I need to preface this review with an acknowledgement. We are sushi snobs. It's not intentional, but we are 100% aware that we are the kind of people who say things like "once you've been to Japan, sushi is not the same anymore". It's true. Sue us. But therefore also take this review with a massive pinch of salt! We will be as objective as we can. But yeah, snobs. We were recommended sushi from Sushi Van by one of our followers. We were really looking forward to trying it out, as up until now we had thought that the only sushi in the area was the Sainsbury's counter (if that's not the case, hit us with your suggestions!). Sushi Van is based towards Aylesbury but delivers around the Hemel area. In my mind, there's a guy in the back of the van just rolling sushi while someone drives him form address to address, much like the Chinese food blimp in the Bruce Willis movie The Fifth Element (niche reference circa 1997).
Orders are placed online through a very easy online store and you are able to pick a delivery slot. We ordered about a week ahead for our Saturday night meal. The menu is accessible and relatively unadventurous, with all the usual favourites. We ordered the nigiri mix as it was the closest things to an omakase (literally translates as "I'll leave it up to you" and is a great way to get what the chef recommends), the roll selection, and I had to try the soft-shell crab tempura rolls too. Safe to say we has a lot of sushi coming our way! The food arrived promptly in our delivery window and in really swanky, beautiful packaging. At first glance I was amazed at how whopping the rolls were in size! Even the maki which are usually small single bite portions had triple the amount of fish/cucumber in than I'd expect, so seemed incredibly generous.
In "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" -arguably the world's greatest sushi chef- Jiro stresses the importance of the rice in making sushi. The fish in Tokyo all comes from the same place and is prepared in much the same way, but it's the rice that is the true art of the sushi chef. In fact in the California Sushi Academy the first two years of training for a sushi chef consist of nothing but working with rice. The rice should hold together well enough to get to your mouth (using either hands or chopsticks) but fall apart in your mouth into separate grains and it should be warm, never rock hard and cold from the fridge. It was incredibly pleasing therefore that Sushi Van's rice fit the bill here. It was not icy cold, it was soft in the mouth and held together well. It also had a lovely sweetness from the rice wine vinegar.
However, the fish itself was sadly not of the same quality that we could discern. The tuna, hamachi, seabass and salmon were rather bland. The tuna was quite watery and icy too. The prawns and eel were a bit dry and the soft-shell crab sadly lacked any juicy meat. On the plus side, the tempura arrived crispy, so texture-wise the rolls were enjoyable to eat. The chilli mayo and the teriyaki on the eel was sweet and well balanced. It's just a shame that the fish itself carried no flavour. Don't get me wrong, this was nice enough sushi for a platter for a midweek treat, but I couldn't hand on heart say this was high quality. This is a shame, as we've heard that the chef is ex Nobu and his skills for the rice, presentation and service is commendable, its just that the quality of the fish isn't quite allowing him to deliver excellence. Having said that, we would order again. Sometimes you want to eat something cool, fresh and unchallenging rolled in carbs. This sushi fits that bill, especially when the rolls are deep fried in tempura batter! One of our followers who tried it said "mid range, but not bad" - which is bang on the money for us.
Service:
Easy ordering online with clear delivery arrangements. Slightly unadventurous menu but perfectly suited to that easy-access, everyday sushi. Quality:
Great quality of the rice which is the most integral part of sushi. Sadly though the quality of the fish let it down. Value & Price:
Generous size of the rolls, beautifully presented and certainly filled us up. We got a lot of food for £50. Better value than what you'd get at a YoSushi or similar. And it comes freshly made to your door! OVERALL - GOOD - This is good sushi. It's not phenomenal quality, but it is well made, generous portions and great service
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