Discover the new look and new menu at Yo! Sushi in Selfridges, Birmingham, with tips for first time visitors as well.
I love sushi, and although I can prepare it myself, I much prefer to let someone else do the work
And I always love visiting Yo! Sushi – whether it’s for a quick bite of lunch before catching a train, or a longer relaxed meal with a glass or two of wine. The only problem I have is that my teenage sons both love going to Yo! Sushi as well. And believe me, two teenage boys can eat a LOT of sushi!
So when Yo! Sushi invited me to visit their new restaurant in Selfridges Birmingham, I didn’t take long to accept the invitation. They’ve actually had a restaurant in Selfridges for quite a few years, and it’s one that I’ve visited on several occasions.
But if you’ve never been to a Yo! Sushi restaurant before, you might not be completely sure about how to order the food. It’s not like most restaurants you see! Read on to find out how to order food at Yo! Sushi.
Pin this Post for later…
But when they moved to a new location within the store, the restaurant got a swish new look, and an exclusive Selfridges menu.
A new look for the new Yo! Sushi restaurant
A new look for the new Yo! Sushi restaurantAll of the Yo! Sushi restaurants I’ve visited before have had the same kind of decor. it’s been very fresh and bright, with a lot of colour and energy.
But the new Selfridges restaurant has a very different look and feel.
Gone are the bright colours, and they’ve been replaced with this sleek and modern look.
There’s a lot of blonde wood, polished chrome, and modern sculptural decorations that bring the look of the restaurant right up to date.
And I really love the artwork that runs around the back wall of the restaurant. All in all, I think it’s a great look, and really entices you in to eat.
Of course some of the familiar Yo! Sushi elements remain. There’s still a long bar that you can sit at to eat, and the food still winds its way around the restaurant on a conveyor belt.
But you can also sit in little booths as well, which makes it easier to chat if you’re eating with friends.
First time at Yo! Sushi?
First time at Yo! Sushi?You can find Yo! Sushi restaurants all across the UK – click here to find one near you. But if you have never been to Yo! Sushi before, you may not be quite sure how the concept works. It’s very simple, just a little different to most restaurants in the UK.
You will be seated either at the bar or in a booth, and your drinks order will be taken. Yo! Sushi have a good selection of soft drinks, beers and wines, or you could try a glass of Japanese Sake.
The taps on your table or seating area provide unlimited still or sparkling water for a small fee. You will also find chopsticks and napkins, as well as pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.
Plates of food travel along the conveyor belt through the restaurant, and when you see something you like, you simply take it off the belt. The colour of each plate shows its price – green and light blue are the cheapest, yellow and grey the most expensive.
New plates get added regularly, but if you can’t see the particular plate that you want, you can order it from the menu by pressing your ‘help’ button.
And when you’ve finished eating, your bill is calculated by simply totting up the different colour plates on your table and adding on your drinks.
But I don’t like raw fish (and other misconceptions)
Every so often, I’ll hear someone saying that they don’t eat sushi because they don’t like raw fish.
This is often because when they picture sushi, they see the little rectangles of rice topped with a piece of raw salmon. That’s a nigiri, and it’s just one type of sushi.
You see, the word sushi actually refers to the rice, which is prepared in a specific way using a special blend of rice vinegar and seasonings.
That rice can then be mixed with all sorts of ingredients and toppings to form a wide variety of different types of sushi. Yes, some of them do include raw fish, but others may include cooked meats, cooked prawns, or vegetables.
In fact, Yo! Sushi have a range of 83 different dishes on their menu. 26 of those are vegetarian, like the pumpkin katsu in the photo above, and 16 are vegan – so you can definitely eat at Yo! Sushi if you are not a meat eater.
And the plates of thin slices of raw fish is called sashimi. They do serve sashimi at Yo! Sushi, but you certainly don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to!
Yo! Sushi – our meal at the new Selfridges restaurant
So how was our meal at the new Yo! Sushi at Selfridges?
After being so excited by the restaurant redesign, I’m glad to say that we had a fantastic meal!
Because we’ve been to Yo! Sushi many times, we’ve both got our own favourites that we generally pick up off the conveyor belt. Gyozas, nigiri, little maki rolls filled with fish or vegetables, teryaki beef with chilli andd lime – these are my standard Yo! Sushi fare.
So this time we decided to try some of the Japanese street food from the menu, and to sample some of the exclusive Selfridges menu as well. After we’d picked a couple of plates from the conveyor belt, I rang for assistance and we placed our order.
The platter of Nori Tacos pictured above is one of the items that is exclusive to Selfridges, and they were out of this world.
The Nori (a thin sheet of seaweed) has been fried in tempura batter, which turns it into a crispy, chewy taco shell. That is then filled with sushi rice, and topped with either avocado, salmon or tuna, with a range of complementary seasonings.
