SUSHI DES ARTISTES

All throughout this pregnancy, the one thing I missed the most was sushi. There are still a few weeks to go but I couldn't resist to try one of Marbella's newest restaurants - Sushi des Artistes. We all went for dinner yesterday evening and our son was so excited to have some sashimi which we never eat here because of the lack of decent Japanese restaurants in town. Several people had mentioned Sushi des Artistes as having good sushi and sashimi so we had high expectations for our dinner. We used to go to Katsura, also in downtown Marbella, which had excellent sushi and sashimi but they closed when the owner/sushi chef passed away last year so we were looking forward to finding a new Japanese favorite.

The restaurant is located across the street from the Marbella Club hotel and on a strip of restaurants that include an Indian (Taj Mahal), a Mexican (Tex Mex) , a traditional Spanish (Venta Los Pacos) and the venue of our mediocre dinner last week - B.Ayres.

The interiors are red, white and black with a sushi counter at the far end and a back room with several more tables. We sat near the sushi counter and were greeted by the cheerful Japanese proprietor who took our order as well. Our son was all set to have salmon sashimi and chicken yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) while we shared an agedashi tofu starter. We also ordered three sushi rolls - Hollywood roll (spicy raw tuna with miso and sliced cucumbers) for my husband and the Las Vegas roll (fried prawns with a sweet sauce) for myself plus the Manhattan roll (deep-fried soft-shell crab) to share. We also split the mixed seafood tempura for our main course.

The sashimi was very good according to my husband and son (unfortunately I couldn't have any) and the rolls were very good as well. The tofu was delicious although it wasn't the typical agedashi tofu in broth that one normally gets at a typical Japanese restaurant. The chicken yakitori were not grilled although the accompanying sauce was tasty. The only letdown was the mixed seafood and vegetable tempura as the prawns were covered in the typical batter but instead of peeled prawns, they were cooked with the heads on and some of the skin still left (highly unusual presentation). The scallops that were included didn't really work well with the crispy batter as well and there were a few pieces of vegetables (asparagus, zucchini and red pepper) and not much else.

All in all a very good meal and probably the best Japanese restaurant in town. The prices are steep but the quality was excellent which is a relief as many restaurants here in Marbella get away with uninteresting and unauthentic cuisine while charging inflated prices. Next time, I'll make sure that I can try more of the sushi and sashimi platters or maybe have lunch where they have a six different set menus which include rice and miso soup from 13.50 to 17.50 euros - a bargain for food this good.

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Sushi des Artistes

Blvd. Alfonso de Hohenlohe, CN 340, Km 178.5

(Opposite the marbella Club Hotel)

Tel: +34 952 857 403

Open for lunch and dinner daily (except on Monday lunch)