Reviews

Silla Bjerrum's simple Japanese dishes

The sushi chef presents a set of her favorite recipes - all infused with the trademark sweet and salty flavours of traditional Japanese cuisine.

waitrose kitchen march issue

Doggy bags are so tommorrow.

This began last year with the launch of Too Good To Waste, a campaign promoted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Wahaca's Thomasina Miers advocating bio-degradable "Doggy Boxes" in participating restaurants around London.
Eco-friendly doggy boxes with the motto "Be a lover, not a leaver" on the side began to appear in Ping Pong chains, Feng Sushi, Leon and places such as The Cinnamon Club, Dishoom, Bumpkin and The Modern Pantry.

By Pricilla Pollara

The lust list - Things we fancy this week

Delish sushi
Try the Feng Diet: three days of food delivered to your door. £95, fengsushi.co.uk

What training are you giving your staff this year?

We have recently introduced an incentive programme for the sites as a way to engage the team to work together. We champion six seasonal menus and as a way of upselling our new dishes the management team has come up with a solution to make it fun and interesting for the employers.

It’s hard enough to start a diet in January – what with all those hidden Christmas chocolate treasures scattered around your house. Motivation, however, is the trickiest part. On learning that, Feng Sushi have decided to help.

The Japanese sushi chain have created an affordable ‘door diet plan’ – in conjunction with leading nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston – which is delivered straight to your door.

Feng Sushi launches 'delivered to your door' diet plan

Silla Bjerrum, the founder of seafood restaurant chain Feng Sushi, is targeting the slimmers market by launching a 'delivered to your door' diet plan for customers aiming to lose weight this January.

By Emma Eversham

A London restaurant has launched a post-Christmas detox diet that lets you eat all day - and never have to cook.

By Jonathan Prynn and Miranda Bryant

Making good sushi depends on a number of things, but for Silla Bjerrum, founder of British restaurant chain Feng Sushi, where her ingredients come from is key.

The main appeal of the class is its emphasis on sustainability, but the problem, says Bjerrum, is the definition of sustainability varies.
For her, a variety of factors make up ecologically-friendly fish but one of the most vital is sourcing.

After a day-long lesson, my bag is packed with enough sushi to feed six people, all made by me.
It’s a shock there is so much because it has all come from one scallop and a single portion of salmon and tuna.

A tasty dream come true; ethical sushi, delivered right to your front door, including a seasonal menu, The boxes are rather pretty, too.

Food *** Service **** Ambience ****
This has to be the quickest meal of the week that we experience.

Some highlights do register: the jewel-bright salmon roe winking at us invitingly from a salmon selection box that is crammed with nigiri and maki rolls, some crisply fried mackerel on a bed of silky soba noodles.

Offering both traditional and modern dishes Feng Sushi offers a relaxed sushi dining experience (there’s no sign of having to crouch over a busy conveyer belt from a stool that’s much too high here) accompanied by staff who are as friendly as they are knowledgeable about the produce they have on offer and what dishes best go together.

The food was fresh and in an area that’s saturated with more nation wide known chains and fast food places makes for a healthy and in most cases, more delicious, option for dinner or lunch making it the ideal place to eat for sushi lovers all over London.

There is, of course, plenty of competition in the sushi market. Brands including Yo! Sushi and Itsu battle for the consumer’s cash and a high-end Japanese restaurant such as Roka has its home in Canada Square. But with her track record in opening restaurants across the capital, you get the feeling Silla’s latest venture is going to be a success.

Being a keen fan of sushi, I visit a lot of this type of restaurant and have found that Feng Sushi have an admirable sustainability policy regarding the use of at risk species and the sourcing of products in general - which is why they are probably one of my favourite sushi restaurants in London.

Best for: Fishy flavours especially Sashimi.
Great: For getting cosy on a date.

What I loved more though was the size and flavours of the detox broth. It came in a gigantic bowl, and I knew I wasn’t going to go hungry. And even more satisfying were the ingredients including miso, tofu, beansprouts, the list goes on. Such veggie goodness ought to make you grow big and strong.

Now let’s be real. Sushi restaurants are known as a healthy option and for quality ingredients sourced sustainably, like here at Feng Sushi, there might be a cost. So dig a little into your pot of gold, and where food is of high quality, generously portioned, and with BIG on flavours.

By Philippa Morton

However, some chains are better than others. One of these that offer a consistent quality of food is Feng Sushi at the Royal Festival Hall.

The service at Feng Sushi was friendly, attentive and competent, they kept my green tea cup regularly refilled. This is one of the better meals to be had around the Royal Festival Hall and I like the way that the menu is designed so that you can have just a quick bite or a more substantial meal.

The finest quality sustainable fish sorced daily from the market itself will provide the menus traditional and modern sushi and sashimi, alongside seasonal specialties such as MSC mackerel donburi.

