There’s something magical about sushi – I never get bored with it. Unlike dishes from other countries, it’s not something I’ve ever attempted to prepare at home and part of the enjoyment of visiting almost any Japanese restaurant is the pleasure in watching the chefs at work. Sushi-making is where food preparation becomes theatre. Sit at the counter and you have a ring-side view.
Maido offers a prime spot for sushi-watching. In what used, formerly, to be the Post Office in St John’s Wood, the second branch of this modern Japanese restaurant opened last year (the original is in Belsize Park). It’s an attractive light-filled space with refrigerated cabinets for take-aways on the immediate left and then the dining space comprising a square to the right, with the sushi counter at its centre. Diners can sit either here on high stools or at tables just round the edge, some of which look directly out onto the street (if people watching is your thing). The Maido concept has its roots in food service, where the founders built up a reputation for supplying top-quality fish to Michelin-starred restaurants. From here, it was just a small step to taking their products and selling them to the masses.
Your reviewer had rated several take-away options from Maido, but only had the opportunity to eat there for the first time recently. Beyond the conventional range of sushi, sashimi and roll options, we were also impressed by the fact that the chefs were willing to push boundaries. Consider the photographed offering which was, arguably, the star of our meal. I’m a sucker for octopus at the best of times, but deep-frying it in a ball of batter and then stuffing it with yuzu mayonnaise before coating it in teriyaki sauce results in a slightly dirty but deeply satisfying snack. What a great ingredient combination! At least we made amends by choosing healthier options from the remainder of the menu. The quality of the salmon sashimi was hard to fault. Meanwhile, the inside-out black cod and teriyaki rolls also highly impressed. Zero failures out of over half-a-dozen dishes. The only catch? It doesn’t come cheap. Each dish is priced at £5-8 (mains obviously cost more), but given portion sizes – and this is no fault of Maido, more a generic observation about Japanese food – the bill can quickly add up. It’s worth it though, and more satisfying too than my recent visit to nearby Murasaki.