/
Words by Sanjuna Budhani, writer
