Friday night was date night for myself and Mr Silver, so dressed in our finest we headed out. Cafe Royal was the location for our pre-drinks.
The Cafe Royal hotel has a long history as one of the most fashionable hotels in London and with its prime position on Regent Street it is also an iconic landmark. The hotel has welcomed many famous faces from great authors such as Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle to rock stars such as Mick Jagger and even royalty! And tonight they would open their doors for me and Mr Silver. I was keen to check out the Cafe Royal as the complex has just undergone as massive refurbishment and now houses a selection of restaurants and bars including their flagship restaurant, Ten Room. The bar features a huge list of cocktails and juxtaposes heritage cocktails with classics.
Here’s some pics of the gorgeous and contemporary interior of the bar.
I chose a Pompadour, Bevedere vodka, passion fruit and vanilla liqueur, fresh grape and champagne. I don’t like sweet cocktails but, despite the fruity content it had a perfectly bitter taste. Mr Silver chose the Unexpected which mixed aged Bourbon, apple liqueur, fresh grapefruit and honey syrup, he enjoyed it so much that he had two!
We then moved on to Covent Garden for our dinner.
Sticks ‘n Sushi is one of the most successful restaurant groups in Denmark and they’ve very kindly bought their concept over here for us to enjoy! There is also a branch in Wimbledon if you’re further down that way.
The concept of Sticks ‘n Sushi is based on serving a combination traditional sushi with yakitori sticks from the grill. The interior of the restaurant has a very cool and urban vibe with an upstairs restaurant and downstairs dining counter.
I chose a glass of champagne and Mr Silver was on the beer. The menu is massive and I love the fact there’s a picture of every dish.
Firstly we nibbled on salty edamame beans, which were a beautiful shade of vibrant green.
There is a choice of the la carte menu or you can get a selection of set platters. As it was just the two of us we plumped for a la carte.
Ebi prawns are one of the signature dishes at Sticks ‘n Sushi so we had to have those!
These were tempura shrimp with chilli, coriander, pepper, miso aioli and fresh lime. They were deliciously crunchy and the chilli gave a perfect kick.
The big chaos contained yellowtail, tuna, salmon, shrimp, crayfish, tempura shrimp, seaweed salad, snow peas, tofu, shiitake, avocado and sushi rice. The fish was deliciously fresh and the sushi rice had the perfect bite to it. In hindsight, it was probably a little bit to big for two people considering the amount of other things we ordered!
The sashimi de luxe included tuna, yellowtail, salmon, sweet shrimp, spicy tuna wrap, squid salad, scallop, daikon and ponzu. There was a lot here but it was all butterfly light and mouth-wateringly fresh.
Of course we had to have some sticks. We chose salmon teriyaki which flaked beautifully and the sauce was light and not overwhelming.
Yummy rolls. Need I say more? Its in the name. Tempura shrimp, avocado, spicy sauce, sesame, tuna, tobiko, leeks, chervil and black tobiko.
Spare ribs in teriyaki with chilli, sesame and herbs. These were bought over by accident but fortunately are one of Mr Silver’s favourites so he still devoured them!
Chicken teriyaki stick and a lamp chop topped with herb butter.
Can you believe we had room for dessert. Well who can say no to this?
Four tasters. White chocolate with sweet miso and popped rice; vanilla creme brulee; chocolate fondant with caramel and hazelnut brittle and vanilla ice cream. The first one was my favourite!
Mr Silver and I loved Sticks ‘n Sushi. Not only is the food fabulous but the concept is fun and would be the perfect choice for a date but is even better for group dining.
We left well and truly stuffed but very, very happy!
We visited Sticks ‘n Sushi in January 2014.
