Craving sushi and a quick lunch, we headed off to Etsu Japanese Restaurant when we arrived in Liverpool. Etsu turned out to be a bit of a find, in terms of food and location. Nestled in the concrete jungle that is Beetham Plaza, there it was… a little oasis of delightful flavours and aromas.

We immediately forgot we were in the middle of bustling Liverpool and enjoyed the relaxed ambience. We were greeted warmly and shown to a table at the back of the restaurant by our friendly and helpful waitress.

I ordered a green tea and was pleased to be given the whole pot, rather than having to depend on the server for refills. The pot kept the tea warm through the meal. Paulo had a Sapporo beer.

There were some tempting items on the Appetisers Menu and we chose the Mixed Tempura and the Chicken Yaki Tori. The tempura consisted of seven pieces, two of which were king prawns and the rest a variety of vegetables. The batter was light and crispy. The three skewers of chicken came in a very tasty sauce.

Some sushi restaurants bring out the dishes at different times. We were asked if we preferred having our appetisers served first, with the sushi afterwards… and that is exactly what we wanted. It was nice to be given the choice.

We ordered some maki sushi and California rolls. The tuna, salmon and king prawns were very fresh and all rolls were expertly prepared. The tekka maki was six pieces of tuna, each rolled in seasoned rice and toasted nori (seaweed). The texture was perfect. We ordered two California rolls – ebi tempura (king prawn tempura) and sake (salmon). The rolls were coated in white sesame seeds, which made them extra tasty.

We had the sake (salmon) from the Nigiri Sushi menu. I liked the fact that there was a touch of wasabi in the sushi. The rice was the perfect texture and consistency. The salmon was high quality and expertly cut.

Provided were the requisite chopsticks and small rectangular plates that had a handy corner for the soya sauce. Nice touch!

We had a very enjoyable lunch and are looking forward to coming back for dinner one evening, where we can take our time, have a few drinks and try more of their tantalising menu items.

Attentive service, expertly prepared food with high quality ingredients and a lovely ambience… Liverpool is fortunate to have such a great establishment at its doorstep.

The owners, managers or staff did not invite me to visit this establishment and were unaware that my experience would be the basis of a written review. It is based on my experience at my own cost and I did not receive compensation for my review.

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