If you’ve become a little bored with same-old sushi recently, you’ll be pleased to hear about Hashi in Linden, which is serving some interesting variations on Japan’s most famous food export. This black, bamboo and adobe orange space, with a cut-out glass light fitting taking up one wall, is turning out some unusual versions of sushi – not least, sushi pizza.

A photo posted by Laurice Taitz-Buntman (@lauricetb) on Feb 22, 2016 at 5:40am PST

“It’s half different sauces, different toppings, and different things inside,” explains owner Denise Cardenas, who has run a similar place in Caracas, Venezuela, where she realised its popularity with food lovers from around the world. Now in South Africa, she’s found Linden to be the place for adventurous and curious gourmets.

The Temptation Roll-up. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Hashi means chopsticks, but this is not all chopsticks food, as evidenced by its sushi pizza. This ‘pizza’ has a crispy rice base that’s covered with slices of salmon, avo and spring onions, and served with the piquant secret sauce. A typical Hashi starter is the salmon kuzu, which is cross cut and served in crisp tempura, revealing an inner coating of salmon around cream cheese and avocado, and comes served with a tartare and a Hashi sauce.

The spicy tuna temaki. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Many dishes feature salmon; one of the winners is a sushi-style cornet filled with crunchy, gingered salmon skin pieces. The crunch rolls consist of rice with seasonal fruit (mango and strawberries now), avo, cream cheese and salmon, surrounded by crunchy tempura. Kiuri rolls are deliciously fresh and have no rice, but four pieces of different fish, including tuna, with citrusy ponzu, rollled in cucumber. There’s a lot more, from prawns and vegetarian dishes to udon noodles. It’s perfect for sharing.

The Hashi Platter. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

For dessert, the crunchy fried ice cream and banana tempura has our vote. Everything is made from scratch. Surprisingly, although there are beers and sakis, Denise recommends South African wines like our unwooded fruity chardonnays or sauvignons to pair with the food. There’s a flavourful selection of these and some chocolatey reds and MCCs, many available by the glass