There has been a subtle invasion over the last couple of years of ’sushi’ establishments. Just like those terrifying replicating pods in the movie ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, sushi places have exponentially popped up all over the Grand Duchy. Quietly. Overnight. And in the same way that the pods in the movie take over human life forms, but are not the genuine article, some of these new sushi places are suspect. Indeed.

In days of old in Luxembourg, there were basically three places people went for good Japanese food: Kamakura in the Grund, Yamayu Santatsu on Rue Notre Dame (love it!), and Neo Tokyo (and I am speaking of its Ringo and Hashimoto days – truly a ‘Moveable Feast’ if ever there was one since they changed locations so often one was considered ‘in the know’ if in possession of Neo’s current address). There have been others of course; Masa, where Light Bar is now, springs to mind. It was very good and the only sushi restaurant whose door my Japanese neighbours would darken. Mesa Verde did – and still does – a few quite good Japanese inspired goodies. But Masa closed and Mesa is primarily a vegetarian restaurant with many other items on the menu.

Let me interject to say that I love sushi. I am neither purist, nor Japanese enough to be a true connoisseur. I have eaten all manner of sushi, much of it of the western influenced variety, some very good and some dreadful. (And bad sushi puts a new spin on the meaning of the word dreadful.)

But for the sake of argument, let’s establish certain rules right now about sushi: 

• Sushi has taken most of the world by storm. It is now served at baseball games in North America right along with hot dogs. So the sushi-isation of our nation is following a global trend.
• As a general rule, good and /or authentic sushi is accepted as expensive.
• Can sushi be fast food? Sure, why not? ‘The contemporary version was invented by Hanaya Yohei (1799–1858) at the end of Edo period in Edo as a type of fast food.’ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi. But when it is of the fast food variety, it should be less expensive. Surely, as Pizza Hut is to Mosconi (in quality and price), fast food sushi is to Nobu?
• A culinary line is crossed when it is delivered in refrigerated trucks from far away.
• Another line is crossed when each individual piece is wrapped in enough plastic to allow the artist Christo to shrink wrap a country.

Kamakura (which is Japanese food, but far more than sushi) comes with atmosphere, something most of the new sushi restaurants most certainly do not. Thus, it is quite pricey. It’s as much experience as it is sustenance. Ringo’s (or where for art thou, Ringo) sushi was value for money. You got it inexpensively, you got a lot and you got it right now! Hashimoto’s sushi (which is very good wherever he creates it) can now be eaten upstairs at IKKI in Rives Clausen. Perhaps it is a little more costly than in the past, but you do get that James Bond restaurant atmosphere. And with sushi, as with ambiance, you get what you pay for. Or at least you should.

So suspect point number one of the sushi invasion –why is it about 20 euros to eat a few measly pieces of the bland, refrigerated, plastic wrapped variety at lunchtime?

Another suspect aspect of this de-lux invasion is the ethnicity of the sushi chefs. In Japan, sushi is an art form; one unique expression of Japanese culture. The traditional master sushi chef, or ’shokunin’, is a revered individual who has to go through a considerable apprenticeship before he is allowed to start slicing and dicing. (If you want to know the history of sushi, try What is sushi? (http://www.bigburrito.com/umi/umihist.shtml)

Now calm down. No one is suggesting only Japanese people can make sushi! That would be like saying Jamie Oliver should keep his hands off mozzarella di bufala and stick to mushy peas and over cooked roasts. And in Luxembourg – while Kamakura, IKKI and many of the new crop of sushi restaurants can boast real Japanese people doing yummy things to little bits of vinegary rice and slicing the tuna and salmon –the Japanese goodies at Upstairs are absolutely delicious, and the chef is not Japanese. He simply subscribes to the same ’sushi is an art form’ theory and serves fresh, quality food at all times which is the key to any food served up raw!

So while it seems, admittedly with little research, that a good deal of these new establishments are Japanese, a few of them are places which for ages were of some other Asian ethnicity and seem to have suddenly switched the nationalities of their proffered menu! We’re not that stupid! If you saw the version of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ starring Donald Sutherland where he goes to the Chinese laundry a second time because the husband had said that there was something wrong with his wife but now ‘everything is okay’ because both of them have been pod-replicated, well then you know what I am talking about.

Finally, are that many Luxembourgers sushi mad? Because a lot of these places look empty at almost all times? There must now be 15 establishments serving ’sushi’ within the vicinity of my office. Is there some kind of conspiracy brewing?

For now, let me leave with you a good tip; a little sushi place in Limpertsberg where the food is extra yummy and the prices are reasonable for a superb lunch of California rolls (yeah, yeah puritism!) and a big bowl of Udon noodle soup, or sushi/sashimi and Gyoza at nighttime.

Actually, I hesitate to name my recommendation to protect it from the ‘Sawasdee Thai Café effect’; something that is good for an establishment but bad for the loyal customer. This is when one has found a little gem of a resto with exceptional food at unbelievably low prices and has to blab to everyone so that the inevitable happens – you have to reserve to get a table at your own great little find and the prices go up 25% with its new found popularity.

It is hard to resist sharing a good place though. So check out Miyako on Rue Victor Hugo. But please, don’t everyone invade it at once!

KAMAKURA
4 Rue Münster
Luxembourg Grund
Tel: (+352) 47 06 04
kamakura@pt.lu

YAMAYU SANTATSU
26 Rue Notre-Dame
Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 46 12 49

IKKI
Rue Emile Mousel
Luxembourg (Rives Clausen))
Tel: (+352) 49 69 40

UPSTAIRS
21 Rue Aldringen
L-1118 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 26 27 02 12

MIYAKO
4-6 Avenue Victor Hugo
Limpertsberg (Luxembourg)
TEL: (+352) 26 26 22 35

MESA VERDE
11 Rue du St-Esprit
Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 46 41 26