Sticks ‘n’ Sushi – Cambridge

Grub Club Cambridge were invited along to the preview evening for the Cambridge branch of Sticks’n’Sushi . Kelly gives you the low down on this excellent new addition to the city.

I have been excitedly waiting for the opening Sushi ‘n’ Sticks for months, being teased by the great images covering the windows of the Old Library part of the Guildhall, just across from the Corn Exchange.

Sticks’n’Sushi was founded 18 years ago by brothers Jens and Kim Rahbek and Thor Andersen and is one of the most successful restaurant groups in Denmark. Billed as “a sushi restaurant, even for those who don’t like fish” they serve incredibly high-quality, fresh food with a unique combination of traditional sushi and yakitori sticks. Ideal for those less keen on fish, there is a selection of grilled chicken, pork, beef and vegetable skewers.

On the night I was joined by my fiancé Lee, business partner Paul and his lovely wife Amber, who is a massive sushi fan and our resident expert for the evening. We were greeted with a very friendly welcome on arrival and shown to our large corner table by the window.

The décor is typical Scandinavian, with centre bar area highlighted by beautiful huge lights. It would be an idea place to grab a cocktail after a busy day in the city.

Our lovely waitress Julia explained how the evening would work, asking us if we had special dietary requirements or anything we’d just rather avoid. They would then be serving us a selection from the menu of their choice. I thought this was a great idea as we’d no doubt get to enjoy things we might not have ordered ourselves.

We each ordered a Kirin Ichiban beer and then were kindly also brought four beautiful looking cocktails to try. You can see the Shojito Ginger a Japanese twist on the classic Mojito cocktail, using Japanese shochu with a hint of fresh ginger, and the Hotaru – a rum based drink with passion fruit and apple. It was a wonderful, delicious surprise!

The menu or Photobook as they call it is quite beautiful in its own right. I love to order food based on how it looks, and the photography within is quite beautiful. When the food began to arrive, it looked as good as it did in the pictures.

Now I have to apologise as my photos really do not do the food justice at all. We sat by the window and the light from there combined with the stylish hanging lights has given them a rather odd striped effect!

We began with Ebi bites (prawn), Daikon Rolls with Salmon and grilled tenderstem broccoli with supreme soy and spicy goma. We all loved the spicy goma, a lovely kick and not too overpowering.

The main part of the meal (and most certainly my favourite) was the four different types of kaburimaki rolls which were served next.

• Ebi Panko – tempura shrimp topped with avocado and sesame
• Hell’s Kitchen – tempura shrimp with avocado, topped with tuna and barbecue sauce
• Salmon Ceviche – red onion, cucumber, avocado, topped with salmon.
• Shake Aïoli – snow peas, avocado, cucumber, miso aioli, topped with seared salmon and trout roe

(Now I just need to stop here, because anyone that knows me well, knows I blooming hate peas – I will never eat them. But, and I hate to admit this, this was my favourite of all the rolls.)

The ingredients are incredibly fresh and the combination of flavours is exciting. The prices do reflect this, but only if you are comparing it to one of the more usual sushi chains. This is far from that!

Next up was the “sticks” part of Sticks’n’Sushi. A combination of grilled meat and vegetables served on sticks.

We were served Buta Bara, Momo Chilli,Chiizu Maki, Kushi Katzu and edamame beans, with a very cute woven platter to catch the discarded pods. Check out the online Photobook to see if you can spot the dishes.

http://www.sticksnsushi.com/uploads/cmslinkupload/111_file_9214.pdf

We were also very lucky to be served Hotate Kataifi – tender scallops in kataifi with miso aïoli, trout roe and cress. This was my favourite item from the evening, absolutely incredible flavours, I’ll be rushing back for these.

Now we never usually go for pudding, especially not when we eat sushi. There’s not usually such a great selection, but here you can choose from 12 tiny pots of delight, £3 each or 3 for £8.

We devoured the white chocolate mousse topped with Danish liquorice & berry foam, dark chocolate balls with caramel and toasted sesame, rhubarb sorbet and saving the best till last, the Fondant. A dark chocolate caramel and peppermint core, topped with crunchy hazelnut brittle. There could have been a fight over this had we not all been so full up anyway!

We had a fantastic evening in very relaxed surroundings. The front of house team were attentive, but not overly bothering, and hats off to the kitchen team for such a superb selection of food.

Congratulations to General Manager Daniel and his team. We would love to bring our Grub Clubbers to the restaurant for an event, so watch this space!

Sticks’n’Sushi officially opened on Saturday 7 May 2016. If I were you, I’d book in advance.