It may look as if it will fall apart when you bite into it, but actually the Nori shell does a really good job of containing the fillings. The combination of textures and flavours is amazing – crunchy, chewy Nori, soft slightly sweet rice and then the toppings.
The avocado one was my favourite, combining the creamy avo with spicy sriracha, tangy yuzu salsa and crispy shallots. I could have eaten a platter full of these!
We also ordered a couple of bao (steamed buns) and some furikake fries to try out as well. I’ve seen people eating these on previous visits and always forget about ordering them until I’m too full of sushi.
I chose the Hoisin Duck bao, which was divine – I love hoisin sauce, and the duck was beautifully tender. Combined with the slight crunch of the pickled cucumber and wrapped in a pillowy soft, sweet bao bun, it was just so comforting. I’ll definitely be ordering this again!
The Pork Belly bao was delicious, with melt in the mouth soft belly pork in a sticky sweet sauce. And the Furikake Fries didn’t disappoint – they arrive with a coating of spicy sriracha mayo and sprinkled with a variety of savoury seasonings.
And I ordered some of my beloved Salmon Skin Rolls – I have to have these every time I visit.
They’re an inside-out sushi roll, with the rice on the outside, then a layer of nori, and then a filling of salty, savoury shards of fried salmon skin. Believe me, you have to try these!
So after filling our bellies, it was time to stack up our plates and ask for the bill.
Yo! Sushi – My Review
Yo! Sushi – My ReviewOur meal was complimentary, but the total bill for our meal at Yo! Sushi came to £54.95. This included two glasses of white wine, two soft drinks, the Nori Taco platter and the 7 plate pictured above.
I think that’s pretty good value for what was a fairly leisurely meal. The food was excellent, and I love the updated look of the new restaurant. I’m still dreaming of those Nori Tacos and the soft, soft bao. I can’t wait for our next visit!
Wow! I’m loving the new additions, they all look delicious. I’ll have to pay Yo! Sushi a visit soon I think :)
Definitely, and let me know what you think!
Yo sushi is one of my favourite places and the kids even love it too – i love that its bite size portions too!
With the bite size food, conveyor belt and bright colours, it’s great fun for kids, isn’t it?
The new menu looks so good – I love eating there. I do always tend to spend a fortune though!
Me too, especially when my teenage sons tag along for lunch!
Yo Sushi is somewhere I have never been for a meal, as to be honest I’ve never had sushi. However, these pictures actually make me want to go and try it out, it does look like I might enjoy it.
Give it a try – they do things like fried rice and noodles as well that you can order off the menu
I have actually never had Yo Sushi before but I feel that I need to give it a go as it’s more than just sushi like I first thought x
They actually have a great selection of food, give it a try! ;-)
What a pretty restaurant!! Sadly I am not a fan of Sushi but almost wish i was, just so I could go in and look around
Ah that’s a shame! They do things like fried rice and noodles as well
I think the Selfridges in Birmingham was my first ever experience of Yo Sushi – great to know they’re upgraded it since then!
C x
It’s gorgeous, I love the new look!
I’ve heard fantastic things about Yo Sushi! The food looks really good, and I love the bowls!
I know, I keep on meaning to buy some of the bowls to use at home!
I’m actually glad you mentioned that sushi can be other than raw fish, I used to always avoid it as I thought that and then had some duck sushi and never looked back x
I know what you mean. I actually love sashimi, but it’s good for people to know that they don’t have to eat raw fish at a sushi restaurant
We love Yo! Sushi and always visit when in Southampton and Belfast. Love the sounds of this new opening. We find that the prices are really reasonable and we never waste anything on our plates. Perfect for when you are shopping too!
Definitely – I love that you can either go for a quick bite to eat or a more relaxed meal
Love Love Yo! Sushi, they have such a varied array of food and our kids enjoyed eating there the last time too. Your photos looks amazing and mouth watering!!
It’s a great place to take kids, so much fun as well as the great food!
We have a Yo Sushi in Nottingham and I’ve never actually been, in fact I’ve never tried sushi or japanese food before. I love the idea of picking what you want to eat from a convey belt, that seem fun. The pumpkin katsu sounds amazing.
I think it’s great fun and makes a change from the usual way of ordering food
I have to say that I absolutely love the new look of Yo! Sushi. I never felt comfortable with the bright primary colours, with their plastic dishes. It always seemed a big tacky to me. This however looks stylish and much more up my street. I would love to try the Furikake fries and Pork Belly is my favourite thing in the whole world so I would definitely have that.
I loveYo sushi and it’s one of the things I miss since moving away from the city.
I’m hungry now!
I live round the corner from a Yo! but I must admit I hardly visit! I didn’t realise they’d changed their menu though. I bloody love bao buns so I’ll have to pop in soon to give them a whirl.
The Bao bun was so delicious – I can’t believe I haven’t ordered them before!