When I was a child I'm not sure I'd even heard of sushi, never mind craved it as a treat! But I have some real sushi and sashimi fans in my family so on a recent day out exploring the free dinosaur activities at the O2 Centre on Finchley Road,we stopped for a snack at the centre's branch of Yo! Sushi
Yo! Sushi bills itself as the home of authentic Japanese sushi and street food. It's certainly proved popular since the first restaurant opened in Soho in 1997. There are now around 100 worldwide.
Just the way the food is served is a child's dream - dishes trundle past on their famous circular conveyer belt ready for you to grab and eat. No waiting for impatient hungry people!
In fact while I was cautiously perusing the menu, my children had already spotted dishes they fancied passing and after checking the price of the dish using the simple colour coding on the menu, I gave them the OK to snatch it off the track when it came round again.
Never fear by the way if the food you fancy has passed and you spot someone further up the line taking it - just wait while the fabulously talented expert chefs make another one and pop it on the conveyer or press your table button and ask for it using the words and picture menu.
My children enjoyed pressing the call button -ours announced "Table 6- Come by!" while other tables had amusing announcements too.
They also liked the still and fizzy water dispensers right on our table and as most of us opted for unlimited filtered water to drink they topped up and topped up and drank plenty of water which was great as it was a very hot day.
Salmon is a big favourite with all of us so we chose a section of salmon based sushi and sashimi and ordered a couple of bowls of rice to go with it.
If you think Yo! Sushi is all about raw fish -it's not. There are lots of meaty, vegetarian and even vegan dishes on the menu including tasty noodles and rice dishes. There are dessert options too!
If you are a fish lover you can rest assured that all their seafood is sustainably sourced and there is no endangered bluefin tuna on the menu.
The children loved using the traditional two-piece chopsticks but if you aren't great with them you can also choose easy to use joined chopsticks or a spoon.
They were curious about the condiments on the table and added a splash of soy to their food but decided against the pickled goodies on the table.
I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say a family trip to Yo! Sushi meals can be quite pricey, especially if you are tempted by too many of their more expensive yellow plates. Obviously they were the ones my children wanted! But take some time to study the extensive and mouth watering menu and you can keep the price down.
Alternatively head there on a Sunday where you get 10 dishes for £25 or on Mondays where 45 popular dishes are all at blue plate prices - just £2.80 each. Students can get 25% off and you can also get 1/3 off on your birthday if you sign up for emails.
These deals (and others you can hear about if you sign up for updates) mean you can be ore adventurous and try dishes you might have thought twice about.
Disclaimer: We ate free at Yo! Sushi for the purpose of this honest review.
Yo! Sushi bills itself as the home of authentic Japanese sushi and street food. It's certainly proved popular since the first restaurant opened in Soho in 1997. There are now around 100 worldwide.
Just the way the food is served is a child's dream - dishes trundle past on their famous circular conveyer belt ready for you to grab and eat. No waiting for impatient hungry people!
In fact while I was cautiously perusing the menu, my children had already spotted dishes they fancied passing and after checking the price of the dish using the simple colour coding on the menu, I gave them the OK to snatch it off the track when it came round again.
Never fear by the way if the food you fancy has passed and you spot someone further up the line taking it - just wait while the fabulously talented expert chefs make another one and pop it on the conveyer or press your table button and ask for it using the words and picture menu.
My children enjoyed pressing the call button -ours announced "Table 6- Come by!" while other tables had amusing announcements too.
They also liked the still and fizzy water dispensers right on our table and as most of us opted for unlimited filtered water to drink they topped up and topped up and drank plenty of water which was great as it was a very hot day.
Salmon is a big favourite with all of us so we chose a section of salmon based sushi and sashimi and ordered a couple of bowls of rice to go with it.
If you think Yo! Sushi is all about raw fish -it's not. There are lots of meaty, vegetarian and even vegan dishes on the menu including tasty noodles and rice dishes. There are dessert options too!
If you are a fish lover you can rest assured that all their seafood is sustainably sourced and there is no endangered bluefin tuna on the menu.
The children loved using the traditional two-piece chopsticks but if you aren't great with them you can also choose easy to use joined chopsticks or a spoon.
They were curious about the condiments on the table and added a splash of soy to their food but decided against the pickled goodies on the table.
I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say a family trip to Yo! Sushi meals can be quite pricey, especially if you are tempted by too many of their more expensive yellow plates. Obviously they were the ones my children wanted! But take some time to study the extensive and mouth watering menu and you can keep the price down.
Alternatively head there on a Sunday where you get 10 dishes for £25 or on Mondays where 45 popular dishes are all at blue plate prices - just £2.80 each. Students can get 25% off and you can also get 1/3 off on your birthday if you sign up for emails.
These deals (and others you can hear about if you sign up for updates) mean you can be ore adventurous and try dishes you might have thought twice about.
Disclaimer: We ate free at Yo! Sushi for the purpose of this honest review.