The Top Floor Flat

I like sushi. I have a bit of a running mental list of top ten food moments in my life and number one was the first time I had sushi and pretty much felt I’d reached the pinnacle of food heaven (mango, avocado and tuna at Ruby Foos in New York City. A close number two is probably family Thanksgiving dinners with all the flavours coming together…. mmm…. where was I?).

In any case, sushi is by far my favourite food but it’s usually quite difficult to find a decent sushi place that’s not exorbitantly expensive in London. There are definitely some dodgy cheap options – the kind of place where you’re not sure if they got imported tuna or they just dredged the Thames for something vaguely fishy-looking.

Enter Cape Town Fish Market.

Flickr Loves Sushi by DRP

I discovered Cape Town Fish Market though TopTable.co.uk, a restaurant bookings website that not only has a brilliant points system which allows you to get free meals but also offers numerous deals for diners all around London (and in other areas of the world – make sure to check it out!). I was looking for a place for my group to have dinner before the End of the World Party and noticed that this sushi and seafood restaurant had a deal. Usually this means something like, discount wine or 20 quid for three preset courses. Imagine my pleasure when I discovered that all customers who sat at the sushi boat bar got 40% off all sushi, no strings attached.

Well, that lead to a feast of absolutely epic proportions and had the sushi been even pretty decent I would have been happy but it managed to exceed expectations there as well (or perhaps I just hadn’t had sushi in so long I was being generous).

We started off with a plate of calamari, nabbed as it came around on the sushi boats. This wasn’t your average fried outside with a tiny tough piece of squid inside – the fish was thickly cut, soft, melt-in-your-mouth fresh and with just enough batter to give it a crunch and delicious flavour. Sarah next tried the shimp sashimi while I went for an unagi and avocado roll, both of which were stellar. By this point, our wine had arrived and the white they brought was light, sweet, and a perfect compliment to the fish.

I indulged in a tuna, avocado and roe roll and then started to get a bit daring by taking a plate of heavily marinated, unidentifiable something-or-other which was quite tasty. I passed the plate around and everyone agreed it was probably some sort of meat and quite good. We decided to finish it before asking the chef – mmm, chicken livers (there’s a first time for everything!).

vegetable sushi by roboppy

After a quick foray into the land of pot stickers (the only dish I was slightly disappointed by – they tasted a bit like the pot stickers you buy in the frozen food section) and spring rolls, I returned to the unagi and tuna to finish off the meal. For the four of us to have about seven plates each, as well as the wine for Sarah and I and beers for the boys, the total came to just over 20 quid per person with the 40% discount – what a bargain!

We probably would have been happy for the food no matter where it was served but the ambiance of Cape Town Fish Market simply added to the whole night. The blue light, massive fish tanks, and spotlessly clean finish (a must in a place that serves raw fish) restaurant made the meal that much better.

We didn’t take a look at the full menu, but didn’t feel we needed to. The most daring of sushi eaters (and the vegetarians) would have been disappointed with the sushi boat options as there were pretty standard plates (and surprisingly few veggie options) but if you’re craving some raw fish, want high quality food in a lovely environment and are looking for a great deal, you can’t do much better than Cape Town Fish Market. I’ll definitely be returning.