Wasabi - Manchester

Worst sushi I ever had, salmon nigiri was paper thin. Sushi rice was not seasoned properly

Great conveyor belt sushi place in downtown Manchester. After the lunch rush you can get in, get seated and start eating within a minute. It's actually really cool. The sushi itself was very good quality and a wide variety. They even gave us a 50% discount on our bill which we were very surprised at so it was extremely cheap. Even at full price it would have been reasonable. Not 5 stars because the service wasn't actually that good. Fortunately in a self serve restaurant it's not a huge detractor but it took too long to get drinks and ask for the bill.

This place is fantastic! I never imagined I would find a spot in the heart of Manchester that offers Mango Sago and a variety of Chinese desserts, including shaved ice. Honestly, I struggled to locate a good mango sago place even back in the U.S., where there’s a significant Chinese community. But here it is, right in Manchester's Chinatown! I tried the mango sago with mango, black pudding, and rice balls, and it was delicious—light and exactly as I had hoped it would taste. The dessert shop was quite empty during lunch, but the decor was lovely and inviting. It’s nestled on the upper floor of the conveyor belt sushi restaurant, Wasabi, which adds to its charm as a hidden gem.

The £18 mixed sashimi included salmon, tuna, tamago (which I never expected to be classified as sashimi), and surf clams. However, I found the selection of fish and eggs to be somewhat underwhelming. My £21 teishoku was more appealing; it included mixed tempura (although they surprisingly didn’t provide the usual dipping sauce), udon in broth, miso soup, six pieces of nigiri sushi, two pieces each of salmon and tuna sashimi, daikon radish, and grilled salmon belly (they had run out of grilled cod, so they substituted it with two pieces of salmon belly). The highlight of the meal for me was definitely the grilled salmon belly, which was cooked to perfection. I gave the restaurant 4 stars mainly because of that delicious grilled salmon belly, as everything else was just average.

We visited Wasabi specifically for the dessert room, hoping to try the yam ice cream—and we did! The taro snow ice cream was exquisite, featuring frozen shaved ice topped with red beans and rice balls. It was absolutely delightful and definitely worth the trip.