New Samsi, Whitworth Street

I came in to town via Victoria which gave me the excuse to sit for a while in an armchair on the top floor of Trof - mainly blogging previous meals. They sure get excited when you ask them to do a cocktail in there, the barman was tossing Tabasco all over the place. I figured my liver would probably benefit from my stopping drinking already, headed back to the flat to get my camera and came straight back out to the New Samsi Japanese restaurant on Whitworth Street.



I've not had much proper Japanese food before but what sushi I've had, mainly from Marks and Sparks, I have greatly enjoyed. I asked for a pot of tea and perused the menu for interesting looking things. Octopus sushi. That sounds nice. And erm what else. I asked my pretty kimono-clad waitress what was good and she asked if I wanted something really Japanese, pointed down to the bottom of the menu where there was something involving pork and "sweet egg". Sadly I chickened out and went for the eggless version above it - next time I promise to be more brave.



The octopus was very thinly sliced, had suckers and wiggly bits and looked like four little works of art when delivered on their little porcelain shelf each wrapped with a little bit of rice. It seemed such a shame to hack them into their constituent parts, smear them in soy and wassabi and eat them, but that's what had to be done. The octopus was a little rubbery but then they just are aren't they.



The next course arrived and looked rather like a Viener Schnitzel. With a bit of salad on the side and some sweet sticky sauce poured over. Schnitzel are normally lean but this was proper full-fat melty pork belly inside and was very very nice. I finished my tea, took a few more photos for good measure and left feeling full and content.