Tightly packed Japanese rice rolls, sold out of a garage

Ex-Sushi Spice, a sushi delivery service, is now a cafe that can seat up to 18 people. If you don't like tiny spaces, it might be a better idea to order in, provided you stick to the sushi

Of the five tables that comprise Sushi Cafe, it's best to choose one of the two on the outside of the garage that it's housed inside, if only because there's more room, and provided, of course, that you don't mind being bitten by mosquitoes.


The Philadelphia is Makizushi, or a cylindrical sushi roll,
stuffed with salmon, spring onions and cream cheese

Cucumber, avocado and asparagus dominate the vegetarian sushi selections, while salmon appears to be the favourite in the non-vegetarian selection.

We ordered the Philadelphia (Rs 325) off the tablemat that doubles as the menu. Generous bits of salmon, spring onions and cream cheese were crammed inside the sushi roll, which was served on a platter with soya sauce, fine slivers of ginger and a smidgen of fiery wasabi, or Japanese horseradish, paste.

The Veg Bento Box (Rs 500), which includes a serving of Miso soup, rice or noodles, six pieces of vegetarian sushi, and a few veggies dunked in tempura batter and deep-fried was disappointing.

The soup was too salty, the tempura veggies were no more than forgotten, semi-cold strips of capsicum fried in batter, and the rice carried a strange, almost medicinal taste. The sushi, however, was good, and somewhat made up for a far-from-satisfying Main.

The Chicken Yakisoba Noodles (Rs 250) was a generous serving of noodles, crunchy veggies and bits of juicy chicken. We suspect, however, that the spiciness of the dish had been adjusted in keeping with desi preferences.


Sushi Caf ufffd is a pretty space, but arm yourself with a good
mosquito-repellent cream, and be prepared to deal with the
neighbourhood cats

Try not to succumb, as we did, to the temptation of ordering something off their beverage selection. It doesn't stray too far from the formula: flavoured iced teas and aerated drinks, so if you're done sipping on the bottle of complimentary water, which you can pour into their beautiful water glasses, then request for another bottle, if you must.
u00a0
Still, if you absolutely must have something to drink, avoid the Green Iced Tea (Rs 90), which tastes exactly like sweetened cold water.

The management has also made space on the menu for Fish and Chips, Gnocchi, mince-stuffed dumplings called Manti, salmon steaks and coconut-based broths. We suspect that sushi is what they do best, given that they started out as the sushi delivery service, Sushi Spice, a few years ago, so skip the after thoughts.

Scaredy cat
Be warned, there are a couple of cats that stalk the compound wall. Though, the evening we stopped by they were reasonably well behaved and didn't pounce on our order, as we imagined they might. Commendable, especially given that salmon was on the menu.

The fairy lights add a charm to the space that is almost misleading, because you're essentially eating inside a building compound, but if you stay in the neighbourhood and are tired of take-out, then Sushi Cafe might offer respite.

At Sushi Cafe, Sainara Building, off Linking Road, Khar (W). Call 9833650503
Sushi Cafe didn't know we were there.
The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals.