Calling all sushi lovers! This new restaurant in York is for you.
We reported earlier this year that sushi restaurant Motto Sushi was set to open at 5 Feasegate, in the building that was previously home to a Patisserie Valerie.
Motto Sushi opened this week, and it’s ready to bring a traditional taste of Japan to the city.
YorkMix spoke with Motto Sushi director and chef Michelle Ma to find out more.
“My restaurant style and the food is very traditional,” Michelle told YorkMix. “If you want to try traditional food just come here.”
Michelle’s business partner, Peter, who is the chef at Motto Sushi along with Michelle, owns his own Japanese restaurant – and Michelle was inspired by the traditional tatami floor seating used in the restaurant.
“It’s very traditional for Japanese to use tatami. I really like it and I knew I wanted to use it in the restaurant.”
The beautiful two-floor restaurant features Japanese art on the walls, sakura climbing the walls and parasols adorning the ceiling. Upstairs there are four Japanese tatami booths for a more private eating experience, with each booth named after a Japanese city.
Michelle came back to York two years ago as her wife is currently completing a PHD at the University of York.
“I like York because of all the history,” said Michelle. “I like that there isn’t many tall buildings, so you can look at the sky and the sunshine as you walk around.”
The extensive menu is a sushi-lovers dream with many delicious delicacies to choose from – including sashimi, nigiri, hosomaki, futomaki, and temaki, as well as specials. Other dishes on the menu are noodle dishes, ramen, teriyaki, curry, donburi, bento and special sets, and more.
One of Michelle’s favourite dishes is the chef’s special King Tiger roll (£17.80), which is eel and cucumber topped with seared salmon and crispy onions. All the sauces and the soy sauce are made in-house too.
There are several different traditional desserts to try too, such as hanami dango (dumplings made with rice flour and glutinous rice flour, in strawberry, milk, matcha or chocolate flavour), mochi, dorayaki (a sweet pancake sandwich) – and special desserts like a Pearl Panna Cotta (£6.60).
There is also a varied sake menu on offer too – with sakes brought in from Japan that can’t be found in supermarkets or other restaurants. A non-alcoholic sake is on the menu too.
Motto Sushi is open every day, from 11am to 11pm. From Monday to Wednesday, last food orders are 8:45pm and Thursday through to the weekend it’s 9:30pm – however the bar downstairs stays open for drinks.
“If you like traditional food, come to Motto Sushi,” said Michelle. “‘Motto’ in the Japanese language means more, so come along and try all our different sushi.”
To find out more, see the full menu and to make a reservation, visit the Motto Sushi website here. Keep up to date with the restaurant at their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Take a look inside Motto Sushi in our gallery below!
Gallery