How to make the perfect omelette

Just as laborious – in fact probably more so – is the Japanese omelette. It takes Silla Bjerrum, founder of Feng Sushi, around 20 minutes to assemble the boxy, Swiss roll-like dish.

"Because there is a slightly sweet taste to it, it often comes right at the end of a meal." Bjerrum fills hers with spinach or, less traditionally, red peppers, though nori (seaweed) is also common.

Offering both traditional and modern dishes Feng Sushi offers a more relaxed sushi dining experience, there's no sign of having to crouch over a conveyer belt from a stool that's much to high here, all service is table service and the staff are friendly and refreshingly knowledgeable about the produce they have on offer.
Ideal for sushi lovers all over London.

Think outside the box: Top cooks reveal how to perk up your children's packed lunches

Silla Bjerrum, managing director, Feng Sushi, London

For children, I serve things such as inari – little tofu pouches filled with sushi rice – and onigiri with salmon or a vegetarian filling. They are little rice triangles with a nori wrap. Sweet and savoury dips are always good. Try a berry-based dip for fruit, and serve vegetable sticks with a mild miso dip. Both are low in fat and very healthy.

By Alice-Azania Jarvis

This month MSC (sustainably soursed) mackerel comes into season. Buy it from a local fishmonger and serve it on a bed of baby leaves with a light miso dressing.

Perfect Picnic Food From Feng Sushi

Inside my gorgeously ribboned box lay beautiful slivers of fresh salmon sashmi, neat little rows of cucumber and avocado sushi, crab salad and soba noodles, pesto tuna nigri and squares of spicy mackerel - all which my party of friends and I rounded off with a glass of champagne - perfect.

sustainability-focused sushi restaurants are substituting eel (unagi) with more sustainable alternatives.

Feng Sushi, has announced the September opening of a seventh site, this one at Billingsgate fish market. With a focus predominantly on delivery and takeaway for Canary Wharfers and the surrounding areas, sustainable fish will be sourced daily from the market itself and company co-founder Silla Bjerrum will continue her involvement in market activity, carrying out regular demonstrations and participating in events.

By Chris Osburn

Catch of the day: Fresh ways to enjoy British sardines

Mackerel pate is one of the most straightforward starters out there – why not do the same with sardine pâté? "Sardine pâté is a great idea," says Silla Bjerrum, founder of Feng Sushi. "You can either smoke or grill the fish at home, and then turn them into pâté as you would mackerel."

By Alice-Azania Jarvis

Last weekend I ate five of the finest pieces of sushi I have ever tasted, one after another, made by five of the UK’s top sushi chefs

All the sushi rolls created for the finals were memorable – from ‘Summer on a Plate’, in which Feng Sushi executive chef Silla Bjerrum used different parts of young yellowtail tuna to create a balance of textures, accompanied by a light sweetish miso dressing

By Dan Jellinek

As the old adage goes: size isn't everything, and this teeny tiny Japanese restaurant, steeped in sustainablity and nestled behind a doorway in Kensington, proves just that.

Compact dining rooms can't help but have a cosy atmosphere and Feng Sushi is no different. A pair of friendly waiting staff buzz around dishing out fresh sushi with gusto.

Review byTracey Davies

It’s going to be a busy work week so we’re limiting ourselves to selective play, starting with Japanese cocktails and canapes at Feng Sushi in Notting Hill…

Posted by The Cocktail Lovers

Big thanks to Silla, Jenny and the team at Feng Sushi for a fabulous evening
– in the words of one Qyper, “this is the best event I’ve ever been to”.

Written by sarah_drinkwater

London-based Japanese chain, Feng Sushi, has an exciting few years ahead of itself.

London’s Best Picnic Hampers

Feng Sushi: If you’re heading to Primrose Hill or Hyde Park, the Chalk Farm and Kensington branches of this slick sushi chain are a simple option for a healthy alfresco lunch for four.

The best kind of barbecue is one you can enjoy even if the weather is sub-par, and Feng Sushi gets this spot on. The second you slake your thirst on a shochu cocktail and grab yourself some chicken yakitori you'll be right in the middle of summertime, British or otherwise.

Silla is a pioneering sushi chef who is dedicated to seasonality and sustainability, the key words in her Feng Sushi menu.

Silla combines the skills of a traditional sushi chef with modern and stylish interpretation.

