10th April 2003

Ate at the Shogun Sushi And Noodle Bar in the Mailbox, Birmingham. This is the only Conveyor Belt Sushi place in Brum, and I think is only one of 2 Sushi restaurants here! It also does quite dramatic tepanyaki, where diners are seated around a circular metal bar, and the chef performs as well as cooks, with flames shooting into the air etc.

We were seated at the Sushi / noodle bar, and the first thing I noticed was the rather over attentive service - we were asked by 3 different members of staff whether we needed drinks, there were only 2 other customers in at the time, so it shouldn't have been to hard to spot that we were already being served! Also, we had to ask specifically for ginger and wasabi as these weren't brought to us (perhaps due to our ordering hot food too). Anyway, these are minor niggles.

We had very nice vegetable tempura, lots of it and not at all greasy. Accompanying this we had some fried dumplings or similar which were also very nice (and red hot). From the Sushi conveyor belt, we had about 7 dishes, some Nigiri, some Maki and some Sashimi. The presentation was plain compared to some other places I've tried, I've no idea about the authenticity of this - I guess if you're going for the more downmarket atmosphere of conveyor belt, then it makes sense.

It was a quiet period in the restaurant, about 6:30 on a Thursday, and the Sushi menu had a number of items crossed off. It wasn't clear if these were permenantly removed, or just when it was quiet. The Sushi was fine, but didn't strike me as particularly out of the ordinary.

Address:

The Mailbox
Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RF

Tel: 0121 632 1253