Sushi Liverpool | A Sushi Lovers Guide to the City

If you gave us a choice and an unlimited budget, we could easily eat sushi every day of the week. From nigiri to uramaki, these yummy bite sized rice and fish treats have us all wishing a trip to Japan wasn’t a twelve-hour flight. Thankfully Liverpool’s Japanese restaurant scene has never been better, with speciality sushi havens popping up everywhere. So, if you’re looking for the best sushi Liverpool has to offer, look no further!

We’ve created a definitive guide of the best places to visit when that supermarket bought box of smoked salmon pretending to be authentic sushi just won’t cut it anymore. There’s also a handy sushi dictionary at the bottom of the page to help any beginners determine the difference between the various types.

To get your fix of sensational sashimi and marvellous maki this side of Tokyo, head to one of these restaurants and raise a glass of sake to these fabulously fishy treats.

Sushi Liverpool

Sapporo Teppanyaki

Where: 134 Duke Street

Arguably one of Liverpool’s most exciting restaurants, Sapporo Teppanyaki has been serving delicious Japanese cuisine with a Western twist for over 15 years.

The restaurant opened in November 2003 and since then they’ve earned a glowing reputation for presenting amazing food in a truly unique way, through their interactive teppanyaki performance.

The talented chefs cook and prepare the food in front of you on traditional teppanyaki grills, with plenty of tricks, pan banging, fire and even the chance to catch your food in your mouth.

It’s safe to say the chefs are the pride and joy of this vibrant restaurant. Each one is required to train for over five years to become a master of their craft and many of them return to their home countries each year to stay in touch with their Asian roots and cooking traditions.

The menu covers everything from steaks to duck, chicken to lamb, and, of course an exciting array of sashimi and sushi.

The sushi and sashimi is freshly prepared to order by the expert chefs using quality ingredients and delicious produce. Our particular favourite is the Tanuki sushi, which are Inari sweet bean pockets filled with a tasty combination of cucumber, carrot, wild brown sushi rice and edamame beans, topped with crispy tempura.

This restaurant is one of the best places to sample traditional sushi in a dining setting that is big, bold and unforgettable. It is also perfect for sharing group meals with friends and family, as the seating arranged so you can all interact with the chef and each other.

Etsu

Where: 25 The Strand

Tucked away on Beetham Plaza, just off the Strand, Etsu is a beautifully simple Japanese restaurant with stripped pine-coloured tables, oriental paintings hanging from the walls and a traditional minimal design.

Etsu translates as ‘delight’ or ‘joy’, a feeling synonymous with what you’ll experience from the moment you enter the restaurant via its pretty garden terrace.

This hidden gem opened its doors back in November 2007 and has been a firm favourite with diners ever since.

One of the best places to enjoy the most delicious sushi Liverpool has to offer, when entering the understated restaurant, you are greeted with an extensive sushi menu. Featuring everything from a wonderful selection of maki, gunkan, nigiri, and the slightly less traditional California rolls.

These delicately rolled parcels of joy are freshly made to order and are very reasonably priced. Each dish comes with a pinch of pickled ginger, a good helping of fresh wasabi and a miniature teapot filled with delicious soy sauce.

Every dish on the menu is made by Etsu’s three extremely talented Japanese chefs, who have over 60 years of experience between them.

Their menus helpfully explain each dish in English, if you don’t know your hiyayakko from your nanbanzuke, and there’s a great selection of Japanese cuisine, not just sushi and sashimi.

YO! Sushi

Where: Liverpool ONE

The most famous of sushi restaurants, Yo! Sushi is a trendy ‘kaiten’ (conveyor belt) sushi bar with over 100 eateries all over the world.

It’s been around since 1997 and offers diners a unique experience, centred around colour coded dishes that travel around the restaurant on the ‘kaiten’ until they’re picked up by a happy customer. The prices of the plates range from £2.10 up to £9 depending on the size and ingredients, each dish is also freshly made on the same day.

They offer a wide range of options for sushi lovers, including the dynamite roll, which is a salmon and avocado nori roll topped with rayu chilli oil, srirachas, mayo and spring onion. Or, why not give the spider roll a go, made up of tempura crab, Japanese pickles, sweet chilli mayo and yuzu tobiko.

All of their seafood is sustainably sourced and approved by Fish2Fork, plus they have special vegetarian miso that is made in Nagano exclusive for them by the world’s number one producer, Marukome.

Yo! Sushi have a vibrant range of over 100 different small plates, so you certainly won’t be struggling for choice.

Neighbourhood

Where: 62 Castle Street

Just a short walk from the iconic shopping hub of Liverpool ONE, Neighbourhood is a stylish bar and restaurant that opened on Castle Street over a year ago.

Set within an impressive Grade II listed building that was built in 1868 for the Alliance Bank, this trendy bar has become a social hotspot and a place to be seen.

Despite this, the atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. The owners, part of the New York-inspired East Coast Concepts company, have created a brasserie atmosphere with a European and new American inspired menu.

The cuisine is an eclectic mix of American and Asian dishes, featuring a variety of sushi that may not be the most traditional but are very unique.

Choose from beef teriyaki, soft shell crab, prawn, seabass, avocado or salmon sushi rolls or salmon, seabass or tuna sashimi, they also serve their own signature NBHD sushi rolls.

The food is more on the expensive side but you’re paying for the atmosphere and ornate setting, which is definitely worth it.

Kokoro

Where: 77 Church Street

More of a casual establishment to enjoy sushi in Liverpool, Kokoro is nestled in the very heart of Liverpool’s shopping district.

Serving authentic, fresh sushi in boxes to take away, or sit in, this restaurant pride themselves on offering a place to eat simple, cheap and delicious oriental food, served quickly and conveniently.

Excellent value for money, their tasty sushi is authentic and made fresh every day by their talented chefs. From hosomaki to inari pockets, california rolls and mini makis, choose from a wide range of yummy fishy treats.

Any sushi lover will agree, it’s about more than just food, sushi is an art form.

The Vincent

Where: Walker House, Exchange Flags

If you still haven’t satisfied your sushi cravings, there are a few places in the city that teach beginners the art of sushi making.

Why not book a sushi masterclass and learn from the experts? Make your own pieces of delicious sushi from scratch as talented and trained sushi chefs teach you the tricks of the trade.

Both Sapporo Teppanyaki and YO! Sushi offer sushi making masterclasses that include tutorials on how to make your own sushi and the history and origins of the classic Japanese dish.

They are well worth a visit for any lover of sushi.

Sushi Dictionary

Gunkan – rice and nori seaweed accompanied by salmon, sea urchin or flying fish roe.

Maki – vegetables or seafood rolled in seasoned rice and toasted nori (seaweed).

Nigiri – slices of fresh seafood served on fingers of seasoned rice with a touch of wasabi (Japanese horseradish).

Sashimi – Slices of fresh fish served with a dipping sauce.

Temaki – Sushi that has been hand-rolled into a cone shape.

Uramaki – vegetables or seafood rolled in nori and coated with rice on the outside.

If all this talk of sushi and sashimi has got you longing for some different cultural cuisine, check out our guides on the best Cuban and Caribbean food in Liverpool and our foodies guide to Bold Street.