"In fact, if you want to make sushi at home and you don't have much time, brown rice is better than regular sushi rice as it's much more durable and requires less preparation,"

Gone fishing

Billingsgate Fish Market, an east London landmark in the shadow of Canary Wharf, is home to the Billingsgate Seafood Training School, as well as being the UK’s largest inland fish market.
Classes range from parent and child mornings – great to get picky kids eating more fish – to advanced sushi masterclasses with Silla Bjerrum of the Feng Sushi restaurants. The full programme is at seafoodtraining.org

Compiled by MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY

Feng Sushi's Japanese barbecue fills a gap on the South Bank

Chicken yakitori was as succulent as any I’ve eaten; the pork tsukune (a generously-sized pork ball) was lively on the palate; but the star of the show, at least in looks, were the giant wild-farmed Indonesian tiger prawns with yuzu. All were served with a delightfully fresh, light and healthy Japanese slaw (colourfully bright from the green of soya beans and slivers of red cabbage).

by Joanna Biddolph

The best barbecue recipes
A selection of top chefs present their favourite barbecue recipes

Barbecue skewers, by Silla Bjerrum, managing director, Feng Sushi
Japanese cuisine provides brilliant inspiration for new skewer recipes – think yakitori chicken, teriyaki salmon, miso-marinated tofu, pork belly.

FENG SUSHI, THE FAST AND CASUAL JAPANESE RESTAURANT, IS INTRODUCING A NEW BBQ OFFERING WHICH AIMS TO TURN A CASUAL LUNCH INTO AN AL FRESCO BANQUET.

"It is important to keep in mind that there are no finite answers. You have to keep experimenting and you need to review. The only way things can improve is by dialogue. Different operators need to share their experiences."

It takes a long time. Fish to Fork criticised us for serving eel even though I believe we were serving the best sustainable eel, so recently I took eel off," she says.
It is important to keep in mind that there are no finite answers.

Sushi chef/restaurateur Silla Bjerrum shows step-by-step how to fillet and prepare mackerel for an elegant Japanese-style salad.

Olive May 2011 Issue| published by BBC Magazines

On Friday Feng Sushi started donating £1 for each of its most popular dishes sold, and will this week start putting Red Cross donation boxes on its counters. The efforts, which will run for at least one month, are being backed up by e-mail and twitter communications to the brand’s customers.

By Lorraine Heller

The highlight, undoubtedly, was the ‘Yellowtail Upside Down’ – beautifully presented yellowtail sashimi on slices of cucumber topped with a fragrant, zingy salad of wakame, pickled jalapeno, coriander, avocado & yuzu kimchee dressing. It wouldn’t have been out of place at Nobu or Roka.

By Sarah Peters, Legal PR

More then just a meal, the sumptuous and beautifully presented dishes served up by courteous and friendly staff ensure that a trip to Feng Sushi is a real day out and an experience to be relished.

By Lucy Rose

today we were ordering a delivery – a feast for five at home, so they suggested the meeting box.
It arrives beautifully boxed and ribboned with lots of chopsticks and easily enough to feed us all, plus leftovers.

By Pendle Harte

Established sushi destination Feng Sushi has a stylish new website, all the better for ordering from.

By Pendle Harte | grove | march 2011 issue 78

"We ensure everything is sustainable," says Silla Bjerrum. "We spend more money on fish than the average sushi bar, but we don't mind - it gives us security. Customers are increasingly interested in sustainable fish and it's a strong marketing tool. "But I don't think operators need to reinvent sushi around fish that is available and local to where they're based."

By Joe Lutrario

We were there on quite a cold night so the Seasonal Specials on the menu looked appealing. The shrimps were in a light batter, showing some good flavours and enhanced by the lime, honey and soy dressing. The seafood curry .... was light and mild with Japanese rice, slightly more sticky than basmati or long grain.

By Peter Morrell

All in all, my take on Feng Sushi is that their creative menu items are their specialty – and the thought of some of them might be just enough to make me go back if I am in the area again.

By hedonistsguide

feng sushi delivers the best sushi in london (if not the whole world)

Apart from the fact that it delivers, what's so special about Feng Sushi? Well. Its virtues are manifold, but the sushi itself is probably a good place to start; not only is it among the best we’ve ever tried this side of Tokyo, it’s perfectly formed, MSC-certified, so fresh it’s almost alive, and comes in snazzy brown paper boxes with lots of ginger, mooli and pickles on the side.

By Emma Lundin

As Silla gave out tips and chatted about sustainable fishing and good Japanese blades, we practised more slicing and rolling, stuffing our seaweed and rice wraps with fresh ingredients such as avocado, asparagus, crab, salmon or prawn, creating tighter, more attractive pieces with each turn.

Towards the end of the class, Silla made us lunch by gutting, filleting and marinating raw mackerel, before adding it to a delicious salad, which we ate with a well-earned Asahi beer.

By Abbie Werner

The healthiest-looking diners I have ever seen are at Feng Sushi, the smart little sushi bar opposite the coronet cinema at Noting Hill Gate. Their skin sings with health, vibrant with omega-3, and are as bright-eyed as freshly landed mackerel.

By Bill Knott | grove magazine 2008 the christmas issue