Blue Sakura

Resplendent in the sakura cherry blossoms of its name (albeit faux flora), Blue Sakura brings “Asian-inspired magic” to Leeds via its all-you-can-eat (AYCE) set-price Japanese-style tapas concept, with 130 dishes of sushi and beyond at lunchtime and 150 at dinner.

There’s a choice of cold and hot dishes all ordered via touch screen technology from the comfort of your table, with an express lunch and a sitting of two hours in the evening. All your sushi favourites are here, such as nigiri (including surf clam and BBQ eel) and torched salmon and tuna nigiri, sashimi (including octopus and sweet shrimp), temaki and maki rolls (including asparagus and avocado). Choices of gunkan – fillings layered on top of rice wrapped in a strip of seaweed – include flying fish eggs; inside-out uramaki rolls include red, golden, black and green dragon dynamite rolls topped with salmon, flying fish egg, BBQ eel and masago wasabi respectively. Deep-fried dishes include tempura delights such as soft shell crab and duck spring rolls. There’s also a section called “from the grill”, which includes yakitori chicken skewers and fish balls in Malaysian curry sauce, and “from the teppanyaki”, cooked griddle style and including the likes of teriyaki salmon fillet or veggie gyoza dumplings, plus a selection of bao buns. From the wok come various dishes with Gung Po sauce as well as favourites such as sweet and sour chicken and beef and black bean sauce, perfect with something from under “the art of the rice”. “The art of the noodles” includes udon dishes, yaki soba and Singapore vermicelli, while “Korean corner” lists chicken, beef, king prawn, tofu and mixed vegetables each preceded by the word spicy, but with little elaboration; tread carefully.

House cocktails include exotic and fruity numbers like Guifei Lychee and Kiwi Kyoto; there are also “classic and trendy” and mocktails, plus plenty of wines and gins, various sake and Japanese whiskies, and beers including Tsing Tao, Tiger and Asahi.

Want to be the first to receive all the latest news, tips, articles, guides and updates from Confidential Guides? Sign up here.