Fushin Sushi Bar and Restaurant in Richmond Hill, Port Elizabeth, delivers an excellent range of Asian cuisine, including dim sum and tapas, says pleasantly overwhelmed Petro Lotz.

Food

If sushi is your thing, look no further. Fushin’s menu is the equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory for anyone who appreciates Asian food. The extensive menu makes it really hard to choose. It’s best to go in a group and order a huge selection so you can experience more. But then again, everything is so tasty that you might want to keep it all to yourself.

Choosing between the tapas bar, tempura bar and dim sum bar is already tricky. Then there’s the Kushiyaki (grilled skewer) offering, and the seventeen kinds of California rolls, with names like Peruvian Prince and Alaska Reloaded to further tempt you. (I ordered a bowl of tom yum soup, just to calm the nerves.)

Fushin Sushi Bar and Restaurant. Photos courtesy of Jan Ras.

I was also seriously tempted by the intoxicating aroma of a passing platter with a mound of black pepper crispy ribs in the darkest, stickiest of sauces. In the end, I settled for the Blue Flame option from the California rolls selection. A plate of lightly seared tuna slices wrapped around the perfect rolls is delivered. The rolls stand to attention like soldiers, sporting bright red caviar, accompanied by a wild nest of beetroot strings, a happy blob of wasabi and pickled ginger. A joyful plate, to be sure.

Wine

The wine list is large and sure to please most wine lovers, but the showstopper is the incredible whiskey menu, which reads like an international line-up, including some rare Japanese blends. Patrons can also buy a personal bottle, which is kept in a little locker. Various green teas, beers and cordials are offered, and a great list of exotic cocktails completes the picture. Ordering espresso at an Asian-style restaurant is always a gamble, but even here Fushin cannot be faulted.

Service

Service is swift, friendly and bright. It’s clear that regular patrons become friends and that the waiters tend to stick around, which is always a good sign. The manager clearly has her finger on the pulse of this busy eatery.

Ambience

Long counters with fresh ingredients line two sides of the restaurant and, behind them, the chefs are kept busy chopping and rolling by the crowd that descends here every day. Tables are white and minimalistic, plates square or rectangular. The red walls show off beautiful prints of vicious-looking fish in black and white. A snazzy retractable blind shields diners outside from the elements.

Fushin Sushi Bar and Restaurant. Photos courtesy of Jan Ras.

And…

A few shops away you’ll find the funky Fushin Streetside Bar that provides for big groups and parties.

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