Review: Moshimo, Brighton

It’s so long since I last visited Moshimo that I haven’t even blogged it! So it must be at least six years. In fact this Brighton sushi restaurant has been here in the very centre of the Brighton Laines (and yet neatly hidden in a small empty square that most visitors walk past unnoticed) for as long as conveyor belt sushi has been in the UK. And Moshimo is to Yo! Sushi what Five Guys is to McDonalds. The same, but much better. As an aside, they’re also the restaurant responsible for starting the FishLove photography campaign that has been so successful in raising international consciousness of the issues of overfishing.

We sit down and enjoy chunks of char-grilled aubergine bathed in dollops of really pungent miso and sprinkled in sesame seed. Simple tuna nigiri with generous chunks of purple fish and rice having the perfect bite and just a delicate hint of vinegar. Inari sushi with a savoury rice and veg mixture inside the tofu skin case. We order one hot dish off the menu: tempura cod cheeks. Light, crisp, dry batter encasing slippery pieces of fish – it goes better dipped in soy and wasabi than in the classic tempura sauce it comes with. We finish with authentic rice flour buns filled with dark bean curd.

We’re in and out in thirty minutes, made happy by sushi washed down with clear green tea. The menu has a whole lot more but this was a quick lunch stop. Exactly what conveyor belt sushi is for. The interior isn’t cheap-n-cheerful though, it’s stylish and modern with a vivid red ceiling and slaty grey walls: you could have a splendid evening feast here too. Price is right around the Yo! mark.