^ A rare Wellington lunch for under $10: takoyaki + salmon roll + vege roll with crunchy thing + seared salmon roll with mayo + anago (?) + wasabi + the biggest serving of ginger ever.. all for $8.

Sushi Bi is apparently Wellington’s best sushi place. The sheer length of the queues coming out their two branches is quite impressive. Steph and I miraculously managed to avoid the rush (by a mere 3 minutes!).

I certainly like being able to pick my own sushi, but it was impossible to tell what some of the more creative-looking things were. Maybe the Willis St. branch forgot to put out labels or something.

No takoyaki will ever beat the ones in Kyoto’s Nishiki market (or the ones at the little hole-in-the-hall near Kun-ei High School in Osaka) but these ones were much tastier and juicier than some I’ve had in horrible food stalls in Tokyo — even though Sushi Bi’s are not made to order.

The fish and flavours were certainly much fresher than other sushi places. You could actually taste the ingredients. And the sushi was at room temperature — not like the horrible cold stuff you usually get. My one surprise, considering this place is supposed to Wellington’s best — was that the rice was a bit hard. And it could’ve done with a teensy bit more vinegar. Apparently the Woodward St. branch knows their rice, so maybe Willis St. was just having a bad rice day. Considering it’s opposite the Japanese embassy though, you’d think they’d have stricter quality control.

With so much variety, it’s hard not to want to go back and try the rest. Also, their sushi is all half-priced from 4pm (and still freshly made stuff too!). I’ll definitely be giving it another shot.

Sushi Bi
Woodward St. and Willis St. (opposite-ish The Majestic Centre)