I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was hugely disappointed when the long established veggie hangout Alley Cafe, in Cannon Court, Long Row, closed its doors last year. Since then it's re-opened as Kushi-ya. a Japanese style skewer shop.
Until now I’ve stayed away because the smell of all that grilled meat and fish filling the air would put me off my vegan tofu.
For the change of heart I have to thank to my niece who spotted they were holding a vegan only night, so I booked a table for two.
The restaurant has undergone a major makeover. It's now all light wood and minimalist furnishings – very Japanese, and I loved it.
Our table was booked for 6pm and already the restaurant was over half full. It was completely full by the time we left.
We pored over the menu and scanned other diners' food to see what they were having, the portion size and what was the most popular. The answer; everything!
My friend and I agreed to share everything we ordered but first, lots of tap water - Asian dishes are often salty.
We decided to skip the snacks and ordered two dishes from the ‘small plates’ and two from the ‘skewers’ in the hope that we’d have room for a pudding.
Despite being very busy the service was prompt and soon the tempura shimeji (mushrooms) and Korean rice cakes arrived.
The rice cakes weren't at all what we were expecting. I think they were made with rice flour and were chewy and crispy at the same time, served with a delicious chilli sauce. The tempura was equally delicious. The bar was set very high.
Then out came the skewer dishes; tofu tsukune (shaped silken tofu smothered in a sticky coating) and aubergine with barley miso.
We couldn’t decide which was our favourite as they were both bursting with flavour and very moreish. But forks or spoons in the chopstick box would have helped as we struggled to mop up all the lovely sauces.
As it turned out we did have room for a dessert and opted to share the hibiscus pear. It looked so beautiful when it arrived and tasted just as good as it looked. The sake granita was a lovely refreshing addition.
The staff seem to think the vegan night will be repeated on a regular basis and if that’s the case I would definitely eat at Kushi-ya again (and again!)
Susan Hart is a vegetarian turned vegan and West Bridgford-based nutrition coach. For healthy eating advice visit her blog at nutrition-coach.co.uk
