REVIEW: Chizuru Tei, Edinburgh.

Hello fellow food lovers!

Welcome to the first blog post on Sashimi With Me! This is going to be a food/restaurant review of a new-ish Japanese restaurant in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh called Chizuru Tei.

When you first walk in, theres a cosy, family run feeling to the restaurant where dad was in the open kitchen, mum and sons were out on the restaurant floor.

Yaki Tori (4 piece - £4.50), S&P Soft Shell Crab (£6.00)

For starters, Colin (my boyfriend) and I ordered Yaki Tori , Spicy Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab, and Hot and Sour soup (not pictured - soz, I forgot!).

The Yaki Tori (chicken skewers) were tender, coated in a wonderfully sweet/salty teriyaki-type sauce. When I say 'tender', I MEAN TENDER.

To the point where Colin said 'they're too soft' almost like they weren't cooked properly. I get what he means but I still liked them. 

The Soft Shell Crab were proper nuggets of crab! I was surprised as most places are batter heavy and hardly any meat but these were great! They were a little bit saltier than I would have liked (I know its meant to be salty.. but it was really salty) but I still really enjoyed them and would get them again.

Sushi Platter (10 pieces - £8.90)

For mains we ordered a bunch of dishes to share!

This sushi platter (pictured above) is such good value for money! You get 4 california maki rolls and 6 nigiri with 6 different types of fish/seafood on top. BARGIN! Colin and I shared this and we both enjoyed it. My favourites from this platter were the Salmon and the Surf Clam. 

Scallop Nigiri (£3.90 for 2pc £7.50 for 4pc)

Dragon Roll (£8.90)

The Dragon Roll was good with a decent prawn tempura inside. I wished there was a bit more  going on in the filling department, some cucumber for example, but on the whole it was good.
Also, look at how fresh and thinly sliced the avocado is on that!! They get extra points for getting that right.


We did have another maki roll, the Tokyo Roll, but I forgot to take a picture (bad blogger)! This wasn't actually on their menu but its one of our favourites and they made it for us anyways. I appreciate that kind of service so much. If you have the ingredients to make it, why not?

5pc of Salmon Sashimi (£5.00) and the 2Pc of Scallop Nigiri (£3.90)

The Scallop nigiri was ONE OF THE BEST I've had (including my time in Japan). I could sit and eat 20 of these. I don't, because I don't have that kind of cash, but I totally would if I could.
The Salmon sashimi were fresh, thick cuts and had that beautiful pattern of fat running through it.

A close up of the Salmon Sashimi 

To most people, the most important part of any sushi is probably the fish as freshness is key! However, to me the consistency, temperature, the compactness (?), and flavour of the rice plays an equal role to the fish. After all, the rice is 50% of a nigiri. I loved that the rice was not just a hard clump but that it was carefully moulded before the fish was placed on top. You can always tell this by the way the rice breaks apart in your mouth. You shouldn't really need to chew a piece of nigiri for it to fall apart. I loved the generous portions of nigiri you get here as every mouthful takes you into absolute sushi heaven!

Overall, I was so impressed by the quality of the rice and the seafood here. The seafood itself is fresh but it may not be as fresh as a higher end/ fine dinning japanese restaurant. There is an element of "You get what you pay for" here. The menu is vast and theres something for everyone! I'm more than happy to support and recommend an affordable and great quality sushi restaurant! 

So if you're in Edinburgh, head to Haymarket area and give Chizuru Tei a try.

Love,

Chalita x